Say Hello to my little friend!

It has been almost two years to the day since we lost Baxter, our much beloved English Bull Terrier. Baxter had developed kidney failure, and it was so unexpected when we had to assist him out of his pain. As anyone who loves dogs knows, they are not merely dogs, they are so much more, a huge part of your family,  your life, and their unconditional love is second to none.    

To be perfectly honest although the pain of losing a best friend does improve over time I don't think you truly ever get over the loss. What tends to happen is you start reminiscing over all the good times and adventures you may have had and this brings a smile to your face.

The biggest drawback of dog ownership is that they do not live even half as long as we would like them to. That said I have done a bit of thinking on this and the way I figure is that if you can offer a dog a loving home, where he/she can live out their days, well you cannot ask for any more than that, as for a dog, its life will go by at a far different pace to its human companion, hopefully in the knowledge that it is one of the most precious things ever.

Neville & Glenn

So anyhoo, after a fair few months of pondering, "Should I or should I not" get another dog, my dad not being entirely convinced. I decided to bite the bullet and make the decision for both of us. Now I will be honest here, I wanted another English Bull Terrier; however, the cost of the breed has skyrocketed, and no matter how much I like the breed, call me tight, there was no way I was going to be paying upward of £2,000 to £3,000. I also looked at another breed I quite fancied, which was an Australian Cattle Dog, however, there weren't too many of these for sale, plus also expensive and upon research, they needed a lot of exercise and activities to keep them on the straight and narrow.

This is when I decided to start looking at a much smaller type of dog and researched Border Terriers. The size of the wee dogs, their appearance and character appealed to me, and so began looking.

All I said to Ern was, "Okay, I have arranged a viewing of a dog, over at Sunderland", and that was pretty much it. My dad, bless him, who has just come out of the hospital after being poorly with pneumonia, just went along with my plan, something he has done a lot more regularly over the years, instead of trying to convince me otherwise. I know a lot of people will say, and no doubt have "A very special Father". For me this is the case without a sdhadow of a doubt. I am so fortunate to have the Dad I have in my life. I am not just blowing his trumpet here, the number of people I get commenting on what an amazing, great, or special dad I have is unreal. Whether it is neighbours, people I bump into who know my dad or even like when he was in the hospital just the other week and the nurses commented "Your dad is mint, we don't want him to go, he can stay a few more days, as it's been a real pleasure having him on the ward".

Anyhoo I had arranged to pop over to Sunderland to go and view this 4-month-old Grizzle boy on Friday, however as I finished work on Wednesday I decided to send Joanne the owner a quick text message to let her know I was free and could call over anytime. Joanne got straight back in touch and said "Oh you can come over anytime", so following a quick cuppa, Ern and I were off over to Sunderland, following the Sat Nav directions.

We found the house with nee worries and outside were greeted by Joannes's friendly partner, who was in his backyard. I stepped out of Ern's car and greeted the friendly lad, and he replied, "Oh, are you here about the dog"? "Yes" I replied, and he then got up from where he was sitting and said, "Hold on a minute, he is just out back, I will go and get him for you". Well, when the lad returned holding this pup to his chest and then handed him to me, I could tell straight away what a friendly and characterful little chap he was. The Little dog instantly began wagging its small tail and, leaning in as it was half over my shoulder, nibbling my ears and trying to give me kisses. I think that was all the proof I needed that we would get on, and he would be coming home to become my best mate.

Neville & The Ern

My dad and I were then invited into the gentleman's house, and I got to meet Joanne. This couple were extremely friendly and offered good advice, informing me about the pup and his microchip transfer, the Kennel Club registration and whatnot. At the time, I was still holding the wee fella and asked my dad to take over, to which my dad replied, "Okay, I will go and take him and sit in our car". I was thinking "Bloody Hell man Ern I haven't even paid for him yet", so I could tell my dad was also enamoured by this little energetic bundle of fur.

Nev & My Dad

Upon paying for the puppy and getting a written receipt along with the relevant paperwork, I said my goodbyes, thanking Joanne and her partner, and then we were off shopping for puppy stuff. I had seen a small kind of dog house advertised at B&Q that I thought it would be a lot more suitable for under our stairs than the large crate that Baxter used to sleep in. On the drive from Sunderland over to Washington, I informed my dad that I already had a name picked out for our little lad, "Neville" I got the name from one of my favourite authors, Neville Goddard, and you know what, it just fits, with his personality and his looks. Whilst in the car, Neville was all over the shop, wriggling and trying to explore, with the odd jump to try and lick my nose or nibble my ears.

Upon arrival at B&Q, I popped the small collar and leash on that had been kindly provided, and whilst my dad went into the shop, I stood outside with Neville, whilst he bounced all over and  began running running circles on his lead. At least four separate people came over and greeted him, saying what a lovely puppy he looked, and I explained, "Ooh, I have just got him, we haven't even been home yet". I ended up having to order the dog house online as they don't keep them in-store. So it was back in the car, and now a drive to Durham and the Arnison Centre to Pets at Home.

Nev & Glenn

At Pets at Home the staff were all over Neville and one of the store assistants was super helpful in assisting me set up the app on my phone so that `I could get various discounts. We bought a new bed, a bag of puppy food, a Knotty bear, a puppy Nyla bone, oh and two small matching bowls. Then it was time for home.

Upon arrival back at the Johnstone residence, we introduced Neville to his new home. He was super excited and had a good sniff about, then like a good lad used our garden to go to the toilet. Neville also followed either my Dad or myself everywhere, he loves company and interacting with his new humans.

What a playful and friendly little bloke Neville is. I have already got in the habit of looking all around me before stepping off, as he is a lot smaller than what I am used to. As night approached, my Dad had unfolded the large crate and positioned it under our stairs. I popped Neville's new bed and mattress in and had to pretty much keep him held in place as I closed the door, then I placed a blanket over the cage to darken it and keep any drafts out. Man, Nev does not like being put in the crate. He instantly started crying, a range of squeaks and funny barks, actually betraying his small size. Neville's crying went on for some time, however, I left him, as I knew he wouldn't get used to his alone time andwhat would be eventually his safe space if I kept pandering to his outcries. Eventually, he settled down, and I didn't hear a peep out of him until this morning when I went to let him out. Bless him, his bed was wet, but he was so happy to see me at around 6:00 am this morning. I swear he was laughing and smiling, he has such an expressive little face, with what looks like a wee beard.

Letting Nev out, he immediately went into the garden for a wee and then at about 7:00 am I gave him some breakfast and we went for a little tootle around the block, where he was very well-behaved and fairly inquisitive. Getting back home after the short walk, we played some. Neville is brilliant in that you can throw his little new toy bone or his bear, and he will bring them back, so that you can throw them all over again. He also has one of the softest mouths and is very gentle. 

At just after 9:00 am, my friend John came down for me and we headed to our other friend, Lee. A long-awaited mini bike adventure was in store, so I had to leave Nev in his crate, as Ern had gone to get some wood to make some new gates for the front and back of our yards, and my son Kyle had just come in from a night shift. Anyhoo, Kyle rang me about an hour or so into my ride, asking when I was coming back. "What's the Matter like?" I asked. "Oh, Neville is crying", he said and "I'm trying to get some sleep". About fifteen minutes later, another call from wor, Kyle, " It's ok, I have got up and I am looking after Neville". Wor Kyle sat out in the front garden with Nev, and as I was returning home, I had this warm, fuzzy feeling, thinking I had this new thing in my life, weird, yet lovely. When I returned well I spent all day with him.

 

Neville is having a breather

Neville looks tired, I thinks

Neville is a clever little lad, he isn't perfectly house trained, so a few accidents, however in about a day of having him he will now pretty much sit on command. In fact as soon as he sees my hand reach into my pocket he sits and waits. I love his little face, especially his eyebrows as they turn up quizzically at times as if he is thinking of something.

It has been lovely to see my Dad interacting with Neville too, we had a lovely walk this evening, my dad holding Nevill's leash and directing him. We didn't go too far, just from ours over to Burnside and back. My dad has bought Nev an extendable leader and it was really funny watching him tear around the field on his little legs in typical puppy style, without a care in the world.

I haven't been able to get a great deal of photos, Bloody Neville won't stay still long enough.