From the moment I knew I was buying the house, I knew I was going to get a dog. To be completely honest, I would have an entire pack of dogs if I could, but at the very least, I want a single dog. I have been writing to a lot of rescues and applying for lots of different dogs and it has been difficult because lots of people are applying for the same dogs and it has been very disappointing. And then I saw a pair of dogs that I fell a little bit in love with. They were nothing that I had asked for, but they were sweet and they were beautiful and I was besotted.
One of the girls was an old girl in a toy breed. She is in a bit of pain due to arthritis, but otherwise well, which is baffling due to her age. The other girl was a cross with a breed I would never have considered (think pug or Jack Russell or similar) cross with another one that wouldn't be my first choice (lurcher, greyhound, whippet sort of idea) but the pair of them together melted my little heart. I contacted the rescue constantly, and they kept me in the loop with medical issues and tests so that I could let them know that none of it was worrying me in terms of adopting them. Okay, the little old girl needs a comfy bed to sleep on (she can have a memory foam bottom one for the living room and she's probably going to sleep on my bed upstairs) and regular vets visits, the younger of the two is a bit of a live wire and needs good exercise (so she can run like a mad hatter all around the garden as well as have a few walks a day where her sister can either plod or be carried in a puppy bag - I'm not a big fan of puppy pushchairs personally). Everything was going well and I was due to meet them ahead of getting a home check done on my place and then being able to go and collect the girls and bring them home to live with me.
Unfortunately, it seems that was not to be.
I'm going to emphasise that the rescue did nothing wrong. They were asked to care for and rehome a pair of dogs belonging to a person who became seriously ill and was no longer able to care for their pets. A family member surrendered the pets to the rescue, the rescue explained that this would legally transfer ownership to them, and that was that. They cared for the girls. However, the owner has recovered from their illness, which they were not expected to do, and is understandably fuming with the actions of their family member.
Although I know that the best thing for these girls is to go back to the home they know and the person that they know, it is utterly heartbreaking when you've started to plan for welcoming a particular little personality into your home and your life and then you find out that, for whatever reason, they are not coming. It's devastating because you get excited about these things, and you imagine what your life will look like with them.
I think the important thing that this raises as well though is to make plans for your pets. Very often we take on a pet with the knowledge that the span of their life is likely to be limited, and we will likely go through the pain of losing them, but it's important to make a plan for what happens if you are unexpectedly taken ill or if, heaven forbid, anything happens to you before your pet.
For me, I know my parents would take on my dogs if I took ill, or if anything happened to me, but we also know that we like different dogs, and the mad spaniels I am besotted with might not fit into their lives overly well, so one of the things they know about is which rescue my dogs came from, so where they should be contacting if they need support, or if they needed to rehome. They know which rescues I have contact with and have worked with, so where I would want my dog(s) to go to.
Whilst I am really disappointed and still quite upset that I won't be having the girls come and live with me, I trust that the rescue will only return them when they are well assured that the girls will be properly cared for, and that at some point very soon, someone with four legs and a big heart will come padding into my life, and it's going to be fabulous when they get here. Until then, I will keep looking for them, and making sure that their home is ready when they are.
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