When Herbie our family dog died we as a family was lost, we had spent 13 1/2 years with our dog going on walks day trips holidays & shopping, as a dog he was great with the kids and they all loved him but he was a nutter.
A few days after Herbie had died the children started asking for another dog, we were not sure as having a break from a dog was good but we kept looking around the house and remembering him, we would step over where he slept, we would look around to see him when we cooked, we call for him to clean the dining room floor after dinner, we would see his corner when we sat and watched T.V.
Good old Covid, it shut the world down but also it seems the dog charities, we believed if we were to get another dog we want to offer a home to a rescue, so we as a family hit the internet and searched the web for local dogs who needed rehoming.
After a couple of hours, we realised that a lot of these charities had not updated their websites, and each dog we requested information on had been rehomed, then to add to our frustration a lot of the dogs couldn’t go to a home with small children!. It was getting ridiculous all we wanted was a dog and how hard could it be?
After sending many emails to many dog trusts (as well as the dog trust) I finally got an email back from the greyhound trust, in fact I got 2 one from the head office explaining that due to Covid they were struggling to rehome dogs and maybe I should try a local group …. bla bla bla and one from a local group who were all to happy to help and could we have a chat about what we were looking for and our situation.
We arranged a call and then we spoke. For about an hour and a 1/2 I chatted to a lovely Lady who was so passionate about greyhounds and understood where we were with our situation after loosing Herbie, but sadly she did not any suitable dogs at the moment as she ran a small unit but she would call as back when a dog was available.
Two weeks went by and then we got the call, we were to meet 2 greyhounds and see how we go.
When we arrived and the kennels surrounded by beautiful countryside we introduced ourselves and then met the dogs. Because of Covid we only took the 2 eldest children and straight away the boys fell in love with all the greyhounds they met then the 2 that they had to rehome came out.
Kelly & Brandy were the dogs which we met, we walked them both and if we could have taken both of them we would of, Kelly was very shy and timid but Brandy bounced right up to “G” and then “G” fell in love with her.
We had to make a decision, there were other visitors coming (and as we were leaving the next appointment showed up) we proberly drove 10 meters up the road and “G” said I want Brandy! we called right away and Brandy was resurved.
A week later we had the most bazaar experience, to check we were suitable we had a home visit from another lovely lady from the greyhound trust who brought her dog (he was a beast of a greyhound, but an amazing although the size of him!)after chats and a tour of the house we passed and waited for when we could pick Brandy up.
The phone rang, it was the Trust, “Sunday, this Sunday!” yes, I screamed and suddenly the sadness lifted from the house and the children one by one got the news via jungle drums. the whole process had taken a month but now there was love filling the house again, we were to meet 1/2 way at a motorway service station and Brandy would be ours.
4 months down the line we have seen a racing greyhound change our lives, we can never forget or replace the love for Herbie but we can love again and have new adventures and slowly Brandy is turning into our family dog, we have a lot still to do and Brandy is having to learn how to be a pet but its going well although boy she can shit and sleep all-day but she is lovely (although she does like to chew baseball hats and pencils when she is having a bitch!)
