The pitter-patter of tiny paws...

...or possibly not so tiny! As this is the doggy I've fallen in love with, and he's not that small.

 

With my friend and neighbour Angela, I am planning to adopt a dog from Battersea Dogs Home. We're going for a sort of time-share arrangement, where I keep the dog with me during the day, and she takes it for evenings and weekends.

 

We've been for our interview together (they're very strict about making sure their dogs go to the right sorts of homes at Battersea), and now I'm getting a visit from the dog lady, and I am as nervous as anything! She carries out home visits on behalf on Battersea Dogs Home to make sure you're a suitable carer for a rescue dog.

 

I'm nervous because Angela and I are NOT your normal dog-adoption couple, and neither of us has a normal lifestyle:

- First off, we don't live together and we're not a couple. Both of us are married, and live with our respective husbands. She lives about 50m from me.

- Secondly, I've already got a cat (called Bob). So we need a friendly non-cat-munching sort of dog.

- Thirdly, we live on boats, and they're proper boats, not your giant static-houseboat things.

- Fourthly, neither of us has owned a dog previously.

 

However, I think we've got the following things in our favour:

- We are mad keen to have a dog and have done lots of research and put an awful lot of time into planning how we're going to manage it. I've even got new steps so that a dog would be able to get onto my boat very easily (not to mention, it'll make life easier for me too!).

- Between us, we can give a dog that needs a home almost 100% contact time. It'll never have to go into kennels when one of us goes on holiday as the other one will take over, and is likely never to be left alone for more than about an hour.

- We have experience of acclimatising another pet (Bob) to life on board a boat, so we can do it with a new dog too.

- I'm very keen on dog training (always have been, even though I've never had a dog! Weird, I know), so I'm happy to take on the responsibility that this entails.

- I have been talking to Bob Cat, and think I have persuaded him that it's a good idea and that he'll still have space of his own, and won't have all his food stolen from under his whiskery little nose.

 

So, I'm going to spend this evening making my home look dog-friendly. Wish me luck!

 

 

Tam @ Joint Equity Owner Team

Joint Equity Blogger

www.jointequity.co.uk