This post is part of the A to Z Challenge.
Right from my very first camping weekend back in 1997 I've always been accompanied by a couple of four-legged friends. The first two were Skippy, my own little white Jack Russell, and Sandy, a little brown Jack Russell/mongrel rescue dog belonging to my then partner. They went on many camping trips with us and loved it so much that on going home day they would stage a sit-in on some of the camping stuff to stop it from being packed away. When Skippy sadly died in early 1999 her place was taken soon afterwards by Sugar who was only eight months old at the time; she became a good companion to Sandy and took to camping like a duck to water.
In March 2003 two dogs became three when Sam came along; he was a German Shepherd/Border Collie rescue dog and at only four months old was a complete clown but loveable with it. He soon got into the camping way of life though and was always happy whenever we took him on the beach. Then in January 2006 Sandy passed away; she was almost twenty years old and had camped with us for nine years. So we were back to two again, with Sam and Sugar continuing to enjoy our camping trips and being constant companions to each other.
April 2009 saw my partner disappearing for new horizons and taking Sam with him, something which had a profound and detrimental effect on Sugar. She went off her food, didn't want to go for walks, and was generally a very unhappy little dog, so something had to be done, and soon. Enter Sophie, found on the internet and my third little Jack Russell. She was with a family who lived in south Derbyshire and I couldn't drive at the time so a friend took me down there, and the minute I saw her I knew I was bringing her home. Small and dainty she definitely had the cute factor, and though she still looked like a pup she was actually just one day away from her second birthday. Sugar accepted her new friend straight away and went back to being the happy little dog she had always been; Sophie took to camping and the rest, as they say, is history. The two of them are constant companions both to each other and to me, and camping just wouldn't be the same without them!
My parents have a huge white Alsatian who is the softest thing known to man. I think he might look betrayed and unsure if taken camping :). He does love long walks though.
ReplyDeleteYour parents' dog sounds gorgeous, I love white Alsatians. A friend of mine had one years ago but he was never really white as he loved getting dirty while out on walks!
DeleteDon't know how our little sheletie would miss me but he always greets me enthusiastically when I come home.
ReplyDeleteI always think that a house isn't a home without a pet of some kind, especially a dog. Sometimes after a bad day at work the greeting a dog gives you when you get home somehow makes everything seem much better.
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