I love dogs.
No question of it.
Spotty started it all. Darling, darling Spotty. The most wonderful jack russell ever.
She started her life in an old neighbour's house - we've since moved.
There she was subject to physical violence. One day, her previous owners smacked her across the head with a roofing tile. Her head was split open and they wouldn't take her to the vet, because it meant paying.
So I took her and paid for her treatment.
She slept with me overnight, because the vet thought she only had a 50:50 chance of living. She lived. She was my dog from that day on.
Her loyalty was amazing. Her intelligence was also amazing. The love she gave was boundless.
She lived, safe in our love, from 18 months old to 18 years old.
When she passed, we were bereft.
Hubs persuaded me to go to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where we could look at the dogs. I wasn't sure, thinking it disloyal to Spot, but he said another dog might need us and may not have time to wait for my grieving to pass.
Off to Battersea we went.
We had an interview; we showed them pictures of Spotty, pictures of our house and garden and all the local parks.
Battersea's rehomer gave us a choice of jacks to look at.
We decided we'd like to see Missy, because she'd been in the home for two years.
Two years! I can't praise Battersea enough for never giving up on her.
Wonderful organisation that I am proud to support.
It didn't matter to us she was older, Spotty had lived to 18 - so 8 wasn't really old, more middle aged.
We fell for Missy on the first meeting, but we weren't allowed to take her home immediately. We had a second visit, saw how she behaved around other dogs, took her for a walk in the gorgeous Battersea Park and asked the Home to please let us give her a home. To our everlasting delight, they said we could rehome her. A date was fixed to pick her up, but it had to be put on hold when she developed a tummy bug. Battersea wouldn't let her go until she was healthy. The third visit we had, we took our new darling girl home.
In March she'll have been with us seven years.
Its been a wonderful time, with our love for her growing daily.
She's great fun, enjoys agility, loves to walk around the farm investigating all the smells, adores people and children and greets every patient of mine with a great big wag! Which is incredibly special now, because just on Monday we were told that the cataracts she developed have made her almost blind. You'd never know it if you came to visit. She is so pleased when people arrive, play with her, or feed her a treat. What a special dog!
If you'd like to see the Battersea dogs in need of a home, please go
HERE
If you'd like to see the cats too, go
here
