Having spent a long time looking for a dog with lots of local and UK national dog charities we accidentally fell upon the amazing team at SeBPRA. My partner Sarah has never owned a dog or really thought about pet ownership. The extended UK search exposed Sarah to a range of dogs from huskies through terriers to lurchers and whilst I fell in love instantly with any waggy tail she was less easily swayed. Having perused the SeBPRA website we could have had any one of the gorgeous hounds but speaking with the team we couldn’t decide on a breed. We wanted an older dog who had some house training but one young enough to go for a good run with me. We met an experienced Pointer owner who’s two SeBPRA boys were gorgeous and super boisterous – loved them but decided the work drive was probably a bit too much. Then we were told about Nico (now Watson) who had been homed in the UK but hadn’t been quite as chilled with the resident cats as first thought. So, an abandoned rescue……….eeeek. Let’s go and see him in the kennels he’s been placed out to. Swoon – Sarah falls for this little, skinny, meek wee Setter. He says hello so gently and we are straight on the phone to make sure we can have him. He comes home. He’s shy and super wary of everyone and everything. He doesn’t recognise his bed or what a toy is, god bless. He comes for a walk and we can see his passion for birdlife is there. Initial midnight woofs, early mornings and kitchen floor accidents are gone by day five. His bed is found and mornings move to seven. Cuddles on the sofa start to appear. His prey drive gets stronger and stronger but going for a run assuages this and he runs beautifully on harness and long lead. Five months later and he’s come to work with me nearly everyday, gets all the love he could ever need and ear strokes from everyone he meets. He’s great with kids of any size and totally chilled meeting other dogs, sometimes even a bit aloof. Recall needs work but he’s always come back. He interupts to get a cuddle if he’s being ignored without being aggressive. Watson (was Nico) is still a wee bit skinny but the bouncing running machine that’s all tongue and chase is sat under my desk totally chilling out as I type this missive. He’s so popular a work colleague has adopted a doppelganger from SeBPRA too. Listen to the team, read the bio’s and adopt a gorgeous Spanish hunter – you won’t regret it.
2020-08-13