Purdita

This is one happy story that follows on from 14 wonderful years of sharing my life with Purdy number 1, or Lady Purdy as she is described on the Welfare ‘Happy Stories’ section. We sadly lost Purdy 6 months back, when she developed a cancer in her nasal passage, causing her to have massive nose bleeds, the inevitable decision had to be made with her best interests in mind, we had to make our last farewells. Daft though it may sound, but I still have moments of sadness at her loss.

A fortnight must have passed since her departure when I was contacted by the Welfare, with reference to a young female, 11 months old, needing rehoming immediately. The next statement took me by surprise, was that this little girl came with the same name as the Dalmatian that I had just lost. Now before I hear you say that it is of no surprise that a Dalmatian should turn up with either the name Purdy or Pongo attached to it, I just wanted to make it quite clear that I am not a sad old person that names all his pets after their predecessors.

I made arrangements to visit the owner on neutral ground with my boy Buzz, what they did not tell me was that she had just come into her first season. Now my Buzz had undergone his visitation to the Vets some time back, but he still knows what it is all about and made it his duty to demonstrate all he knows, but at least it showed us that he liked her lots. So the deal was struck and Purdy was coming home with us.

Now right from the beginning we detected that she was very nervous, she would not come anywhere near me, but just ran around in wide circles around us. When it came to leaving the park I asked how the owner was going to call Purdy in, to which she replied “I’ll send my daughter to chase after her until she finally catches her”. None of these factors deterred me, I could see the beautiful nature of the animal under all of this wild fear and was determined to bond with her from the earliest moment it time. I might live to regret that last statement, my life is not my own any more. If I go upstairs, she goes upstairs! If I go into another room, my little shadow follows me and as soon as I sit down in my favourite armchair, I have this lump of a dog draped across my lap.

As regards Buzz, well he must have thought all his birthdays and christmases had come at once. He couldn’t stop thanking me for having bought him such a nice present. Once he had got over his love affair, literally, and all of the displaced furniture was returned to it’s rightful place, he has now gone back to his questionable affair with Bingo, our Jack Russell. I always said there was a question mark hanging over them, but my wife says it’s more of the case of the son he never had. Purdy has now had her bits removed and peace and quiet returns to the Brewer household. Well almost. She is accepted into the group, but I still think that Bingo regards her as a distraction to Buzz, and as a result tries to ward her off when she plays with him, this only intensifies the game and Purdy cranks up the teasing even more.

We holidayed in Cornwall this year in the quiet period of June ( the picture shows her in the middle of her two pals, off on her first holiday in the caravan) and I think this must have been the first time that she had seen the sea and all the delights it holds – like running through the surf with a large crab attached to your nose whilst munching your way through it. I’m afraid I failed to save the crab, I was left with removing its remaining claw from her nose!

She will never replace Lady Perdita, but then I never expected her to, she is a dog in her own right with her own different mannerisms, and that’s how I would like to keep it. This will be the second time I have Welfare to thank for giving me the chance to offer a new life to a young Dally again and both occasions have worked out as a good partnership. Many thanks again. Mike