I have always lived with dogs. Farm dogs when I was growing up. My first puppy when I was 12 – a black Labrador cross called Pip, whose ear I marked with a bit of red nail varnish when I chose her from a litter of identical puppies. Pip was a very uncomplicated animal, sweet-natured and eager to please.

My first as an adult was, and still is, Wolfie (right). I got her as a seven-week-old puppy, instead of a third child. Chris knows how to drive a bargain. The Wolfer was, and still is, a dream dog so I was secretly a little nervous about welcoming another pup into our home. How could they ever live up to Wolfie? Would they chew our shoes and bark all night? Happily, we have lucked out yet again.

Araminta Brightingale aka Minty aka The Mintus aka Oodleberry is everything that a puppy should be. Cheeky, mischievous, full of energy, bright and eager to learn. This is India’s puppy so she is taking a lead in training. But I get to dogsit during school-time and everyone in the family is smitten.

What makes Minty even more special is that she was abandoned with her seven brothers and sisters at the local dog refuge so we have no idea what her mum and dad look like. A wonderful foster mum raised them for the first months of their little lives and all eight Blonde Bombshells were adopted immediately. We were incredibly lucky to get this one – the smallest of the litter but only in size.

As Charlie Brown once said, life is definitely better with a dog. And although a dog is for life, not just for Christmas, it’s jolly nice when both happen at the same time. Merry festivities everyone 🙂

Filed under: Happy Coulson

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!