Who are we and how did we get here?!

Molly is a Manchester/Patterdale/Lakeland/Parsons Terrier, well that's what we've guessed!  In short, a Terrier!  She was born in 2009 and spent the first 4 years if her life with the same person.  Sadly her owner died and the family didn't know what to do with her.  She was put into kennels for 2 months while they sorted the funeral etc then she came to live with us.

While Molly was going through all that I was having problems myself.  I had a breakdown and wasn't coping at all.  To be honest we weren't looking for a dog.  I always thought of myself as a cat person.  We had a dog already, a 10 year old Lurcher called Missy, who we'd had since she was 10 months old.  One day I got a call asking me if I could help out some one who was desperate to rehome their Parsons Terrier (Jack Russell!).  I thought about it over night and asked the family the next morning.  We decided we'd help them and take him.  I called them back and they said it was too late, they'd sold him on Gumtree.  So much for being desperate.

This was on the Monday morning and we'd got used to the idea of getting a second dog so not getting him kind of left a hole.  So I looked around for another small dog.  Every where I looked there was something wrong or they'd gone.  By the Wednesday I gave up looking.  I was very disappointed but took it as a sign I wouldn't be getting another dog.  Then on the Friday morning I got a call from some one I'd asked for help looking for a dog saying she knew of a terrier who was desperate for a new home and she thought the dog would need extra attention because of all she'd been through.  Next thing I knew we were in the car driving to Southampton (45 miles away!!) heading towards this terrier.

We arrived and as soon as I walked in the door I fell in love with her!  There was Molly, slightly underweight, lacking muscle definition in a lady's arms. She put Molly on the floor and she ran straight to me and wanted a fuss.  It was an instant bond.  There was no question, she was coming home with us.

On the way home.

We took her out to the car and she jumped in and the whole journey home she was stood on the seat with her front paws on the window frame watching the cars and world go by!  She was no bother.

From day 1 she was my dog.  She sat on my lap, cuddled me and cheered me up when I was down.  I was determined from day one I was going to take care of her and do the extra work.  So I started getting up early and taking her out for a walk.  I think to start off with we looked a sight!!  Molly had no idea how to walk on a lead and I had my walking frame!! It took a while but we got there and people got used to seeing us.  

The biggest problem we had at the start was Molly clearly hadn't had any training at all.  She didn't even know 'sit'.  She quickly learned 'sit' by copying Missy.  She learned not to pull on the lead and soon became very easy to walk.  Everything was going great.  Then Christmas came.

December 2014 Missy suddenly lost a lot of weight.  She was eating loads but still she lost weight.  We tried worming her, no difference.  It's hard to explain but she suddenly aged too.  She stopped running when out in the field, she walked very stiffly around the house and was asleep even more than normal (She was the typical Lazy Lurcher but this was even more so)  On Monday 22nd December 2014 we had to make the very tough choice and had to have her put to sleep.  It was heart breaking.  We'd got Molly thinking she had another few years with Missy, not months.  It wasn't a very good Christmas.  Molly kept trying t cheer us up but we could see she was struggling too.

It took 4 weeks before I could sit back and see Molly was ok.  We talked about getting another dog but I didn't want to because I was worried it would ruin the relationship Molly and I have, my husband wasn't sure because Molly is still a bit of a handful at times (Well she is with him! lol!) and my daughter said 'If it's meant to be the right dog will come along, so lets wait and see'  She's right.  Molly was the right dog at the right time. She's helped me recover from my breakdown, she helped us get over the loss of Missy and she makes me smile every day! 

Sat on Mums lap!

I look at the early pictures of Molly and see how much muscle definition she'd lost.  I take it being in the kennels she didn't get that much exercise.  I remember the first few weeks we had her she would shake at night.  It turned out she'd lost the strength in her legs and they were hurting after walking.  Now she's the proper shape!  3/4 walks a day and lots of running about the house have seen to that!  She's put on weight but it's not fat.

'Erm, Mol. I'm under here!' lol!

I made Molly a promise that she'd never go through all that again.  This is her forever home and she's my furbaby!  In return she gave me a look that says she promises to give me love and cuddles every day....



...and she has!!!