Jessie Cole ( Monochrome Mutt)  01.01.2002

I had run out of rabbit food, and popped into the RSPCA not far from where I live to buy some. I thought to myself "no looking at the dogs, just grab the food & run", but as i arrived in the very first pen i saw this little black & white shape in the distance leaping around. Curiosity got the better of me and in the kennel was a very sad looking 6 month old black & white collie. she was doing the wall of death around the kennel and looked very happy to see anyone that had some time, so I stopped and talked to her for a good few minutes, as I left i knew that she needed to come home with me and join the rest of my gang.

I persuaded Chris, that he would like another dog and he dutifully came to visit her, as did the rest of the doggie family, every one seems to be fine together even the very antisocial poodle didn’t seem to mind her too much!  After a home check we waited with baited breath to see if they thought that we were suitable owners, they did and home she came . When she come home, she became very ill with a lot of tummy problems, and it took a long time to sort them out. I am happy to say that she is now fed of a BARF diet and has not had any tummy problems for the last eighteen months.

After a good few weeks it became apparent that Jess had decided that she would really much rather be my dog than Chris’s, and my five dog family had just become six!! I felt like I had just won the lottery though, as I had fallen in love with her when we first met!!, she is the best present that I have ever had.

The first show that Jessie came to was my worst nightmare, she was like a deranged madman pulling, screaming and leaping around, I dont think she had ever seen so many dogs and people in her life before, so a good amount of time was spent on helping her to enjoy this sort of atmosphere, and much liver cake was consumed during this time! even now she will still bark unless I play with her in the queue.

What can I say about agility and this young lady, well she a very strange mix to train as she is very sensitive, as in her previous home she was not treated very nicely to say the least, and she is also as mad as a hatter so much patience was needed and lots of encouragement and I think that she has achieved (hindered by me I am sure) a lot for little dog that had a very unpleasant start to life.

She won into Senior last year, and ended up winning in excess of 16 novice classes.

She came 2nd at the Dogs in Need Final in 2004 and has qualified for the Pairs Final for the last 2 years running, and also qualified again for this year at Haslemere. She has won a senior jumping class and had countless second places so I do hope that we can become advanced one day!

More than all of that she is just the most amazing dog that I have ever had the pleasure of working, she is kind and honest and a really fantastic dog to own.

I have had three rescue dogs, and when I talk to some people they seem very negative about getting a rescue, but I think that with patience the bond between a rescue dog and owner is an experience that I am really glad that I have witnessed first hand and I would definitely have another rescue one day.

So thanks again Chris for giving me Jessie, and thanks Jessie for being mine.

Karen  xxx