Zoë Colville & Canine Connection

Dear Father Christmas,

Pretty, pretty please may I have a puppy for Christmas. I’ve kept my plant alive since last year and been such a good girl at school and home.

Love

Zoe xx

This was the general gist of my childhood for as far back as I can remember. Asking anyone who would listen (including the tooth fairy). Pleading with my parents separately in the hope one of them caves. Rifling through bags of abandoned rubbish on the side of the road in the hope that there will be warm, bundles of fur at the bottom, waiting for me to take them home and tend to them forever more. Sadly my wish didn’t come true and it wasn’t until I was twenty three that I was lucky enough to find my soulmate.

The thing with dogs is it doesn't matter if you are asking them to come and play ball or to take the bins out, if you are excited, they are excited. Which impacted my life like you wouldn’t believe.

The ultimate hype (wo)man. Menial tasks were no longer menial. Need to post a letter? I only had to go within two metres of her lead and it was like I’d told her she had won the Euromillions ten times over, just at the slim chance she would get to come with me somewhere, anywhere. We sleep curled up under the duvet, bodies entwined like she was the jigsaw piece I was always missing, she has the crusts of my toast in the morning, she licks up any spillages in the kitchen, she barks when I’m under threat from the doorbell ringing and best of all she silently listens when I spill my heart out about what’s going on in my complex brain. The most beautiful thing about dogs though is their loyalty. I’ve had best friends over the years that have come close, defending my honour in a WhatsApp group or telling me a boy is ugly after he dumped me. BUT I have never had a best friend literally lick the tears from my cheeks when I’m crying. She will sense when I’m feeling down before I’ve fully recognised it myself and cling to me like there’s no tomorrow because her intuition is telling her I need HER. It’s special, they are special.

What other animal can be trained in such a way they save lives. I will always remember the footage on the news after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the service dogs on a mission to find survivors amongst the debris and devastation. Or my client, when I was a hairdresser, telling me her diabetic son had a dog that slept next to his bed and came and woke them up if the son was having an episode. The obedience and dedication they have to their owner just blows me away. With every TikTok video I play on repeat and every dog Instagram account I follow, the level of pure admiration I have for these beasts grows.

Please if you have funny or cute dog stories / videos please send me them because I’d love to hear / see them.

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