A-Z Blog Challenge: D is for Dog

Dogs have always been a part of my life. My family was never without a dog and usually a cat as well and when I married that did not change. I brought my cat with me and we were soon were joined by our first dog and we've rarely been without one since. This first dog was a labrador retriever cross who came to us as a five week old puppy. Far too young really to leave her mother but it was unavoidable because her mother had developed mastitis and become seriously ill and unable to feed her litter. She thrived, repaying us with love. When I was suffering from severe morning sickness and confined to bed while pregnant with my first child she would creep onto my bed - something that was usually not allowed since I'm not a fan of dogs on beds - lying with a paw on my feet all day until my husband came home.

There have been others since then, of course. There was the rescued kelpie cross pup who had been abandoned at our local vet and who shared our lives for over sixteen years. Then, when my parents went travelling, their dog came to us. She was with us for another ten years before she died at a few months off twenty. And finally my sweet little Cavalier King Charles spaniel who died aged twelve and a half just over a year ago.

While it breaks your heart every time you lose a doggy companion, life doesn't feel complete somehow without one around and, while we are frequent dog sitters for Virgo's dog, it simply isn't enough. So now we are looking for another dog. All we have to decide is whether we want to take on a puppy or one that is somewhat past that stage. Whatever we decide we are agreed that it will be a rescue dog so we can give an otherwise unwanted dog a chance at a happy life.

Wish us luck.