Spot (Stress Consultant)
Spot came to us as a rescued dog at the age of a year. Originally called 'Ricky', she was renamed Spot as it was more
appropriate for a dog owned by Janet and John. After a life of being stuck in a 10 by 5 foot garden, she discovered the joys
of mud, the beach, rabbits, squirrels, mud, the fields, deer, mud, pheasants, the woods, badgers and mud. (Other delights included
bones, pork pies, toast, sausages, jumbones, chewy sticks and any food other than dry biscuits).
For the first five years taking her for a walk was
a bit embarassing as she was usually a mile away, either racing along the beach or exploring somewhere in the woods. She was
almost impossible to photograph as the pictures would inevitably come out blurred especially her 'clockwork' tail when rotating
in 'super-wag' mode.
Spot is very gentle. Whilst she enjoys chasing deer and rabbits, when she catches up with them she just runs along side them. One rabbit saw Spot running alongside and stopped as did Spot. It looked carefully at Spot and slowly walked away and so Spot went looking for another one. Some years ago, we used to come across the same group of four deer evety day and Spot would give chase and disappear into the woods. Once the four deer crossed the path in front of me at a fast walk with Spot trotting in the middle wagging her tail, happy to be part of the herd.
We got her a 'puppy' (Topsy) whom she adored on sight. She is a patient and devoted mother and
acts as Topsy's doorbell, barking to let us know when Topsy is waiting at the door. They still play happily together though
she gets upset when Topsy kills mice and other creatures. One year Spot brought four baby hedgehogs to the back door,
(carrying them in her mouth!) to protect them from Topsy.
Since Jack-the-Undead-Cat arrived, Spot acts as a referee and scolds them if they swear at each other. She has slowed down a bit now she is approaching ten but continues to offer stress reduction sessions involving long walks in the countryside. Spot is the enternal optimist and cannot envisage life as any other than fun - like running through a wheat field and 'kangeroo-ing' to see where she has ended up!
