A new family member

I grew up with three dogs – Bliff, an English Springer Spaniel, Bjørn, an Old English Sheepdog and a small mix called Gauga. Gauga was named after the battle at Gauga Mela, because she looked just like it, as her first owner told me when I received her as a gift. I was 7 years old at the time, Gauga was 3 years old and she became the center of my world for the rest of her life.

Later, after I had left home, I wanted to get a dog myself, and my then boyfriend and I found a lovely mix in a rescue center for dogs. She was 9 months old and black with white breast, but apart from the colouring and perhaps the shape of her tail, she had the looks and size of a Jack Russell Terrier – and I loved her to bits. I only had Gina for a year or two – she became a “child of divorce” when my boyfriend and I split up, and he insisted that he should keep her because I worked and was attending evening classes several nights a week at the time. Of course, he had a strong point, because dogs need attention and time, but I was heartbroken, because I did not even get visiting rights although she had been “my” dog. Need I say I missed her like crazy?

That was all many years ago though. I have often thought of getting another dog since then, and now, almost 20 years later, a new dog will be entering my life – and indeed the life of the entire family. Next Friday I (and probably one or two of the kids) will be driving to Kennel Fridsborgs in Sweden to pick up a Jack Russell puppy. He is simply adorable, as you can see from the picture, and I am sure he will keep us all busy.

He will be 8 weeks old then, and for now goes under his “official” name, which is Hugo Boss. We still need to find out what we will call him, but although a few ideas have been tabled, I think we will need to see him before we make our final decision. We certainly look very much forward to having him as part of our family.