There was a time my world consisted of nothing more than the four walls of my kennel and waves of puppies. People would come to clean, wash and service me but not to give me love. They would bring food and tend to my babies, eventually taking them away to places unknown. I would have little time to mourn their absence when more would come. This was my life for years. Was it seven? Was it nine? Who knows, it was just always. And then one day someone came and got me and then, eventually, brought me to Mary. I had a new name, one I didn’t yet know, and arrived with no expectation that my life would be different than it had ever been. Very soon I began to see that it would be very different indeed.
Here, I have learned to play and to run. I have met my nemesis, the squirrel, and I have found in Odin, not just a brother but also a best friend. Together we roam the vineyard in search of squirrels and, although not quite as keen to get them as I am, he does his very best, just as a bestie should. From Mary I have learned that people can be good and kind and not at all what I previously thought and with each passing day I become a little bit more brave around them. Mary pets me and hugs me and lets me have my own chair. She has given me a home where I am loved and cherished and, for the first time in my life, I feel the joy and excitement of just being a dog. I am Erin.