When we found the two spaniels in Rue du Chateau, Hucqueliers they looked awful, exhausted, shivering, hungry and thirsty and covered in cuts – it was a Sunday afternoon so we took them home as you know, and I was pretty sure they were lost dogs.
We gave them something to eat and drink and they slept the rest of the day and all night.
On Monday we popped into the vets before work but he wasn’t there and we dropped leaflets off with the local supermarket and Town Hall. To be honest we didn’t hold out high hopes for the dogs to be tagged, we have six stray animals already and none of them were tagged or tattooed.
Both dogs had perked up considerably by now and were enjoying playing with our dogs and going for walks. The little one in particular was very boisterous – she knocked me over in the garden and round circles round all of our dogs. Both of them absolutely loved the attention from everyone and were so much better than they had been when we found them. We were fairly certain that if they weren’t loved they wouldn’t have bounced back so quickly.
Tuesday we had to work again but managed to get the dogs checked by the vet and the little one had a microchip – yeah! The vet phoned the owner and left a message as he wasn’t there so we took them home for another day of mayhem and fun.
I have to say the old one is a complete escape artist – she managed to open the door of the sleeping cage. All our dogs have them – it makes them feel safe and comfortable but I have never known a dog to be able to open one before! She then knocked over the dog food bag and helped herself and afterwards made a horrible mess in the dog’s room. She also managed to escape from the dog’s garden – they have their own bit which is fenced off and gated. She actually opened the gate – we’ve never seen anything like it.
We got a message yesterday from the owner – he was ecstatic that his beloved dogs had been found – they had been gone three days by the time we found them – no wonder they were in such a state. They had travelled more than five miles and he says this is the second time they have escaped and gone missing and he was so happy to be reunited he had tears in his eyes – so did I.
The dogs who we now know are called “Guiness” and “Olympe” are mother and daughter. Olympe, the mum, is a wanderer and Guiness follows her everywhere and they are much loved I am happy to tell you. They were thrilled to see their owner and jumped into his van without a backward glance. Although I had started to love them dearly I know that this is the best thing as they are clearly loved and wanted and you never known when another animal is going to turn up that doesn’t have a home to go to.
Happy Days!
Janine
