A Tale of Two Dogs

By Colin C Smith

Homeless Pip, a Border terrier, thought miracles do happen when Annie and Bill collected him from the dog rescue home hed been in after his beloved human friends that hed lived with all his life were killed. Life was good for Pip until he was abducted from the garden of his new friends house. Taken to a puppy breeding kennel hundreds of kilometers away from home, he met Daisy, an older Border terrier who had been badly mistreated by being forced to breed many litters of puppies. The two of them eventually escaped miraculously even though the journey was fraught with danger, making their way back to Pips home and happiness again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546297635

Book preview

A TALE OF

TWO

DOGS

COLIN C SMITH

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AuthorHouse™ UK

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

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© 2018 Colin C Smith. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/10/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9764-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9763-5 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

PIP

New Friends and Danger

Disappearance

A Dastardly Trade

Acceptance or Action

Champion Search

Life in the Breeding Kennel

Three Months Later

Company Activities

An Opportunity to Escape

In County Greensward

Freedom

The Coach Driver

The Farmers Wife

The Airport

Home at Last

Revenue

Hacking

The Interview

The Real Business

Getting their Own Back

Elaine and I have lived with a Dog for most of our lives, enjoying the company, love and happiness these faithful friends have given us. This story is in memory of these wonderful characters. It has been said that God so loved these wonderful creatures that they were named with God spelt backwards, who know but it just could be true.

Oscar and Buster were rescue Dogs from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London. Oscar had been in several homes before Battersea took him in; he was a real Gentleman and why he never stayed in a previous home I don’t know because with us he was a perfect companion travelling with us to Scotland and Cornwall for Holidays. Buster’s previous Human friend unfortunately passed away and he was taken in to Battersea; he was six years old when he lost his friend and was clearly very troubled by the loss. Over the eight years we had him he was a faithful friend and marvellous with our young Grandchildren; holidays in Norfolk were a special treat for him and us.

This story is also dedicated to our Grandsons who loved Buster and would always stroke him to say goodbye when they left our house to return home.

Front cover picture – Belle and Sally in Cornwall; back, Oscar.

PIP

P ip stood outside the ‘The Happy Dog’ shelter for homeless Dogs and wondered what was his new life would be like. He could hear barks coming from somewhere inside the strangely frightening place; and this, together with the myriad of scents his sensitive nose was detecting, told him that there were many Dogs living here. He had been taken here because he’d lost his home – a place that for three years had been where he felt he would always live; it had never occurred to him that his life could change so dramatically from a loving home with people he knew to somewhere only strangers lived.

He was homeless because his two great human friends had been killed in a boating accident while on holiday. Most years he joined his human friends on their holiday as they enjoyed having him with them as much as he enjoyed being with them. Whether it was in Cornwall, Scotland or on one occasion in France he was their companion; sharing their bedroom in a hotel or just crashing out in a rented house for the weeks of pleasure where all three of them were together. These were the happy times and he had never thought that things would change; however, this year his friends had decided to travel far away on a long plane journey that meant he couldn’t go with them. So, he had been taken to Edward, the dad of his lady friend; he was a nice man and was almost as devoted to him as his daughter; the only thing he didn’t like was that he was never taken for a walk and lived all the time inside the house only going into the garden to relieve himself.

As he stood outside of the Dogs Home he looked up at Edward with tears in his eyes, seeing the sadness in his human companion. He knew Edward was unable to look after him – he was too frail and couldn’t attend to all the needs of a relatively young and lively dog – and understood that he had to go somewhere that his needs could be properly catered for. But was this the place that would be his home now and forever? Then he felt a gentle pull on the lead and started to follow Edward into this place of noise and scents.

He had been checked by a lady in a white smock, who had said to her assistant, that he was a fine healthy Dog; and something else that he’d never heard before – he was a pedigree and his parents had been champions. As he listened he understood the meaning of what they were talking about – he was apparently a valuable Dog that could be used by breeders of Border Terriers to continue the line of pedigree champion Dogs of the breed he now knew he was. This new information didn’t seem to mean he would be given any special consideration; as he was taken along a long corridor up a flight of stairs and past many small rooms each containing a dog; and then to an empty room with bars across the front – was this to be his home?

New Friends and danger

M iracles do happen! Pip had only been in the Dogs Home a week when a nice lady and man had come to take him away. He was happy at leaving but felt sad for all the other Dogs that had to stay; one in particular, Bruno, a very large Dog, he knew had been in the Home a very long time. Still, he thought if he had been lucky then maybe all the other dogs would also be.

His new home was in a big house with a large garden, this was what he had dreamed of during the week he had been in the shelter. Annie, his human lady friend, was kind and had devoted a lot of time to settle him into their home, talking to him and stroking him. He didn’t know what she was saying, although a few words, sit, wait and dinner had real meaning; all the other things she said he just deduced were well meant. Bill was also very kind and played with him in the garden, throwing a ball or playing tug of war. But mostly what he was now enjoying were the long walks with these nice people, the evenings when he languished by the fire, his meals and the warm comfortable bed – two, one downstairs and the other in the bedroom he shared with the people.

Life was pleasant, and although he missed the two people he’d grown up with and would never forget them, he felt safe and happy. However, this was to be short lived, because what he didn’t know was that being a pedigree, with such champion dogs for his parent’s, interest had been taken in him by people of an entirely different disposition to the human friends he now lived with. One day, while wandering around the garden on his own he heard a noise coming from behind the garden shed; at first it was as though something had fallen down. Then he heard human voices, but not speaking in any way he’d heard before; it was as if those speaking didn’t want anyone else to hear what they were saying. He knew Annie and Bill were in the house, so with only him here there wasn’t much chance these people would be overheard; however, with his sharp hearing he could hear all the words these people were saying but didn’t understand anything. The tone of the voices instilled fear in him; turning towards the house he was about to