A Belated Happy Birthday to Nell

I was reminded by Mari that yesterday was Nell's official 14th birthday.

The official birthday photo

She came to us when she was approximately 6 months old, so thin she could get through the bars of a baby gate and with no muscles in her legs. We couldn't walk her for 8 weeks until she was fed and gently exercised so she could actually walk without damaging herself. We thought she'd live for about 7 years at the outside. She has been a wonderful companion, and we love her dearly.

The story of how Nell came to us:
The boys really wanted another dog after our Bull Mastiff died and then we had a very sad time with a lurcher, who had a brain tumour and was only with us for just over 9 months. We debated whether we should get one or not. We decided we could handle having a small, old dog.  So No. 2 son and I went down to the Munlochy Animal Aid to see if they had such a thing and we came away with a six-month old Alsatian puppy. Actually she was a small dog. She also didn't jump up, which was one of our requirements, but we didn't realise at the time that she couldn't. 8 weeks later we had a manic Alsatian who jumped up at every opportunity. Now she is old, and is also one of the smallest dogs I've owned and doesn't jump at people so she totally fulfils the criteria. Though I have to admit she has a not very pc habit of wanting to sniff people's privates but I'm not going to talk about that!

Nell has always been the most wonderfully biddable pet. In her time she has been a registered Therapet and used to be regular, first at Highland Hospice when my Beloved was Charge Nurse of the Day Hospice, and then she joined us at Maggie's Highlands where I was Centre Head and my Beloved was Cancer Support Specialist. She was much loved there by most who came. And in fact many would come just to see her.

We feel truly blessed.