World Animal Day

October 4th 2011 is World Animal Day, for the last 80 years, on the feast day of St Francis of Assisi the patron saint of animals, we have been celebrating and acknowledging the diverse roles that animals play in our lives.

“World Animal Day is intended as a day of celebration for anyone in the world who cares about animals. It is not restricted to any one nationality, creed, religion, political belief or ideology.”

I’m fairly certain I fit into that category of society - I’m an animal lover so I thought I’d take this opportunity to help publicise World Animal Day by telling you a bit about my new puppy!

As a child I lived on a small holding, we had dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits, sheep, horses, goats and even a cow called Lady Diana! Ever since I moved out of the menagerie that was my childhood home I’ve been desperate to fill my own house with animals!

I’m not the only one, we’re clearly a nation of animal lovers with 43% of us in the UK keeping pets and collectively as a nation we own over 7 million dogs! (dognews.co.uk)

I‘ve always wanted a dog, but the timing was never right; flat too small, redundancy threat, full time job, no garden, baby on the way. There always seemed to be a factor that stopped me. It’s because I respect animals so much that I know that you need to be in a position to properly care for them, it’s a big responsibility.

I’m now working from home, have a big enough garden and my kids are at school so it’s finally perfect. After a few weeks of hunting online (avoiding hideous puppy farms!) we found my cute and very bouncy new terrier, Bramble - now 7 months old.

It’s really important to do your homework when you buy a puppy or take on a rescue dog. You need to know it’s the right dog for your family and that your family is right for the dog. I’m really pleased with how Bramble has settled in but it’s been hard work and there have been a fair few “THAT DAMN DOG!” moments!

Puppy Truths

If you are considering getting a puppy just remember -

• Puppies don’t respect your stuff
• Puppies chew everything and anything
• Puppies pee everywhere and on everything
• You can’t leave your puppy alone for more than a couple of hours at a time
• Your puppy will be with you for at least 10 years of your life!

I really under-estimated the level of attention a puppy needs in the first few months - I was fairly strung out at times.

I forgive her all of the teething troubles as she is a fantastic addition to our family, the kids have great fun with her. She keeps me company during the day, she sits on my feet while I’m working and gives me a fantastic excuse to get outside for a walk and away from the computer not to mention the free therapy sessions, I’m fairly certain I’m not the only person that talks to their dog like they completely understand every word I’m saying!