Having grown up around various breeds of dog, I suppose it was inevitable that dogs would feature in my future quite prominently. As a teenager, most of my time was spent horse riding – love the smell of hoof oil and molasses. As time passed and I had my own children, it was a great surprise to find that my daughter loved riding as well and it was something we could do together.
I’ve been involved in dog rescue for some time now and though a founder of UK Spaniel Rescue, my preferred breed is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. We’ve always had dogs in the home for as long as I can remember and, whilst growing up with both dogs and horses, it was always going to be more viable to keep dogs! I have been the proud owner of several rescues in the past and am now currently owned by a Puggle, Lemmy (my husband’s dog, very much his dog to the point where he will completely ignore me if my husband is out), having lost Gypsy, Harley, Kizzie, Lili and Bella. In the past family dogs have also been an English Springer Spaniel, Dan (or Daniel the Spaniel) and E-Buzz, our rescue mutt.
For those who may not know me personally, I have lived in Freckleton for over 50 years. I have two wonderful children and one adorable granddaughter. All are also dog mad, especially Elsie my granddaughter, whose first words on waking now are, “Where’s Mabel?” (their Staffie cross) and with Mabel sulking in my granddaughter’s room until she comes home from nursery.
I enjoy visiting Crufts for the networking and supporting small businesses there and was thrilled that this year, my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter joined me with my granddaughter making her ‘debut’ with her audience participation piece hiding scented items for dogs. My daughter and I first visited Crufts with the aim of educating the owners of Staffordshire Bull Terriers on the sad consequences of not having SBTs tested for L2-HGA. A debilitating neurological condition found predominently in Staffords but occasionally in other breeds. We got to know many of the people who visited every year and so a precedent was set for Mother/Daughter time…now Mother/Daughter/Son in law/Granddaughter time!