Moving to Cumbria was great, however the house didn’t quite feel like a home. We needed to bring a dog into our life. After all, home is where the dog is. The boys were excited and bought many books on the type of dogs and their personalities. However, Nick was adamant that a mongrel is the healthiest type of dog. The local equivalent of the Battersea Dogs home is the Animal Refuge, in Wetheral. That is where we went.
Leah came home
We wanted a puppy, it was choice between a puppy called Bambi and a puppy whose name we don’t know, the cutest Rottweiler you ever saw. We thought that the small Collie would suit our lifestyle better. By the time we got home, Bambi had become Leah.
The Animal Refuge’s pre-condition was that Leah be speyed. As usual, Nick, trained in Lambeth’s Dog psychology, wanted none of it and ignored the Animal Refuge’s calls for a year, and eventually, they summoned Leah to the Vet. Being unused to this procedure we thought they all these dog loving people would use advances in medical technology such as keyhole surgery to tie up the relevant tubes. Not so, a full removal of all parts plus they do not use self-dissolving stitches. Poor Leah was forced to have a cone on her head and had the indignity of being taken out on lead. No more running freely and she is totally fed up and this is only day 3.
She soon recovered.
Before you get excited, here is the Animal Refuge’s advice on neutering.
“There are many misconceptions related to neutering, though. Firstly, the age at which a dog should be neutered varies between breeds and generally a male would be neutered at six months, while a female should be spayed after her first season. There is also no evidence that letting a dog experience motherhood before neutering her is in any way beneficial. In fact, a dog’s first litter is usually the riskiest and poses a higher chance of complications.”
More information on finding a best friend www.animalrefuge.co.uk
