12 years ago today........................

12 years ago today Ann adopted me.


12 years ago I was only 6/7 months old and I was the scariest, most frightened little collie in the whole wide world. I'd had a horrible start in life and before Ann adopted me and took me to my 'forever home', I'd been living in the RSPCA for more than a month while they made me better. I had fleas and worms and every other imaginable horrid thing that a neglected little collie gets and the first time Ann saw me she thought – what a pathetic little dog. I'd been having special saline baths every day and my fur/skin was all white and scaly and I didn't look anything like the gorgeous little collie that I am today.


I was so, so scared when Ann put a brand new collar & lead on me and took me away from the safe sanctuary of the RSPCA. I was sick loads of times on the way to my new home. But do you know what?........................ Instead of shouting at me and hitting me; when we got to my new home, Ann just said, 'Molly, I've got loads of old blankets and towels so whenever you're sick we'll just throw them away. You'll soon get used to the car and I'm going to take you to loads of really nice places.' It took me about 6 months of going out in the car every day before I stopped being sick.


At first I found it really hard being in a proper home with a nice owner. The RSPCA had told Ann that I was toilet trained. But I wasn't?!! Ann used to take me out for really nice walks but because I'd been shouted at and hit for toileting in the wrong places I didn't know where the right places were. I would go out for more than an hour and not have a wee or poo and then when we came home and Ann went upstairs I would go to the toilet on the living room floor because if she wasn't watching me, I didn't think she would know it was me. Obviously now that I am a big grown up mature collie, I know that Ann knows everything I do. But she never, ever got angry with me. She just used to clear up my mess, cuddle me and say, 'Molly, you've had a horrible life but this is your forever home and I just need to train you to enjoy it.'


Looking back, I did a lot of naughty things when I was younger. I chewed stuff. I chewed a lot of stuff. The worst chewing I ever did was chew all the knobs on the kitchen units. Ann had to replace them and it cost a lot of money. Oh & I also chewed up the application form to my dog training classes. Amazingly I still went to dog training classes for the first year of my life. Maybe Ann stuck my application form back together again??

I used to go ballistic at everything. Hoovers, the phone ringing, doorbells, men walking behind us, noises on the TV? Everything scared me.

….................Ann spent hours & hours on the internet trying to find ways to help me. She spent hours & hours crying because she didn't think she was helping me enough to become a perfect pooch. It wasn't like she'd adopted me on a whim. She'd thought long and hard and done a lot of research before she got me. She kept telling me that I was the most wanted little collie in the whole wide world. And yet I was so badly damaged it took me a long, long time to respond to all the nice things that Ann was doing for me.

Anyway 12 years on and I'm the most perfect little pooch in the whole wide world???

The only things I don't like these days are skateboarders, buses and posties. I don't think I'm ever, ever, ever, going to like skateboarders, buses and posties???

And todays Blip of me is in Braidburn Valley Park. I had to have my 'afternoon walk' in the morning because Ann went out for lunch and I only got a little 'on my lead walk' when she came home.


But do you know what?......................... it doesn't matter when or where I have my walks.

After 12 years; I know that Ann loves me and I love her too.



…..................I've got such a happy life now. xxx