Dear Prudence

Pru had apparently been found in a ‘puppy farm’, and after much negotiation the woman who had taken pity on her managed to extract her from the awful predicament Pru was in, but not before having to part with £300. Unfortunately, though (and after around eight months of trying) it became painfully clear to her new carers that Pru could not stay with her new family due to a combination of there being lack of space, an elderly collie and two small children sharing the house with her. The collie found her too boisterous and Pru (being a rather stocky individual) had a tendency to flatten the children with her lovable greetings. The woman who had rescued her could not find anyone else to take Pru on and eventually came to the decision that she would have to ask the vet to administer the final injection. However, the vet felt that she was just too lovely a dog to be destroyed, and contacted the North Devon Animal Ambulance to see if they could take her. And, of course, they did.

However, the organisation also found that it was difficult to re-home her due to her mixed breed. Perhaps prospective adoptees were confusing one half of the mix with the more infamous English bull terrier or just thought her appearance was intimidating. Who knows? But no-one was interested.

Anyway, Jon, Graham and I were all immediately taken with her when we went to see her on Tuesday and all at CFZ HQ were really pleased when Myrtle Cottage was given the all clear after the necessary NDAA inspection. So we are now fostering her for a couple of weeks to see how we all get along.

Our main concern was how she would get on with the cats as there was no way of knowing how she would react in their company. It became perfectly clear from the start, however, that she was completely uninterested in Helios, Spider and Poppy, although they were all suitably wary of her appearance. Since Wednesday evening’s sudden disruption to their relaxed routines, Helios and Poppy ignore her by giving her a wide berth. But Spider has been rather more forthcoming. Over the last few weeks he has adopted a rather alarming chauvinistic attitude towards the female of his kind and gives the impression that he thinks Pru is a rather large female cat. He has stalked her twice and deliberately tried to pick a fight on each occasion, but much to his mortification, she has completely ignored his show of misplaced machismo.

Pru is extremely loving, is as soft as butter, and adores human company. She has taken to following me everywhere and bumbles along peacefully on her walks. She enjoys nothing more than to go for a walk and then sprawl herself on the chair to snore contentedly and very loudly. And today she even smells a little better than when she arrived on Wednesday evening - she had the suspicious aroma of old, dirty socks or, to put it another way, was rather ripe. Oll volunteered to give her a shower and although she didn't seem particularly thrilled at the prospect, she made no fuss at all. I had visions of poor Oll being left prostrate on the wet, slippery bathroom floor while she made a dash for freedom at the first opportunity trailing a cloud of bubbles behind her.

She does not seem to have been taught the basics like sit, down and stay and does not even seem to know what a toy is, bless her, but hopefully all of these can be taught. All of us here hope that we can adopt her and give her a happy and peaceful life.