from Linnet Loh
Some thirty years ago whilst lying in a hospital bed, one day post-op, my children rushed in and announced that “Aunty Doreen had puppies and Daddy says we can have one!” Well I would have agreed to a pack of fox hounds as long as they didn’t jiggle the bed.
That is how we acquired Anna, a beautiful fawn and white Italian Greyhound, just 12 weeks old.
Anna & Amber the Labrador
I really did not know anything about the breed. We had a cross breed before who we all loved dearly. Our youngest daughter was four, the time had come for another companion. My mother had thought about breeding from her Labrador bitch, a suggestion which filled my husband with gloom.
We required something small and without long hair. We already had a long-haired tortoiseshell and white cat, glamorous but very hairy. I had suggested a Whippet, I loved their elegance, but knew nothing about them as a breed either. A “something like a small whippet and so beautiful” ( husband), seemed to fit the bill. A suitable cardboard box was found and old cot blankets unearthed, Anna arrived.
She stole all our hearts, utterly sweet-natured and tolerant of the children’s demands, she took the children to school, shared her affection with all their class mates and had a run through the country park home. I found her a wonderful companion through the day, helping with the gardening or curled up with the cat, sunbathing. At night she chose to sleep with my teenaged son, even sharing his sleeping bag when on holiday.
Anna & Midge on Ivinghoe Beacon
We were so besotted that a year later Anna’s full sister from the next litter arrived. Midge was 8 weeks old and much smaller than her sister. Again pied, snowy white, only a fawn head with a small blob on her back. Quite different in temperament, rather shy and needing more cuddles.
A fortnight later her mother and the other two bitch puppies came to stay for two weeks. Anna decided that she should be mother. Bess retired to our bed upstairs. She said she had done her bit and that it was her holiday time. Anna came into milk and decided they needed nursing. The children were entranced, a lot of newspaper was required, I learned an awful lot in a very short time!
Hindsight tells me that if I tried to buy a puppy now with lots of love and such ignorance you would give me my marching orders. In future blogs I hope that I can point out all my errors and hopefully some tips on ” is an IG right for you, and are you right for an IG?!”
I still adore them, despite this afternoon the most recent member of the family stealing my glasses and I fear hiding them forever in the depths of the undergrowth called a garden. Do you recall the bit about a labrador? They retrieve!
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