When I first started to think about writing this blog, as is fairly obvious I hope from the name, it was on my mind that so many thousands of dogs were dying needlessly each year in shelters and pounds across the country. Realistically I can’t imagine it was ever likely that KiKi become a part…

When we adopted KiKi our motivations were not selfless, we were not “rescuing” her in the way that many dogs are genuinely rescued from being euthanised. Rather we were very, very specific. Rightly or not we had come to believe that we needed a new companion for Leica and that in a female Dalmatian we…

In the 1962 film, “The Manchurian Candidate”, one of the leading characters, Raymond Shaw (played by Laurence Harvey) returns from the Korean War, ostensibly as a hero. Behind this facade though, the darker truth is that he has been ‘brainwashed’ and will, when triggered by the sight of a Queen of Diamonds playing card, carry…

As Flash and Leica grew older we were not unaware of the fact that the day would come when we would lose one of them. Even as they passed into their second decade with us they remained lively and vigorous. Flash did, slowly at first, begin to show some signs that her age was telling. Never…

When we brought KiKi to live with us we did have at least half an idea what to expect of her. Putting aside her behavioural issues in the wider world, it has been  pretty entertaining getting to know her individual traits. She turns out to be far more ‘vocal’ than Flash or Leica have ever…

“Put to sleep”, sounds gentle doesn’t it? The heart-rending decision many people have to make to have their dog euthanised is perhaps deserving of a euphemism. We have never had to make that decision directly, the closest we came was when Martha’s Mother’s dog Nicky had become so ill that it seemed like the humane…

It was when we first came across ASH Animal Rescue’s website that we began to get a sense of the scale of the problems associated with dog welfare in Ireland. We had, quite frankly never given it much thought. Yes, we knew dog pounds existed, we knew rescue centres existed. We knew that unwanted dogs were…

We know little of KiKi’s past. Nothing at all really about her formative experiences. What we have seen is a dog whose behaviour can touch both extremes. Gentle, even docile, entirely at ease around Leica without a hint of aggression. Lively and playful, a little wilful, clearly pretty smart too. Everything we had hoped for, indeed expected,…

The past few days with KiKI have been difficult. Since her first outbursts on Sunday, she continues to be volatile in the presence of other dogs, Leica being the singular exception thankfully. A visit to Martha’s sister and her dog Barney seemed to start well, but quickly descended into a scrap. Neither dog was injured…

To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld as interviewed in the Errol Morris film, “The Unknown Known”, there are things we know, or rather understand, that we do not know about KiKi. There are too, things we think we know about dogs, about Dalmatians, that will be tested in the coming months. The test starts now. It’s Sunday morning…

On the journey back from ASH with KiKi, we go over the things we have read about how best to introduce her to our house, and how to manage her integration with Leica. We chose not to subject Leica to the eight or nine hour round trip by car when we collected KiKi. Instead, we’ve…

So. KiKi is coming home. We collected her today from ASH. The journey down to Wicklow seemed endless. When we arrived we found Remi, Helena and their volunteers swamped. Six dogs were to be rehomed today, including KiKi, while the rest of the dogs still needed to be walked and fed and tended to. KiKi…

We understand that KiKi’s rehoming will be unlike our past experience with our other dogs. The first three years after bringing Leica and Flash home had been a rollercoaster of learning on the fly. We were each used to having dogs around the house throughout our childhood, and we had read up on what we…

Having been to ASH and seen KiKi we knew we wanted to bring her home. Circumstances though did not allow us to take her then and there. A family wedding in England meant that we were scheduled to leave the country for a week just a few days later, and we knew that to bring KiKi home only…

We saw KiKi’s picture on the ASH Animal Rescue website on Friday. It’s too soon, we said. Leica will get better, we said. We’ll get better, we said. It’ll be fine. Well that resolution lasted all of about two days before we called them. “Is KiKi the Dalmatian still there? OK, we’ll be there on…

We spent a few days looking into the condition that had taken Flash from us. Canine GDV (Gastric Dilation and Volvulus), or ‘Bloat’ as it is sometimes called is a condition which affects many dogs, in particular ‘deep-chested’ breeds such as Pinschers, but not so often Dalmatians. Despite having had Flash & Leica for all…

In the days immediately are Flash’s death Leica seems completely adrift. She searches endlessly for her sister. On our morning walks she scents every stone and tussock where Flash has been. She stops and stares in every direction, we imagine hoping to catch sight of her. Confused, forlorn and distressed. Unable to make sense of the…

We read a lot about animal behaviour. Specifically about the effects of bereavement. It’s dangerous to apply human criteria obviously, to anthropomorphise. Still, we look at Leica and struggle with whether or not she really needs, or would benefit from, having a new companion. We talk to people in Dalmatian Welfare groups, at Rescue Centres….

In the twelve and a half years we shared with Flash, she and Leica had never been apart. When we decided to get a dog, we imagined, or more accurately, I imagined I wanted a male dalmatian. I had names in mind. He would be Ansel, or perhaps Minor. Named for one of my photography…

JULY 31st 2014. Flash died today. Our companion for more than twelve and a half years, gone. Just a few hours earlier we had, as usual been to the beach just before dark, then home for dinner. When she began to act strangely, seeming distressed, unsettled and anxious, we had no idea what she was going…