Roger the lodger

Our family dog Roger,sort of Essex marshes mongrel black Labrador master of all trades.Somehow and with no doubt the cooperation of the local bus crews he learned how to catch the bus from the stop outside our house and go of to Colchester quite a few miles away and spend a few days with his girlfriends before catching the bus back(from a busy bus station!)We would hear the bus stop outside the house and he would quietly sneak in, tail between legs for he knew he was up for a couple of days on the end of a chain.
He loved water and would swim for pleasure which was handy as he normally stank of mud, dead fishy things and seaweed. As he was so fond of the sea I taught him to crew my sailing dinghy which he was very good at,obeying lee-oh commands and holding a sheet etc.and did seem to enjoy it. I had to take care as when I went out alone as he sometimes would attempt to join me in the boat.I was once sailing down Pyefleet near the Colne when I saw a black object being swept out to sea,at first I thought it was just a seal but looking again saw it was Roger frantically swimming against the tide and no doubt when I sailed up to rescue him wagging his tail underwater.
His other hobby was trying to catch rabbits on the far side of the field behind our house,he would charge in a straight line gathering speed all the way but when he would get to the bunnies they would step aside and not being able to stop as he was going too fast he would skid and somersault for the next twenty yards or so just as they do in Disney cartoons. a dog of all dogs...an Essex dog.