Re: My dog Mungo
Hi Besoker he’s wasn’t four when we got him he’s just turned four now .
I have lived overseas most of my life and we have always had dogs from very bad circumstances. All of them have been lovely grateful dogs .
When Mr M retired we decided we would get our one last dog . Not a second hand dog -for once a dog with no sad baggage .
We were after a cross breed collie cross lab .
However this cross has since become a designer breed and they were hard to come by .
Eventually we put a deposit on one but I retracted . We lost the deposit it just was not right somehow .
Somehow it seemed wrong to encourage breeding of pups when there are so many in dogs homes.
However we found getting a pup from a dogs home was a nightmare .
On paper we were the perfect home .
Retired people experienced with dogs no young children living in a very rural .place good sized garden endless walks etc etc
Now living overseas I was always very involved with the various humane societies and rehoming dogs .
However in the uk it’s a completely different ball game.
The sanctuaries appear to be manned by well meaning but overzealous fanatics.
Of course everyone wants a good home for an animal but these people seem to want perfect homes according to THEIR impossible standards .
These people - usually totally neurotic people are known as ‘ gatekeepers’
They dont want to let the dog go at all .
Hence the frustration of many people who could provide a good home .
Having been put through the third degree by some of these people - potential dog rehomers all the best intentions tend to say well ...... it I will just go and buy a dog.
In our case we were refused by three .
The first one asked my postcode and said you live on a housing estate.
( I don’t )
I actually looked out of my window to check they hadn’t built one when I wasn’t looking !
Then he said well you have neighbours we don’t adopt our dogs to people who have neighbours . ( well that rules out 99.9 % of the population )!
I put the phone down before I forgot I am a lady .
The second was a crackpot foster mother for Many Tears
Having compiled and filled in all the boxes we were directed to contact the foster mother who said the pup was bullied by its siblings and needed to be an only dog .
That’s fine said I so she said the dogs sibling was leaving the next day so she would ring back . She rang back in two days and said it was lonely now and she felt it should not be an only dog .
( I thought it shouldn’t be living with a crackpot but there you are )
I said ok and then wrote a long letter of complaint to Many Tears .
They came back with profuse apologies and begged me to think again as we seemed to be an ideal home and they had so many dogs desperate for homes.
Too late .
Third try Was a sanctuary I knew and have supported over the years .
You had to have a home check first - that’s fine I expect that indeed have done many home checks myself .
After about a year some woman calls and tells me she is the home check person and can she come this afternoon .
Then she asked me hundreds of questions.
What sort of food did I feed and where do I intend to buy it ?
I had to buy it from such and such a place
When she turned up later and dissed my garden completely saying what about the foxes and cats that would run through and the dog would chase ???????
Like I have loads of foxes and cats leaping over the six foot fences and hedges !
And then the fields Were wrong - some had STOCK in them .
Well blow me down I didn’t notice ?
There was more such nonsense no way was she going to give me a dog
Clearly the woman was a lunatic and all I wanted for her was to leave ASAP !
I got on the phone and told the owner of the sanctuary what I thought.
Later i went to see her ( I had known her over the years as she lives near my son) and she was very sorry and was not even speaking to the woman now as
I was not the only person who had been put off in this manner .
In fact later I saw Mungo on the site of this same place and went directly there and got him .
So we didn’t get a puppy we didn’t get a cross breed but we got a wonderful dog .
He was very excitable when we got him but has calmed down hugely . He is incredibly obedient loves children is good with cats ,sheep horses and other dogs .
He is super intelligent .
His only fault is he is so friendly he wants to luvvvve everyone and does sometimes jump up and put a paw on people .
This is ok in the country where most people dress like the farm yard but not good if you are in your best togs .
So I always keep an eye out for people especially when near the village church .Just I case there is a bride and groom coming out !