Mag 2

Toby’s Story

Many years ago I used to watch Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers in “Hart to Hart” and I fell in love with Freeway, the dog in the series. I loved the long haired shaggy look but didn’t realise he was a true breed.* Over the years I would sometimes see pictures of dogs with similar shaggy looks and I used to wish I had a mongrel like them. However, I was more than happy with my Golden Retriever, Louis, and thought he was my ideal breed.

As Louis got older and his health deteriorated I started to wonder what I’d do once he’d gone to the Bridge. While I had Louis I was lucky in that my Dad stayed across the road from me and he took Louis during the day while I was at work. Dad had Louis’s litter sister and their Mum and he used to walk the 3 of them for hours every day and I’d collect Louis when I came home from work but Dad was getting older and his health deteriorating too, so I thought I’d like 2 dogs in future to keep each other company while I’d be at work incase Dad could either no longer manage or even not be here himself. I also decided that as well as another Golden Retriever I’d like a smaller dog that could sometimes sit on my knee as our retrievers didn’t do that and I missed being able to hold and cuddle a smaller dog and so my thoughts went back to the long haired shaggy look of dog.

By this time Simon had introduced me to the internet and, after seeing a long haired shaggy looking dog on a TV programme Charlie Dimmock and Anna Ryder Richardson did about working in a dog grooming parlour, I thought there really must be a breed like it and wondered how I could use the internet to find out.

Eventually I found the Kennel Club website and the Discover Dogs part which gives details of all KC recognised breeds in the UK. I looked through the Terrier Group because I had in my mind that the style of dog had a terrier look about it but no. The nearest I could find was the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier but it wasn’t quite the look I had in mind. Disappointed, I started looking at the other groups, more out of nosiness but I still kept thinking the look I imagined must be a breed. I had seen too many pictures of shaggy looking dogs although they seemed to be in lots of different colours. Then I spotted the Polish Lowland Sheepdog and thought…………..hmmm…………similar but not quite and then……………………….there it was……………………a Tibetan Terrier in the Utility Group. I couldn’t believe I’d found the look I’d had in my mind all these years.

I started searching the internet for information on them and everything I read, I liked. They sounded such characters, with a lot of history. I couldn’t believe that everything about them appealed to me. I still hadn’t seen any in real life and I wasn’t ready for another dog yet as Louis had unfortunately just gone to the bridge and I felt as if I’d been ripped apart and didn’t know if I could face putting myself through such pain again but I kept on reading about TT’s as they’re known for short. I had always felt I wanted to rescue dog rather than a pup. I felt there was so many dogs needing rescued and I knew I could give a happy life to at least one of them and I knew that breeds had their own rescues and, again through the internet, I managed to find details of the Tibetan Terrier Rescue Association.

Unfortunately, it looked like all the TT breeders and rescue co-ordinators were down south and then…………..there was one name in Scotland. She was the rescue co-ordinator for Scotland and the North of England and she lived less than 10 miles from me. I decided to phone to ask her more information and she asked if I’d met any TT’s in person. When I said “No” she asked if I wanted to visit her as she had 3 and you couldn’t catch me. I was out the door and knocking on her door in less than half an hour and met my first 3 TT’s. Oh and they were everything I could’ve wished for. I was totally smitten.

I was told there weren’t that many TT’s available through rescue but I was quite willing to wait for the right dog especially as I still didn’t feel ready for another dog yet. I was told that TT’s can jump 3 feet. She even showed me a picture of a TT standing in a tree to prove it so I’d need to securely fence off an area 4 feet high. I had such a lovely visit and came away with my head spinning with a mixture of excitement and information. Now I just needed to secure my garden in some way and wait for the right dog………………………………….

To be cont’d

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