In retrospect it was extremely irresponsible of them to simply let us take a dog with no assessment, no house-check and no matching to make sure we knew what we were getting ourselved into. And so we arrived home armed with Alfie, a borrowed lead and collar, a bag of dog food and no real idea of how to look after, train or settle in a rescue dog.
I fell in love with Alfie the moment I met him and he is such a lovely dog. Now that we've got to know him we realise that he's a daft, gorgeous boy and when he's good is simply fantastic. I love taking him out for long walks, I love going to dog training classes and I love it in the evening when we sit watching tv and he is curled up in his bed.
But he also has problems, he's a rescue dog and is very clingy. He's not yet a year old and is a very big but playful puppy and can be rather naughty. I did say that I wanted a dog with character and he is a character! I kind of find it funny when he jumps on the sofa and looks at me with a defiant look in his eyes and refuses to get off. And it's funny when he's had his food and then stands in the hall and howls for a few minutes because he wants more.
Our problems come with the fact that Rob is home alone with him during the day and is finding it hard to cope on his own. Neither of us has owned a dog before and we suddenly have this needy big dog who is not only a handful but needs training and discipline. When Alfie gets excited and plays, he hasn't been taught that mouthing isn't on and so can jump up and bite when he gets excited. He doesn't seem to do this to me and poor Rob cops it each time. He's not an aggressive dog, he's just excited and wants to play but doesn't know how to do it gently. I'm not even going to go into Alfies dislike of the vet (both of them) and having his back-end examined or interferred with..
We are on such an emotional roller-coaster as we both have fallen in love with him but it often feels like we are so out of our depth and far from our comfort zone that he's nearly gone back four times now. Things have been bad and we've decided that he has to go. But then he is good and we both love him so much that we decide to give him another chance.
At this moment he is due to go back to the rescue tomorrow morning and both of us keep crying and getting so upset about it. I really really don't want him to go, but it has to be the right decision. We are so unexperienced at dog training and we don't want to let him down. He needs someone who knows what they are doing because if he doesn't get the right training soon he'll be an adult dog who bites and then he'll never get a proper home.
But then he looks at me with his big eyes and comes over for a fuss and my heart breaks. I can't bear the thought of driving him back up to Cambridgeshire and leading him from the car back to the kennels. And then leaving him in a cage on his own. I've always wanted a dog and for the last three weeks I've been so happy to have this wonderful creature as part of my life.
We love you Alfie xx
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