002 Rio

"Rio"

In the inbetween time we got a dog. His name is Rio, he Romanian and even has his own passport. He is not everything we hoped for but we try our best to help him get over his own fight or flight issues. He is a rescue dog who saw maybe too much in his first 4 months of life before the long trip to Scotland. We know for example that one of his siblings escaped from his cage and his life was ended too shortly as a result by way of bigger more dangerous dogs. We will never know what he saw or heard but the effects are obvious. He is now over a year old but still not bonding with us. When we are out and come home he is a typical energetic licky pup bouncing our height- almost. By contrast at night he can be an unpredictable monster who attacks at will. Maybe something to do with the dark. Maybe a memory of screams in the night. We will never know. In day time he is better but he can out of the blue just turn when his space is invaded or he has magpied something he should not have.

Why go abroad for a dog? It turned out to be our only option at the time. We tried the Dog's Trust and various other shelters but if it was not the lack of a garden it was the age of the children that got in our way. My wife was determined. When she turned 50 she used the money she got to buy the pup she wanted. Its still early days. The dream of going for long walks with the dogs or even the kids taking him out have unfortunately not come to fruition. He is aggressively scared and strong with it making walks anything but a joy. But he is young and some people I have met have told me he may yet improve. There is still time.