20/03/2023
❤️❤️❤️
Dear Flora,
Today is special. Today marks the day that you have been with us for as long as you were a kennelled breeding machine. You spent 5 years, 6 months and 10 days producing puppies, never having been walked, never living as a pet in a home. A commodity.
Today, you have spent 5 years, 6 months and 10 days as a loved friend. It hasn't been an easy journey. The early days were, in all honesty, tough. You were fearful and reactive (never aggressive, but oh the barking!). Everything took you a long time to learn. Housetraining, lead walking, recall (we didn't ever quite get that to perfection, did we little orange?), nothing came easily and the smallest thing sent you into a frenzy of anxiety and barking.
You still struggle, despite our very best efforts. Unknown big dogs are a source of huge worry. People crouching down, or having the audacity to be fishing. It's all a bit much for you.
But, you are always welcoming to incoming fosters, you look after them, you curl up with them. You accept them into our home without a murmur.
You are sensitive and intuitive and have often provided much needed love and comfort to both 4-legged and 2-legged family members.
Flora, you are amazing. At 11, you are still full of fun, but now the deafness is actually an excuse, not a pretence. Perhaps a sandwich short of a picnic, but who wants the sandwiches anyway?
We are so lucky you came into our lives. You are my heart dog and I love you completely.