A whole year

Pixel on his way home

First up, it's a year to the day that we rescued Pixel, and the whole adventure has been amazing.

With that in mind, let me tell you the story of how we came to rehome our magnificent moron...

Last August we looked after our friends cats while she was away. In that time Ruthie fell in love with having animals in the house, specifically those that will follow you are and generally be adorable. Once the cats went back to their owner, Ruthie realized how much she missed having them around the house.

Neither of us are "cat people" and I've always been around dogs and have expressed an interest in getting one for a long time. Without my knowing Ruthie contacted our landlord and arranged for us to be able to get a dog.

Then began the long uphill struggle to find the right dog. We wanted to adopt rather than buy a puppy, but we wanted to get a younger dog. We trawled through the numberless rehoming websites until we spotted this little apricot and white mongrel called Lightning.  We both instantly fell in love and arranged a visit to Battersea Brands Hatch.

We wandered around the kennels twice, searching for the dog we saw online. My heart broke when I realized he wasn't there. Dejectedly we went back to the front desk to inquire about the dog we wanted to see. Good news: he was still there. Bad news: he had behavioural issues and had to be kept in isolation away from the public kennels.

They took us aside into a small room. Apparently Lightning had to be homed with experienced owners. They did a short interview and then the man went to talk to his manager, he wanted to see if my previous doggy experience was suitable.  It was.

When they brought Lightning into the room, he was a twister of chaotic energy. He was bouncing off the walls, trying to climb out the windows, jumping up on to the desk, weeing on everything and doing practically anything to get to the treats. They gave us the lead, wished us luck and we took Lightning out for a walk in the area they have for people to meet dogs.

He was just boundless energy, and he barked at every other dog he met. But when we sat down in the office after the walk he laid down next to us, and we fell in love.

We went away from Battersea with another meeting scheduled for the following week, they had also set us up to meet another of the dogs that was looking for a home and was currently in a foster home. We spent the weeking weighing up the pros and cons for getting Lightning. We knew he would be a problem, we had our doubts about so many things.

The second meeting rolled around, and we were introduced to the other dog, a boxer-cross. He was lovely, well-behaved, everything Lightning could be with some work, but he just wasn't what we were looking for. We met Lightning one more time, spent 3 hours with him, walking him and playing with toys. Our minds were made up and we left with him the same day. (The other dog we met was also adopted that day by a loving family).

Lightning had been in the kennels for several months, and it was his second time there when a previous home hadn't worked out. We changed his name to Pixel and made sure he got the walks he needs. He is not longer bouncing off the walls, he still barks at other dogs, bikes and sometimes people but we are working on it. Honestly, we wouldn't change him for the world, for all the problems that the little guy has outside, he is simply wonderful in the house. He is cuddly and affectionate, and generally the most happy and delightful companion we could ever have wished for.