Some years ago I was contacted by a lady who begun the conversation then broke down in tears, this happened a few times till eventually I was able to find that she had lost a most beloved Labrador we will call him Dillon and Her name Eileen.
Eileen decided she wanted to offer a home to another yellow male Lab he had to be young she was quite specific in that ,as is typical we didn’t get any in rescue all being blacks or chocs or females,I used to enjoy our chats and felt I also helped her get to come to terms with the loss of her beloved dog.
One day I had a call about a Yellow female Lab called Pippa,sadly Pippa had been badly abused, burned on her face and neck with cigarettes, punched as well so much so she had a hemorrhage in her eye.
We managed to rescue her and the same day Eileen rang for a chat I told her about poor Pippa and without hesitation she said bring her here.
I didn’t need to be asked twice and I tool Pippa over to her, so even though she was the exact opposite of what she had wanted a female nnot male a six year old not young Pippa came to stay.
Strange things happened for instance Eileen told me that Dillon would always jump up at ten pm when the news came on so he and Eileen could go for their last walk, the very first night Pippa did exactly the same, Eileen was amazed, she then told me that she had left all Dillon’s toys exactly where he had left them, his most favorite one Pippa found and that became her favorite too, there were many coincidences to follow, I said maybe he is trying to let you know he is still with you.
I always think things happen for a reason which brings me to this Story,
for those that don’t know Our beloved Ned our (GWP)German Wirehaired Pointer Died this year he had cancer and at only 4 and a half years old, Ned was a big character he had a special look for everything he was thinking, he was not outgoing with people he didn’t know but he loved his friends and adored his family ,GWP are not like Labradors in any shape or form where a lab will go with the flow GWP are sensitive do not like to upset the owners/family or harsh words or shouting, they are capable of protection and will send away the scary monsters so brave as well, he was good with our other dogs but not in a close way like the girls will all snuggle up together Ned would not he would be with us or on his own.
Ned had the most gorgeous hairy face he would look at us with his “Diana” look beautiful eyes so expressive.
When we found out he was dying it was grief from the word go like my heart was being squeezed and turned and lumps in my throat I would find myself dripping tears whilst shopping or driving and raged at the unfairness of it all.
When we lost him ten weeks later the world was a bleaker place I went round in a daze .
One Day I went to see my friend at her local boarding kennels I happened to bend down to tie my laces, I looked up to see a face looking back, for a moment I was transported I was looking at Ned, but not Ned this was a big black dog, I went to see him he weighed me up just like Ned would a stranger, I asked Heather what kind of dog he was she said he is a Giant Schnauzer ,I asked what he was like in temperament she said he was lovely a big teddy bear of a dog with huge paws, of course he belonged to someone so I couldn’t take him home nor was I ready for another dog.
I told Sam about him, I said he is so like Ned but not a GWP.
I looked on the internet and read about the breed, I took Sam to see the one at the kennels and we both stood and said he is so gorgeous.
All this time nursing a broken heart I looked at pictures of Ned as a puppy Ned as an Adult.
I found a litter of Giants and also that there was a black dog puppy left, we did some heart searching and we decided that we would like the dog puppy, we didn’t see him yet we had to wait which was good, we could see him in 3 weeks.
We got ready on the day to go and there were the pups one pup stood out to us he had a fleck of grey on his chin and on his chest the others were all black, we chose him and chose the name Gollie, we met his mum his dad his gran and granddad all fantastic characters, we had to wait two more weeks and counted the “Gollie days” I looked again at the photos of Ned as a pup he had a grey fleck on his forehead, I remembered him being very aloof with us when we went to get him four and a half years ago he cried all the way home (5 hours) but when he bonded with us we were his people, when we picked Gollie up he was the same It has taken him a few weeks to bond with us, he does the strangest things for a young pup he lies in the same place Ned used to lie, he has the same ways and he is so gorgeous, I remember I used to call Ned the Omar Shariff of the dog world, I am not sure what star Gollie is yet, I used to say that if Ned had been a man I would have married him .
So In a way I am sure that in some part we have found beloved Ned again even if he is “in the Wings” and Gollie is here we will see and we will know either way he will be loved and cherished all his life just like Ned.
Oh and everyone who meets him loves him and so do the Girls Betty (BT), Nell (Lab) and pat the pug.
Does anyone else think that our pets don’t really leave us or have a way of coming back?
Ned Puppy
Happy Gollie day
with the girls
It wasnt me Mum
Beloved, most bloved Ned
I was doing the stairs (I like to use the hard brush to clean em!) 
I cried even more, so he nudge me more.
) - its lovely to see pictures of Gollie and his family.
most of our back garden is migrating into the house!!