How much is that doggie in the window

Today our house took on a new warmth, a new little life has entered our family and already our hearts. Bosca the little brindle staffy chihuahua cross.

So we left the house at about midday with a sense of excitement, nervousness and anticipation. Would we find the right kind of pet? Would we find what we are looking for? Would the reality of looking after a dog be too much?

So to Sheneton Park Dog Refuge we went. We entered the compound, and made our way into the tiny office block. After a brief conversation with the lovely staff we were given a map of which dogs where were and sent on our way, making a bee line for the small dog kennels.

I was actually surprised by how many small dogs they had, a few of which we were interested in. One little guy called Charlie took our interest first. He was a fox terrier X and about 18months old. Between each kennel, or run there is a piece of poly pipe in the wall to allow water to drain out, and we watched as he squeezed himself through the poly pipe into the adjacent dogs run twice.

Also a quiet tiny Jack Russell called Virginia took our fancy. She was very small and fine, looked quiet relaxed and docile. So we went back to the office to find out more about these two doggies. Here we learnt Virginia was quite sick with a lung infection of some kind, and thought better of that as we can see ourselves affording large vet bills.SO next onto Charlie who from what the lady read to us sounded fine. A little bit of a terror, but noting I didn't think we could deal with.

So we told the lady we'd like to explore the Charlie option more and she gave us some forms to fill out. In no time all the questions were answered and the forms handed back, we were then requested to wait for one of the dog handler to come and talk to us about how well we would match Charlie and visa versa. So we sat and waited, talked of Charlie and how he might fit in.

To our disappointment the lady advised us he needed to be homed with someone who is home all the time, and that we wouldn't be suited to him. At first I felt really upset that they didn't think we'd be good enough for him, but after the emotion died down I could see the reason in her decision, and I could see Tony was kind of relieved not to get him. I think Tony wasn't prepared to have to deal with such an excitable dog.

She said she'd keep our info on file and that new dogs come in all the time, so we can come back from time to time to see if any more suitable dogs. We thanked her and decided to go back for a second look, and that's when we not only saw Charlie escape from his run all together and do a runner (dodged a bullet there), but we also came across Bosca. She was sitting quietly in her run, watching as people came and went, generally being calm and well behaved.

Now Bosca is not the sort of dog we had in mind, we both went in there thinking we'd get some sort of Jack Russell type thing, and Bosca certainly isn't one of those. So a Staffy Chihuahua cross sounds like an odd mix doesn't it? So she has a chocolate brindle coat, and is stocky and short like a staff, but she has a pretty sweet face which has the chihuahua characteristics. She's very gentle and kind, sweet natured and loving. I think she's going to be just like one of the family.