Gone to the Dogs
The best day of my life was 14th October 1985...this was the day
that I was given my first dog, Meg. She was a tatty cairn terrier
with an obsession for squirrels and a mind of her own. I spent
hours and hours with that dog, walking and training in the woods
and fields nearby, before and after school. She was my companion
throughout high school, my camping buddy as I developed my love
for the outdoors and my faithful friend for 12 years. Many a bad
day was made alright when I took her for a walk and told her all
about it...my love for her confirmed to me that my heart has a
paw-shaped hole in it.
As a teenager, I worked at the local vets every Saturday; cleaning
up and helping out. I was obsessed with dogs, reading every book
that I came across and watching scant TV shows and films about
dogs whenever they were available.
I gained a psychology degree from Swansea; the lectures that
interested me were all about the psychology of animals. After
graduating, my interest in the outdoors took me in a different
direction; I joined an outdoor education centre in North Wales and
trained to become an outdoor pursuits instructor.
After a few fantastic years instructing children and teenagers in
the mountains, marriage forced my instructor husband and I into
“proper jobs”. I qualified as a teacher and we started a family.
Still enjoying the outdoors, my husband and I authored a walking
guide for all-terrain pushchairs...23 years later, the first of
my children are stretching their wings as they begin to leave home
and embark on adventures of their own. We’ve loved and lost dogs
along the way and each one has allowed me to build my knowledge and
skills as I've trained them and cared for them.
A wise friend once told me to keep a dream on the back burner, ready
to be fanned into life the day my first child left home. So here is
my dream...that I've “gone to the dogs”...being led by four paws
into my next adventure. X
