LIFE, WELL ADJUSTED: A Year With A Rescue Dog

Jasper, the Show Cocker Spaniel, enjoying a run on Grange-over-Sands beach (Image: Damien Wilkinson)

Get a Dog they said…

They say a dog changes your life, but I didn't realise quite how much a Spaniel from the other side of the country would redefine mine.

We had taken the plunge and decided to look into adopting a Rescue Dog from Spaniel Aid.

This was to be my first time of owning a dog and it took some careful thought and soul searching. Thankfully the transition was eased by the experience of my partner, Katie, who has owned dogs in the past, but we made sure we thought this could work practically, particularly with regards to provision for looking after a dog during the day, when I would be at work.

Once we resolved all of this, Katie followed up on a contact at Spaniel Aid, who was currently fostering a three-year-old Show Cocker Spaniel named Jasper.

We were able to find out more about Jasper’s backstory - he’d been born during lockdown and had been somewhat ‘smothered’ by the family he was with, resulting in resource guarding and some nipping.

A subsequent re-homing didn't go well either and Jasper was left back in the care of Spaniel Aid, looking for a new forever home.

(Very) South of Here

With some trepidation we made the rather long journey down to Bradford-upon-Avon, where we met the lovely Amanda and her family. Amanda, a breeder of spaniels (Golden Show Cocker Spaniel for Stud KC Registered), had been looking after Jasper for around 6 weeks at this point, and was helping assess potential new owners on behalf of Spaniel Aid.

We met Jasper, initially for a few hours on the Saturday and, given we stayed down overnight, were able to meet him again for a short time on the Sunday, taking him for a walk on the lead around the nearby town, with Amanda accompanying us from a distance.

Amanda was brilliant in explaining more about Jasper, his daily routine and what made him tick, and together with meeting him, convinced us that he would be a great fit, and the one for us!

That just left the rest of the Spaniel Aid assessment process, including a home visit, which thankfully went smoothly, and we were given the green light to make the long trip back down to Bradford-upon-Avon on the following Bank Holiday weekend, to pick up our new furry friend!

He travelled back with us, and whilst a little quiet and apprehensive, was a model car passenger! I think we only stopped once at the Services.

A slightly apprehensive dog (and owner!) at the Services, heading North (Image: Katie Flanagan)

Settling into the Yorkshire Dales: A New Chapter for Jasper

So, how has it been since?

Within a few days, Jasper (we decided to keep his name!) settled into life in the Yorkshire Dales extremely well. This was partly due to the extensive walking we were able to supply him with, together with a role of being the sole household dog, after his stint with Amanda’s spaniel collective. We kept his diet and feeding pattern in line with Amanda’s recommendations, such that it was one less area of change for him to deal with.

He gradually came out of his shell and, much to our delight, we discovered he was very well behaved, especially in the important environment of the village pubs!

Indeed, the only real ‘difficulty’ we encountered was having to stop every few minutes whilst walking him, to cater for the multitude of people wanting to admire or stroke him (‘what lovely colouring’ being a typical comment).

He certainly is a magnet for passers-by and seems to thrive on encouraging female attention.

Jasper, on tour in the North (Image: Damien Wilkinson)

The CTRL_ALT_DEL Re-Set

We’ve taken him many places and he has even stayed in hotels such at the dog-friendly Caledonian in Edinburgh, where he was a model of good behaviour and attracted many treats from fellow residents and the porters. He also dealt with the train journeys on Northern Trains and Avanti West Coast with no fuss at all.

Indeed, as part of our travels, Jasper has been a regular passenger on the train, regularly attracting much attention from fellow passengers, not to mention treats from many of the train conductors.

Initially told he wasn’t an affectionate dog, Jasper quickly proved them wrong. Our evenings are now dominated by his demands for a sofa-snuggle and a tummy tickle. Beyond the walks, he’s even become my weekly training partner; he acts as an 'on-board motor' during runs around the local rugby pitch, quite literally pulling me toward my fitness goals.

It is also great to report that we’ve had no issues with any of Jasper’s previous behavioural issues and he seems to have been fully re-set and is a very happy dog.

He’s a dog of routine - I can guarantee that as I soon as I push the bedroom door open each morning he will magically appear on the other side. This will the be proceeded with him bouncing up and down as we go downstairs to feed him his breakfast.

Every single day…

Jasper at The Bath Tap, Morecambe (Image: Damien Wilkinson)

The Dog Denouement

We now can’t imagine life without Jasper, he’s an integral part of much of our day-to-say activities and we hope he’s finally found his forever home.

Spaniel Aid and its team perform a fantastic service in re-homing unwanted dogs (of which, unfortunately, there are too many) and provides a very worthy route into caring for a dog.

Jasper is keen to travel North of Here with me, so expect more updates along this journey as our fine bromance continues!