Just after Easter this year, I was sitting on my own, my husband being out cycling, listening to – silence. No snuffling, no snoring, and no warm cuddly shape curled up next to me, as our pug Doug had left our life a few weeks earlier. I had been given the website and Facebook page for the PDWRA, so casually opened it up and saw a picture of an elderly Pug and an elderly French Bulldog, a pair bonded for eight years, and there is no explanation for what happened next. Without hesitating but somehow knowing it was what I had to do, I found myself filling in the application form. Within two weeks we had been approved, had our home visit and Misty the Bulldog and Tootsie the Pug (their real names) were ours. Arrangements were soon made to move them from Blackpool to Cornwall.
The evening we brought them home, they walked in, found their water bowl, had a meal and made their way to the settee. They were so much at home, it seemed as if they knew they truly belonged. That night, we said goodnight and heard nothing from them till the next morning. And that is how the domestic side of life with them continues – two delightful ladies, very much part of the family.
Their new walks have been up farm tracks from our garden (which is safely fenced in), past interesting smells of foxes and badgers, next to fields where they have made friends with horses, rubbing noses across the gate. Or they have seen the wilder side of Cornwall, along the cliffs and through the woods. For more contained exercise, we book a field which has agility apparatus for the dogs. Misty loves it and flies up and over ladders and the see-saw; Tootsie prefers a sedate walk through the tunnel. We are often joined by the two young poodles and all four scallywags enjoy the adventures, especially meeting and greeting other dogs.
Tootsie had wobbly back legs when she arrived, but a little loss of weight, ramps for getting on settees and being off her lead on all the walks (not on public roads of course) have strengthened her legs and she now jumps and runs freely. Misty used to pull on her lead and bark at other dogs, so I kept her attached for a week until she was with the poodles on a walk. Keeping my fingers crossed, I let her go – and no problems at all. They are both very obedient and come back when called, so I am happy for her to meet and greet dogs which she loves. Of course they are on their leads on the roads, and they both respond to the instruction “car! in” very quickly; no pavements in our countryside environment.
Both dogs have found our menagerie of interest. The ducks and dogs are free range together in the garden; Misty has learned that duck food can be very indigestible. The tortoises are exciting only because of their meals of lettuce and cucumber, which Tootsie particularly enjoys. The Guinea pig fascinates Misty, who knows that “Guinea pig time” means she stays in the lounge while the Guinea pig is taken out or brought in from her run in the garden. The cat, a real diva, pretends the dogs will chase her, and is disgusted that neither dog has done so yet! She lives in hopes.
Both Tootsie and Misty have delighted our friends and neighbours and are welcomed into other houses to meet their dogs. Everyone says we have two amazing, beautiful dogs who have settled into our lives as if we had all been together for years. As I write this the house is no longer silent; from beside me, I can hear synchronised snoring. And we will soon all be cuddled up on the settee having had a long walk and two hours in the garden working together.
We feel totally blessed and I fully believe it was intended that I saw that page on the Internet that day.
If you have any thoughts of adopting a pug or two, don’t hesitate. Your life will be made so much fuller with one of those lovely scamps in your house.
Elizabeth
