OKAY! Wow, do I have a lot to share with you guys today! First off, do you remember on Friday I promised you lovely lot that I’d share a tale that was so Homeward Bound-esque it would knock your socks off? Well today I’m going to tell you about it.

Let’s rewind back to August 2000. I was living with not-yet-born-Findlay’s Dad and majorly obsessed with guinea pigs and one day we went to East Kilbride to visit a guinea pig breeder whose parents also kept Jack Russells. It just so happened that they had puppies there ready to leave and even though in hindsight it was the WORST IDEA EVER, Alan & I fell in love with this litter of puppies. We picked out the weirdest looking Jack Russell you’ve ever seen in your life – she was almost exclusively brown & black brindle with a white chest and socks – and brought her home with us. We named her Penny.
Time marched on and a year after we brought Penny home, we brought Findlay home. Right from the off she was very patient with him and quickly became his greatest guardian after Alan & I. When Alan and I split up Penny stayed with me while Alan moved back to his parents house where he was prohibited from keeping a dog by the Factors in charge of the flats. Penny never wavered and was the shining star she always had been but with one single flaw – she was so protective that taking her for a walk with Findlay in the pram was impossible. Impossible. If anyone came near the pram, she’d go for them – never biting, but a dog of that size can bark extremely loudly and it’s intimidating. One warm spring day she did this to a young girl of maybe 7 or 8, wouldn’t come back to me and a passer-by remarked that if I couldn’t control the dog I shouldn’t have her. And he was right. Penny went to live with my friend and I never saw her again…

Roll on seven years to last week. I happened to mention on Facebook that I needed a filing cabinet and one of my friends suggested Gumtree. I’ve never really got into Gumtree but decided to have a look for myself, lo and behold the first advert I saw was this one. I nearly died. i was absolutely – absolutely – convinced it was Penny. I emailed Alan and asked him what he thought – he said he wasn’t sure but sent me this photo of Penny as a puppy:

I then sent an email to the advertiser explaining the story and to cut a long story short, we picked her up the next day. People keep asking me, “How do you know it’s her?” and I try to explain by pointing out her colour similarities, the fact that her age ties in with what the SSPCA estimated when they checked her over, how you simply don’t get Jack Russells with her colouring but above all – I just know. She’s gone grey around her muzzle and behind her ears, she’s older and a bit slower – but it’s her.

Photos from our trip to Calderglen park last night:

I can’t pretend that the timing was anything other than terrible for us to get a dog but as Bob conceded, knowing that Penny could be out there and not doing anything about it would have broken my heart. I count my blessings every day that I have such a wonderful husband who tolerates my whims, he is a wonderful man and I am very grateful to him for sticking around for this long!

I think I’ve babbled enough for just now anyway, I will be back tomorrow with a giveaway so make sure you pop back in

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