A Dog is for Life

Such a quandry! I really don't know what to do.

I love dogs - Not in a soppy anthropomorphic sort of way - They are animals after all.

I had a much loved German Shepherd & have been toying with the idea of a smaller dog for ages, as company now that I am on my own. It would be nice to have something to welcome me home to an empty house. Talking to a dog is certainly preferable to talking to myself! I didn't particularly want or need a pedigree dog. I prefer to give a home to a rescue dog. There are, after all an enormous number of them.

So I have been looking at dog charity websites for months. I have found a very nice JRT - Bandit,  at the Blue Cross in Burford who seems to fit the bill perfectly.

We have been introduced & he seems very confident & fairly well trained. Blue Cross are very organised & helpful. So, what's not to like? Why the hesitation?

Well it's a lifestyle issue - Mine, not his. The problem of caring for & managing a dog when you are on your own & frankly getting on a bit. It's going to turn my daily routine upside down & curtail my freedom enormously. At the moment I can do what I want to when I want to & for as long as I want to.

I have built up a life. I'm a volunteer for 2 local organisations. I swim most days. I go to the cinema & to exhibitions. I meet friends & also stay with them overnight. A dog should be OK for a couple of hours, but 6 hours is about the maximum. You can't leave them indefinitely. They need exercise & toileting. They get bored & anxious on their own.

So what do I do? Give up going out for the day? I don't have any family who can step in. My daughter works & has two boys at school. You can't put a dog in kennels for a day out it's disruptive for them.

The internet may have saved the day. I've found several websites where local people who are willing to visit or walk a dog advertise. There do seem to be plenty of people who are available to do this for a fee.

It's so amazing - You can literally find anything on the internet.

PS - Saturday
Bought food, chews, treats & a dog tag this morning. Collecting Bandit tomorrow. It's a big deal. I had to cancel seeing Miss Saigon tomorrow night - couldn't leave him on his first night in a new home. Time will tell.

PPS - Sunday
Paperwork completed, cheque paid. Now we are home after a very excitable journey in the car - my twin Grandsons, not the dog. Not sure this is going to work. Bandit is very hyper, doesn't settle & is into everything. At the moment he is destroying a tennis ball. Nothing like Mable my GSD, but then that's not surprising - very different dogs! Although well behaved at the Blue Cross not so good here.

But it is only the first day.