A New Place

We had been in our new home for a few days and I was worried. Change was scary, new smells, strange places, dogs and people I didn't know.

Worst of all, dad wasn't there! At first I thought he would come soon, but days passed without him walking through the door.

It made me very sad and I sensed mum was too, so I spent more time cuddled up to her.

She took me for walks and I investigated all the new smells. Strange dogs tried to speak to me, but I was scared again.

One day mum took me to a big park with two
dogs running around playing together. I wanted to join in, but what if they attacked me?

After a little while a lady came and sat with mum. She had one of the dogs with her and he looked like my very first friend. The lady did not look at me and her dog ignored me too. This confused me and I was not sure what to do.

Mum looked at me and told me to say hello. I had learned lots of words because mum and dad always talked to me. When she said that, I stepped towards the lady, who reached out her hand for me to sniff.

She slowly put her hand on my head and rubbed my ears. She liked me! Maybe her dog would too! So I took a step forward, stretching out my neck as far as I could, my body tensed so that if the dog snapped, I could turn and run to mum.

The little dog sniffed me back and wagged his tail, so I stepped closer. He still didn't attack me, so I went even closer. Then suddenly we were side by side, sniffing every inch of each other.

He smelled OK and I must have been alright for him too because he then tried to get me to play. Mum kept me on my lead, but she and the lady got up and we started to walk, this little dog trotting at my side, still trying to get me to play.

The other dog came over after a while and he seemed friendly too, but mum did not let me off my lead that day.

We met the two dogs on nearly every walk, then one day my lead was removed and we all played together. I loved to chase and my two new friends liked to be chased. Sometimes they would stop suddenly and we would end up in a heap of tangled legs, but it was fun.

The only blackspot was dad wasn't there and I missed him so much.

Mum had given me something which smelled of him. When I was at home, I carried it with me or slept with my nose resting on it.

She also took me to a new vet. This man I did not like and I didn't trust him either. He hurt me one day, he had given me what I now know was called an injection. He was moving my hips around and at one point he hurt me, making me cry. Mum spoke sharply to him and soon after we went home.

Then the most wonderful thing happened, dad came home!

I was so pleased to see him I couldn't keep still. He was trying to say hello, but I kept whirling in circles and jumping up at him. Every time he moved I was right at his side, after all, he had disappeared once, he might again.

He was still there next day, and the next, and the day after that. He was home for good!

We had been in the new place for a while, but all the boxes were still in one of the rooms. I stayed out of there, boxes meant change to me.

A few weeks later, mum and dad were talking and I heard the words 'new house', 'big garden', 'good for Charlie'. At the time they didn't mean anything to me, but that soon changed.

Dad took me out one morning and when we got back, men were taking the boxes and furniture from the house and putting them in a big van. Before long the house was empty and we got in to a car.

This time it was only a short journey before we reached a different place. We went in to a house and mum took me to the back garden. It was really big with hedges all around it. Although I didn't know it then, this was where we would always stay.

I was much braver now, so I made new friends quickly. Most of the dogs I met were really nice and I learned to avoid the less friendly ones.

Especially one! He hated every dog he saw, so mum and the other owners avoided him.

We settled in to our new surroundings easily. I loved the house. There were steps down to the garden and mum put a comfy bed at the top of them for me. I could lie there looking out over the valley and watch people walk by. My favourite place!

Mum had found a new vet too.

Shortly after we had moved, mum and dad had taken me back to the one I didn't like. When we walked in, there was a woman with him.

He gave me the injection then started talking to this other person. As he was talking, he started to pull my hips around. This time he hurt me so badly I howled in pain!

Dad leaped forward and pushed the vet, who then stumbled backwards away from me. Mum knelt down and put her arms around me while dad was shouting at the vet. We left, and never went back.

My new vet was much nicer. When he looked at my hips he was very gentle, and he always made a fuss of me. He also took more care cutting my claws.

Because of the way I had been starved before, my claws were in very poor condition. Sometimes all I had to do was walk across the floor and they would break off. Often when I was playing in the fields one of them would split, and it always hurt.

Poor mum was always running back to the vet with me to have broken ones removed. In time they grew stronger and the problems stopped.

My hips still hurt, but, as long as I didn't do too much, I could enjoy life and play with my friends. Life was great, I was healthy, I was happy, I was loved.

Then one day I fell foul of that dog.