by Carol
(UK)
I bought my first dog when I was aged 7. Polar was a whippet, so I believe she classed as a small dog. However, since that time all my dogs (until now) have been gun dog breeds, mainly spaniels with some spaniel/labrador mixes.
Our neighbor had a little dog - a Yorkshire Terrier - and it is a happy little thing that bit my husbands ankles when he went round to see them one time. Yuck! Give me a "proper dog" anytime, I used to say.
When we lost our last dog, Clover, we still had Skye, a Springer/Labrador mix. Normally we have two dogs at a time for company. 6 months after we lost Clover I felt ready to look at having two again. I hadn't actively started searching yet, but my husband came home from work, excited about a dog that needed a new home.
For three nights running he extolled the virtues of this "border collie". Knowing they are energetic, fairly large dogs, I was not convinced.
Eventually on the fourth day I agreed to at least go and look at this 1 year old brown border collie.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find a tiny brown and white Border TERRIER cross Jack Russell bitch. Not at all what I had been expecting!
I had to admit she was rather cute. It also turned out that as well as getting the breed wrong, hubby had also got the age wrong. She was not a year old, but rather just 6 months.
So with all these things against here - small, puppy, terrier etc, what on earth persuaded me to bring her home with me?
I fell for her charms immediately! She was cute, friendly, and wriggly. I couldn't resist.
After a couple of escape attempts we realized that our garden fencing was not up to the job, so some emergency repairs were undertaken. Skye had on occasion been known to jump over the fence, into our neighbors garden, but Poppy decided to go under it!
We also had a rule of no dogs on the furniture, but she didn't seem to take any notice of that. Her favorite place soon became my lap. I only had to sit down in the armchair in the living room than she jumped up and settled down in my lap.
One of her favorite occupations seems to be cleaning out our ears! She actually cuddles me! She is the most affectionate dog I have ever known.
I have to admit I have been won over by the smaller dog now. As we are both getting on in age, I think Skye may be the last of our big dogs, and next time we will look at getting one of the smaller breeds.