Mannofield Music Club .....

Lily's story .....

Lily came to us on a Friday the 13th a date regarded as unlucky for some but to us it was a day the sun shone brighter than ever and has been shining ever since. We have both had dogs in our lives (usually someones else's) but after our marriage we had dogs of our own, each and every one of them, Scamp, Lucy and Cleo loved and looked after, precious bundles of joy.

Prior to retirement we had a number of years without a dog and in that time the decision was made to adopt a rescue dog as soon as we gave up full time work.  Well, as our national bard Rabbie Burns said "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley" and our plan to adopt a rescue dog was put off until 2022.

Having made the decision we started to prepare ourselves for the needs of a rescue dog and any difficulties that may arise, we have experience of puppies and looking after dogs for their whole life into old age and their passing but adopting a dog with unknown requirements was new to us and armed with a wealth of information from books, YouTube, watching every episode of Graeme Hall's 'Dogs Behaving Badly' and talking to other people that have adopted a dog we contacted Mrs Murray's Cat & Dog Home.

Getting a dog whether a puppy or adopting an adult is something that requires a lot of consideration, have you time to look after a dog, have you space for a dog, can you afford a dog, why do you want a dog, are you prepared to regularly feed, walk, play, find somewhere safe for it to run off it's lead, are you prepared to pick up it's poo and clean up little accidents at home, how will you react if it chews a chair leg or takes your favourite cushion to be it's favourite toy? One other consideration and this one applied to us, are you physically fit enough to control a dog?

We checked in with Mrs Murray's Cat & Dog Home web site every day for many months and with the 'highs and lows' of being unlucky or just too late we were getting a bit despondent but never gave up hope.  In retrospect I now realise that Mrs Murray's Cat & Dog Home and I would hope other rescue centres are very careful about matching dogs and people.

Big beautiful brown eyes, a black wet nose and floppy ears looking out at me from the computer screen I was immediately smitten, this was 'our' dog.  

The selection process begins by completing an application form with all your usual details, naming the dog you wish to adopt and then writing what I can only describe as an essay (reminiscent of school days) why you want to adopt a dog and in particular this dog, what previous experience do you have with dogs, do you have experience of this particular breed and a description of the home that you can offer this dog.  If you do not hear from them in a few days then your application is unsuccessful.  We had been there several times but this time was different because I had previous experience with Dachshunds and hoped this would tip the balance in our favour, we literally held our breath waiting for a telephone call and then the much hoped for call came,  the call to arrange a home visit either in person or by video phone.  The home visit went very well and we were invited to meet a four year old dachshund we now call Lily, this was not her name at the time,  we changed it to Lily as soon as we got her home. I cannot find the words to describe the emotions of meeting this little scrap of nothing with big brown eyes and floppy ears, very timid and unwilling to come to me. So there I was seventy years old crawling on the floor face to face with a Dachshund tickling it's ears trying to make a connection when she looked round to Mrs McLennan and leapt into her arms. 'Job done' as they say.

Lily's history is very vague, how such a beautiful dog can end up in an animal re-homing centre requiring veterinary care I will never understand.  As far as we know Lily was received by Mrs Murray's Cat & Dog Home very underweight and in a very poor condition having had puppies she seems to have been abandoned, how can people be so callous?  Lily has two medical issues that we are monitoring caused by lack of appropriate care and or abuse but she copes well and enjoying her new life.  I might be a grown man but sometimes when I hold her in my arms I get a deep feeling of sadness thinking about what she and other animals have to suffer at the hands of humans.

At home Lily settled in very quickly and I can honestly say there has been no problems, we have been very lucky in that any initial separation anxiety issues have been resolved although she still prefers to be with both of us. She was toilet trained, responded to basic commands and quick to learn new ones, not a fussy eater but has favourite foods (don't we all).  Walks well on the lead preferring collar to harness and when off the lead comes back on command.  She is a good guard dog knowing all the usual household noises she will bark if she hears something unusual but otherwise she is, unusually for a Dachshund, a quiet doggie.  As a bonus she likes our postman and he likes her and after an initial bark or two loves having trades people and other visitors in the house.

Lily's story is a true account of how she came into our life, if you would like to donate something to Mrs Murray's Cat & Dog Home .....

           https://mrsmurrays.co.uk/donate       or       www.justgiving.com/straydogscats/Donate 

"People often say how lucky Lily is but we know who the lucky ones are"

www.mannofieldmusic.club