Our Little Lady

Lady is my fur baby, in the shape of a golden Labrador. She is about two and a half (we think) and really is the perfect little doggy.

When we first bought our home in June 2011, I knew I wanted a dog. Jamie wasn't so keen on the idea. We both have grown up with dogs, and I knew that this is something I wanted for future children. So when we moved in I set about to plague Jamie... I constantly looked on websites looking into different breeds as originally I wanted a puppy. Jamie said no over and over again, until one day a caught him looking on our local Dogs Trust website. He was of the mind that rather than spending hundreds of pounds on a puppy, we could give a home to a rescue dog. He liked the idea of a grey hound, I wasn't so keen but saw my opportunity and took it! The following day we took a drive to the centre. There was loads of dogs, all different breeds there was even some spring/collie cross puppies! All of the dogs were lovely and it was hard to see why anyone wouldn't have wanted them.

Then I saw Lady. She was in a kennel with three other dogs, all who were barking like crazy, lady on the other hand was just wagging her tail! I immediately said to Jamie "I want that one" (in that stupid little Britain voice), Jamie too seemed keen. We read her little fact sheet, and it said she knew some of the basic commands, toilet trained, good with children but hated cats!!

We asked an assistant for more information and she told us that Lady had come over from Ireland and that's all she knew! We then asked if we could walk her, and she was a complete joy, full of beans and such a happy little lady!

When we came back for our walk we decided to go through the adoption process, and so we were given some information and some forms to fill out. We also had an almost interview to see if we would be compatible with lady. The whole adoption process took about two weeks. We had to have a home visit to check we had an enclosed garden etc, and we also had to visit lady two more times and take her for walks. Lady also had to be spaded, as this was another of the Dogs Trusts policies and so that took some time too.

But the day finally came and we got to take her home, we "Donated" £95 which covered her for all her costs and off we went! She was very curious, and didn't know how to get in the car, which was rather amusing, but as soon as she was in she settled instantly.

Once home we let he explore the garden, and then in the house, we let her explore everywhere. On the first day she was completely zonked and fell asleep on her bed in the evening. Later on when it was time for bed she followed us upstairs, and climbed into bed with us... We laid a blanket at the bottom of the bed and that's where she has slept ever since, which is nice when Jamie is on a night shift!

It soon became obvious that something wasn't quite right, she was constantly itching! It turned out that lady suffered from hay fever! So we now have to be extra careful in the summer with exposure to certain Grass and pollen and have to rub her down with a damp towel after walks!

When I found out I was expecting Darcie, I was quite nervous as to how Lady would react. She had already become such a big part of our little family that I didn't want her to feel pushed out! I went through a very sicky phase in my pregnancy, and each time My head was down the loo, Lady was right by my side.