Dumped dog - fate or what?
Just thought you dog lovers might like to hear this. Some time ago, I was ready to go to work when I noticed what looked like a football in the hall. When I went out, I found a black and white cocker spaniel curled up on the mat. I brought her in and rang the dog warden, who told me that I could keep her if no-one claimed her after 6 days. She was spotting blood, so I assumed she was coming into heat. That was on Wednesday. On Sunday she began vomiting and I took her to the vet, who diagnosed acute pyometria and did a hysterectomy. She recovered well. We later worked out that she must have been a gun dog - very placid, never barked, not house-trained, loved to retrieve and sit across my feet with her catch, and carry bottles, stones etc. She was also quite old and missing a few teeth, and her coat was ragged and unkempt. The groomer did a lovely job with her.
I had to go away a month later so I took her and my other dog to my brother's house for their 'holiday', as I always do. She came into her own there, learned to bark (though never house-trained). We call her 'The bone collector' as she loves to surround herself with her treasures - bones, apples, stones, bottles, and learned to bark, tentatively at first, but now quite full-voiced. She is still there, ecstatic to be in the country. Thank you, brother!
The mystery is how she came to be in my hall - I live in a townhouse, nowhere near farms, moors or places where she could retrieve. I don't think any of the neighbours would have kept her either. Fate or what?