Hi everyone, I hope you don’t mind me posting again over 13 years since my first and last post.
What a wonderful time we’ve had as a Cocker Spaniel / human family in that short time with our two cockers Lucy and Denzil.
Or daughter grew up and got married, then Denzil broke our hearts when at the ripe age of 14 he said goodbye, our first grandson was born and became a replacement playmate to Lucy who taught him how to walk on all four legs and they even shared their food together!
Then a year ago literally out of the blue my wife and I were both offered jobs near the south coast in a beautiful part of the country, an opportunity too good to pass up. We let our home to our daughter and her family and found a house to rent but then as Lucy was ready to join us she became quite ill and once again we had to make the hardest decision and once again our hearts broke as we said goodbye.
We’ve been without our best friend beautiful Lucy for almost a year now and 3 years since we said goodbye to Denzil who rescued us when he met met him on this site all that time ago.
My wife Chris and I have had a very tough time getting over losing Lucy especially as we live surrounded by fields and long country walks and just 5 miles away from dog friendly beaches. Three of my new colleagues have got new puppies since last Christmas which has not helped.
Then a fortnight ago my wife called me at work and said she had a message from our landlord... Fearing the worst I couldn’t think what we’d done wrong and why he would call but then Chris said “Great news, we can have a dog!”
I had no idea she had even asked, but to be honest I’m still torn.
We often take a nice walk with the South Downs on our doorstep or first thing on a Sunday morning along the Sussex Coast and we always say how lovely it would be if we had a four legged friend to share it with.
One problem...
Wife and I are both part time with a mix of shifts, I walk home (10 mins) every lunch hour so any dog will be left alone just over 4hrs but for only 2 days per week or occasionally 3. It may only be 10mins over the four hours but rehoming charities like SpanielAid are very strict and rightfully so.
We never left our dogs alone for more than 3 hours before but I worked lates and Chris worked the early so I don’t have any problem with that rule and it’s one of the reasons a puppy is not suitable.
Should we wait until we’ve more time to give or do you think our working hours are not suitable?