When one door closes, another door opens

It's been a while since I last wrote a blog entry and there is a reason why. I lost my voice for a while. Not literally but emotionally. Those of you who know me know that I lost my beloved Old English Sheepdog Harry in April this year. He was my heart dog and the reason I became a dog professional. He came to us as a 2-year old severe cruelty case and we had over ten wonderful years together. We made lots of precious memories as he came everywhere with us. He did slow down a bit due to spinal arthritis in his later years but in the end everything happened very quickly. You can prepare as much for this final moment as you like - which I tried - but when it's time, it still comes as a shock. I take consolation in the fact that his heart literally burst with love.

As Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, once famously said: when one door closes, another door opens. Call it fate but at the time of Harry's passing, I became aware of a litter of Old English Sheepdogs who had been rescued with their mum when a big puppy farm was shut down. I've never been one to stay without a dog for long and have always been of the opinion that the best legacy of a dog is to pass on their collar to a new one. I am firmly in the rescue camp because rescuing a dog saves two lives. The one of the dog you adopt and the one who takes their place in rescue. Exactly a month later, and not without difficulties, we were able to welcome little Rhys to our home.

The first few months were not easy. At 8 weeks, he had already been through a lot. Removed from a dirty barn in a big operation, long car travel to the rescue and then weeks growing up in a kennel. I picked him because he was confident and looked healthy but just three days into our home he became very ill with a severe worm infestation. I still don't understand how this could happen but what I do know is how much I despise the puppy farmer who exploited Rhys' mum. To maximise profit and save on costs, it's very unlikely that he wormed the mum while she was pregnant. She couldn't help but pass on the parasites to her puppies. With a belly full of worms Rhys would not eat nor drink, which is very dangerous for such a small puppy. I remember drip feeding him fluids with a pipette. Things got so bad he had to be hospitalised and put on fluids more than once and at one point we honestly feared for his life. The wonderful team at our vet practice did everything they could and, everyone working together, Rhys slowly became better. It's no surprise they have been awarded best vet practice in the county for five years in a row.

However, Rhys did not only show the physical scars of his puppy farm birth. It soon became evident that he was not well socialised and, though confident, was easily over-aroused by things such as human touch, sudden strange noises or barking dogs. He was bitey, barky and is still eating a lot of things that he shouldn't (pica). This may be due to his poor gut health as a small puppy but may be also due to spending his first few formative weeks in a kennel environment.

I am very grateful for my professional knowledge and ability to help Rhys overcome his problems. But I sometimes wonder how other less experienced guardians would have fared, if they had bought him for an extortionate sum from the puppy farmer. I can imagine this is the type of dog and scenario where young dogs end up in rescue, or worse. Exhausted guardians finally giving up, traumatised families not being able to spend large sums at the vet, having fallen in love with a cute bundle of fluff but unaware where he comes from and what lies ahead.

So you see, like so many of you, right now I am a busy, occasionally struggling puppy owner myself and I know exactly how it is. Things are a lot better now that Rhys is a little older and we have spent time working together to improve his life skills. He is reaching adolescence soon, which comes with its very own issues! In that sense, although six months apart, this blog posts ties in very closely with the previous one on dog mums and how to find a responsible breeder or rescue. Little did I know how relevant this would be less than a month later. No matter how you decide, breeder or rescue, don't give up and reach out if you need any help. There is light at the end of the tunnel.