I have been brought up around animals, in particular we always had a dog in the family, and life wouldn’t be complete without one.
For me personally, no home is complete without a canine companion. I work at home a lot and just having my faithful friend lying down by my feet is a sign of true companionship.
She is loyal, loving and a great guard dog, what more could a family want?
Pedigree Vs. Mongrel
Until this time, I have always owned pedigree, ‘Kennel Club’ registered dogs. I would never have considered anything else. I suppose this was a touch of snobbery on my part, but to be able to show off with pride, a well bred hound, really was rewarding.
That was until the addition of a dog that I had dreamt of owning all my adult life, a ‘Basset Hound’.
When my partner confessed that he had always wanted one too, what better thing to do than to go on what ended up being a major search, to find a new puppy to give a loving home to.
We drove over a hundred miles to the place where we finally managed to track a Basset Hound puppy down, but we were so excited, it was worth all the effort.
To make it more of an adventure, we had kept the entire plan a secret from our young son, and we knew he would be so excited.
As with any new puppy, the first week was like having a new baby in the home. We had done lots of research on this particular breed, so we were well informed. Or so we thought.
It was as if we had invited the ‘devil dog’ into our home, and ‘Shakespeare’ as we named him, tested our patience from day one.
We accepted the puddles on the floor, pining and baying at night and general unruliness for the first few weeks, but as time went on, despite our efforts Shakespeare appeared to be uncontrollable.
We knew that this particular breed was notorious for escaping at any given opportunity, so we armed ourselves for this, and turned the garden into a fortress.
All of this was in vain as he would do anything possible to try and get out of the garden. It became a logistical nightmare, just letting him in the garden.
Going for walks was a trial and tribulation in itself. Again we knew ‘Basset’s’ were a stubborn breed, but he was exceptional.
Owning this dog began to be a nightmare, and because of the disruption he caused, the arguments that went on in the household were getting beyond a joke.
Having owned Shakespeare nearly a year, we had reached breaking point. The dog had adopted an unhealthy dislike for my 6 year old son, and my son had begun to resent the dog.
My partner and I used to argue over who would get up first, as the mess we were greeted by every morning was a total nightmare.
It got to a stage where the dog was starting to rule us, not the other way round. We were given no choice but to try and re-home him.
We were devastated to have to do this, but it really was for the best. Having paid a thousand pound for him, this decision was not taken lightly.
I got in touch with the local ‘Basset Hound Rescue’ and fortunately for us, the lady was immediately compassionate and understanding of our plight.
We went to see her, and having met her tame, older Basset, we knew Shakespeare was somehow not right.
As luck would have it, this lady had recently lost one of her hounds, and so we were more than happy to allow her to keep him, and were only too pleased that he went to a good home.
What was truly a heartbreaking situation to be in, truly was a lesson learned.
A Change of Method
Eighteen months passed. As a family we had relocated to a rural property, and one thing was missing. A dog.
Having had our fingers well and truly burnt with the Basset Hound, we most certainly were not going to enter into this commitment without careful consideration.
Having spent so much on the last dog, we were adamant we would not do that again, and decided to venture down a very different route of adopting a rescue dog.
We had an idea in our heads of the kind of dog we were looking to bring into the family, and for a few months spent every weekend driving miles to visit all the rescue homes.
The whole process was rather crude in my opinion. Unlike us who just wanted to give a less fortunate hound a home, others would visit these places simply to get a pedigree dog for a cheap price.
On one occasion I saw two women physically pushing one another out of the way when they both ‘fancied’ the same pedigree spaniel. It truly was a very sad thing to see.
We didn’t care what our dog looked like, as long as her or she was going to fit n well with the family.
We had a huge garden to offer the lucky dog, and so we wanted to make sure a well deserving dog was chosen.
We suffered several disappointments where favored dogs would be snapped up before we got in first, but I am a great believer in fate and that is exactly how our lovely ‘Molly’ came about.
Sitting in a corner kennel of the ‘sick bay’ was a sad looking mongrel, with a plastic cone on her head. She sat there lifeless, and we had nothing but pitty for her.
She was a larger dog than we would have chosen, but there was just something about her.
We took her for a walk in the adjacent field, and after the pulling nightmare of the basset, this dog was a dream to walk!
Despite the fact that no one knew anything about her, not even her name, this lovely dog was meant to be in our family.
Timid, and clearly owned by someone who was cruel, it took us months to make her feel safe and secure in our home.
Twelve months on, Molly really is deserved of the award for ‘best dog’ I have ever owned.
Placid, loving, obedient and great with our son, she really is the ideal canine companion.
The pleasure we all get knowing we have given her such a fantastic new home, really is an amazing feeling.
To be greeted at the door by our faithful friend is a truly lovely experience, one that everybody should have.
To see her basking in front of our log fire, is no more than she deserves, as she has obviously had a bad start in life. This little lady is definitely going to grow old with us, as she is truly one of the family.
