Xena's Story Part I

This is the story of my dog Xena. Don't worry, its not an obituary, it is safe to read on without smudging your masscara. I'll try and do the story in several blogs otherwise you may fall asleep if I go on for too long.

It really is a story of a remarkable dog, I can't say that I fully understand the weirdness of what has happened to her, but I no longer worry and I no longer try to understand.

Ok - so here is Part One

Xena was born on the 21st June 2001. I didn't meet her until 19th January 2002. By then she was quite a big puppy and was causing chaos in the house that had her since she was eight weeks. They had bought her with her sister, who I think they called Misty. It was fine when they were puppies but as larger dogs they really couldn't cope with them both in a small house in Wareham so they advertised her. They chose to get rid of Xena rather than Misty because she was the most trouble, but they insisted it was because Xena had been chosen by the mum of the family and Misty had been chosen by the two boys and they didn't think it was fair to get rid of 'their' dog.

There are not many pictures of Xena in her youth - they are all blurred. She never stopped racing around.

So I turned up on a dark and dreary night in January, with two young children in tow. David was 5 and Lou was 3. We decided we wanted her straight away. They wanted us to take her then and there, so we did. We paid £100 for her and a very large cage.

That was the last time that she was shut in the cage with the door locked, until it was necessary that is. We kept it for a while as it was her 'bed' that she was used to. But we always left the door open.

When my husband left in March 2002 that was the last time that she slept downstairs - from then on I moved her bed next to mine and that is where she has slept ever since. She has never been an 'on the bed' sort of dog, she is too big and she also has more manners than that.

Then things started to get difficult.

 

Part II tomorrow