A NEW MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

I mentioned in my previous post that I may not have Internet access for a couple of days when I arrived in England, well as it turned out I didn't have access for the entire visit (don't ask!) so I am having to post about my trip now that I am back here in the US.
I am in the unfortunate situation of living in a building, here in Chicago,that doesn't allow pets. This is a first for me, I have never been without a pet. As a result I have to compensate by caring for animals for a job and when I go home to see my family I always monopolise the family dog. A few weeks ago my parents had to have our old dog euthanized at the age of fourteen. Needless to say this was a rather traumatic event. When the deed was done there were rumblings about not having another dog - unheard of for our family! After some long telephone conversations I convinced my parents that they should consider adopting an adult dog, as they are not getting any younger the prospect of a puppy was a little too daunting, as a result, they put word out that they were looking to adopt another dog. My parents have always had Pembroke Corgis, since they were children, and then when they met they continued the tradition so a corgi is a natural part of our family. The adoption group phoned them a couple of weeks ago with the offer of a three year old Cardiganshire Corgi. There were more phone calls and the decision was made to give it a try, and so Bryher arrived in their life.


This occurred the week before we were going to visit them, needless to say, I was very excited to meet the new member of our family. Bryher had a rather unfortunate time before my parents got him. He had been with an owner who had six other dogs and never took any of them out! He then went to a lady who had advanced Alzheimer's disease and so he never went out there either. The poor lady ended up having to go into care and so Bryher ended up in a kennels which he hated and pined badly. When my parents got him he was filthy, stinking and as thin as a rail.


This is him a week after my parents got him, I was quite shocked, when I first petted him because all I could feel was bones, his ribs, his spine and his chest bones were incredibly prominent. It really is so sad because this is the sweetest, friendliest, most loving dog you could possibly imagine. Anyway, he is in the right place now, he gets regular meals, has been wormed, probably for the first time, and gets taken for four walks a day! He thinks he has gone to heaven! And needless to say he gets endless cuddles, which he loves, by the way. If he thinks you haven't cuddled him enough he comes and climbs on your lap and snuggles against you. Yes, I am totally in love with him, in case you hadn't already guessed!


Because he has been moved around so much in his short life he gets terribly distressed if we leave him, when we go up to bed he howls and barks for an hour or so before settling down. Hopefully when he realises he isn't going to get left again he will get out of that habit.


I bought him a stuffed toy which he loved and carried about with him all over the place. He is a real clown and loves nothing better than to play. If he gets wet when he goes out for a walk he comes running inside and when you try to dry him he wrestles with the towel and rolls himself up inside it. We end up with a huge tangle of dog and towel and him lying upside down with the towel over his head! He will keep my parents entertained for a long time I think. I am so glad that we were fortunate enough to find each other and I only wish I could see him more often.



Photo Credits - CJT