About a year after Simon died, life without a beardie was just not the same. Tessa, the little crossbreed dog who came to us when her owner, Fred, died aged 92, was alone and already quite old. There was nothing for it but to contact Suzanne Moorhouse, the lady who had bred Simon. Suzanne was an institution in beardie circles because she was active in the early activities of salvaging the breed from extinction. Suzanne did not have a litter at that time but she told us that one of her dogs, Hamish, had sired a litter and the puppies would soon be ready to go to their new homes.
The puppies had been born on a farm and brought up to Suzanne. Unlike Simon, who stayed indoors with his mother, these two puppies were outside in a puppy run. Sasha was seven weeks old when I collected him, but I have come to think that he had been at Suzanne's for at least a week which, in my view now, was too soon to be taken from his mother and siblings.
While staying at Suzanne's we took the puppies to the vet to have their second vaccination. This was, and often still is, standard practice, but in the years since Sasha came to us I have come to believe and see that these vaccination protocols are counterproductive for the animals (https://news.wisc.edu/schultz-dog-vaccines-may-not-be-necessary/). Forward-thinking veterinary professionals now recommend that puppies should not receive vaccinations before twelve weeks of age as they still have the immunity gained from their mother's colostrum which lasts up till that time. In fact, there is now a test that can be done while the dam is pregnant to determine her level of immunity, and on that basis the length of the immunity she will pass on to her pups can be determined. Sadly, at the time when Sasha was a puppy, these ideas were not so well known!
For the plane journey back to Spain I had brought a soft red pet carrier and some puppy milk. At the airport, however, understanding and compassion were not on the agenda for the security personnel who were now a standard feature of air travel. The puppy milk was confiscated. What terrorist is going to blow up a plane with puppy milk?! And they insisted that the puppy had to be passed through the hand luggage X-ray machine. Was this little mite a ploy for drug smuggling? Despite my protests, through the X-ray machine he was pushed. My already low estimation of authority's rules and regulations plummetted even further.
There was a long wait at the airport and, unlike Simon who had slept soundly most of the time, Sasha was a wriggler. He climbed up on my shoulders and could not remain still. Once on the plane, however, as soon as the engine noise settled down in cruising mode, he fell asleep and did not wake until the sound changed as the plane prepared for descent. This would be a constant feature throughout his life. As long as the car engine was cruising, he was calm and quiet but when the gears were changed down on entering a town, he immediately sat up and was on alert.
His introduction to Tessa and the cats in the house was uneventful and he seemed to take that in his stride. The house now had a bearded collie once more!
No comments:
Post a Comment