Dear Editor,

I am emailing in response to your article, ‘Sometimes a dog really can be just for Christmas’. Having been the proud owner of a Springer called Dougal, I understand exactly what you were going through. I also know how attached you can become and how hard your decision must have been.

Over two years ago, my husband and I had just moved in to our new house and decided that the logical next step was to introduce a canine companion. Having both grown up in households that always had a resident dog we refused to listen to the advice of parents and launched full steam ahead in our search for the perfect puppy. Sure we were as qualified as anyone-between us we had looked after four dogs in our youth!

Not long after we had made our decision, our impulsive nature brought us to the home of my husbands work colleague to choose from the beautiful litter of Springer spaniel puppies. We got first pick but this only made it harder. In my eyes they were all gorgeous and I wanted them all, but eventually we made our decision and then underwent the waiting game until Dougal would be ready to come home.

On that faithful day we too stopped at the pet shop on the way, stocking up on any puppy related accessories and only buying items that clearly stated “puppy” on the packaging. We arrived at the house and were met by the mother, Tilly, an extremely energetic and fun loving dog who was more concerned about us throwing a tennis ball for her than the fact that we were taking one of her puppies!

Bringing Dougal home was one of the most stressful car journeys I have ever taken. I wrapped him in a blanket and cuddled him for the 25 mile journey as he shook and whined, disorientated and lonely for his mother and siblings.

Once home, this was when the fun started. It was a Saturday night and we had plans to go out but we felt guilty for leaving the little guy. I decided that we had to start as we meant to go on, but half way through his pint my husband decided he had to go back to check on Dougal! It suddenly began to dawn on us the level of responsibility we had just assumed.

That night Dougal slept in his bed at the base of our bed, going against the strict guidelines that I had set out before we collected him! Gradually he was moved further and further out the door until eventually he was old enough to be left in the utility.

The responsibility wasn’t the only issue; the house training definitely made me rethink our decision on several occasions. Working from home and house training the dog was not an easy task, with business calls being interrupted by a whining dog looking for attention. Several floor boards warped; skirting boards chewed; shoes destroyed; and dog beds annihilated are just a highlight of the destruction caused by this energetic puppy! It took a few months before we would walk around the house in our bare feet but eventually we cracked it and things were looking up, Dougal was beginning to mature – only slightly though!

We were extremely lucky to be living surrounded by family who quickly adopted Dougal as their own, and living in the countryside with lots of large fields for exploration, and pheasants to rise, made Dougal one of the happiest dogs in the country. He quickly discovered the path to my sisters and my parents’ houses, and soon started to bulk up having been fed at each location! My mother always commented that he arrived into the house “with a great welcome for himself”, making a beeline straight to the back kitchen.

Mom had always told me not to get a dog, saying that they were an awful tie. These words came back to haunt me when I was arranging Dougal day care with various family members every time I had to go for a meeting or leave the house for long periods. It was unbearable leaving him locked in the house, with those big brown eyes looking even bigger and those floppy brown ears hanging extremely low as he watched me leave through the patio door.

As he got bigger and braver he began venturing off on regular outings, with a favorite spot of his being Brigit’s Gardens. Almost daily he had to be retrieved from the pond where he had always found a new friend to throw sticks for him. He had an incredible knack of blending in and looking like he belonged to the family he was with in order to avoid being ejected from the gardens. I remember several occasions where he pretended not to hear me, speeding off in the other direction as if to say “Oh no, funs over”! Each time I collected him (after wrestling with him to get his lead on), the families he had been accompanying around the gardens said that he was a gorgeous dog, and although mad with him, I was very proud.

The roaming was becoming a problem and we too decided to purchase the perimeter fence collar, which had the exact same effect on Dougal as it did on Rolo. He got his first shock and turned in to a quaking mess anytime we picked up the collar, never mind putting it on him. He would refuse to go outside, and if forced, would sit at the patio door and wouldn’t dare budge. Needless to say we didn’t pursue this form of confinement.

He loved long walks in the Rosscahill woods, covering at least three times the distance his human companions were covering, not to mention the twenty minutes of retrieving sticks from the lake-definitely his favorite game. Nothing would tire him, and boy did we try! He had two holidays in Inishboffin and had the best weekends of his short life, swimming and tearing along the beach. When we returned home we were all a little low, but he was definitely the one that was loneliest for island living!

Sadly Dougal died at the start of August last year, aged two years and two months. The only consolation was that he died doing one of his favorite things - playing fetch. He ran straight in to an oncoming van in pursuit of a stray sod of turf. It seemed to happen in slow motion and although he made it to the vets there was nothing that could be done and he died shortly after. His intensity for chasing things, and his obsession with this game of fetch, meant that nothing would stop him. We had gone to pains to teach him this game, and once he got it boy did we regret it! He would pester us all day with little splinters of wood, or anything that he thought would fly, dropping them at our feet and then staring relentlessly until we would crack and throw it for him. This went on and on and on!
If there is ever a dog that demands company, exercise and plenty of space to roam it is the Springer spaniel. They have many wonderful traits; they are excellent with children, extremely welcoming (Dougal would’ve gone off with the postman!), funny, intelligent and adorable. On the flipside they are heedless, often disobedient, sometimes silly, very energetic and demanding, and extremely bad on a lead!

Dougal’s loss is still evident, and for us it definitely felt like losing a family member. I can understand that your house may feel a little empty, but hopefully Dougal’s story will help you to realize that you made the right decision. Rolo is going to need a lot of attention in the puppy days to shape him as a good dog. He is always going to need more exercise than it would be humanly possible to give him; therefore his surroundings were never going to be ideal. This should not rule out getting a dog in the future though, but maybe a less boisterous dog who doesn’t crave attention and exercise like the Springer and ideally one that has been house trained.

Since losing Dougal we now have a rescue dog, Fred, who was ten months old when we got him so he was house trained. He is a fox terrier spaniel X and for some bizarre reason has all of the same traits as Dougal. While he isn’t the pure bred beauty that Dougal was, he has won us over with his scruffy appearance, resembling the dog from lady and the tramp! I can never get the dog hair under control; there is always be a mild dog odour in the house; an occasional shoe gets nibbled on; we are never be able to have a lazy day without exercise but I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Yours Sincerely,

Eileen Keleghan

Roscahill, Co. Galway
eileenkeleghan@gmail.com