Newfoundland this and that

 

 

I still have the leads and collars, the feeding bowls of all my Newfies these together with four cigar boxes with their ashes in  are all I have to remind me of twenty wonderful years during which they were my constant companions.  There are also the few photos on the dining room wall and if you look at my Twitter page you will see them in situ as I enjoy them.

It was after I had already written five fictional books that I felt ready for book based closely on these years, I altered very little by way of the story or the action of the dogs it would have been wrong to alter anything about their individual characters. People and places can easily be distorted in the memory so I have used new names for them though I do remember them as supportive and in the main attractive. Vets have always played a big part, if I suspected literally anything was wrong off we would go to see them, especially for my dogs, prevention was always the better option. Because of this Meg was able to live a long and I believe happy life against all the odds. William died without pain and so did Osca. Even on Hogan’s last night Mike called the vet out to give him a jab to lessen the pain he was obviously in.

It has always been my rule that unless you can afford to fully care for your pet, it is better not to have one. People who buy pets because as a young animal they look attractive or for any other selfish reason are doing the animal a great disservice. Since mankind domesticated animals they have become reliant on their owners for their welfare and it is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly or inadequately financed. No matter how you look at it keeping a pet can be very expensive, some are extremely expensive and in any other circumstances most people would look after that size of investment. There are of course owners who love their pets but have never studied the animal’s needs before acquiring them. For example some animals will eat almost anything whether it be good or bad for them and the indulgent, ignorant owner will feed them endless titbits and wonder why they end up with a fat unhealthy animal. Each animal and I am only really interested in dogs and horses, has needs and it is up to us to learn about them as part of the preparation of ownership.

In my book ‘Life with my Newfoundlands’ soon to be published I have tried to show my approach to living with them and the huge return I received from them.