Thank you to all AWL Staff – especially Gillian..
We had recently lost our beloved Dogue de Bordeaux “Gus” in February this year after an horrific illness and many thousands spent to save him. With all our children grown and off and about, he had become the centre of our universe – all 67kg of him – and over 6 1/2 years he had only ever spent 4 or 5 nights away from us and these being at the Vet…suffice to say the sense of loss and grief was like nothing we had ever experienced before.
Our big beautiful boy was irreplaceable – he was my Partner’s first ever “Best Friend” and it was he who felt the loss the hardest but we as a family were barely functioning.
So even though it was early days since Gussy’s passing I wandered into the Shelter to have a look, a really good cry and see if there was a baby we could save. Buying another Dogue, even a boy dog, was out of the question. Gus was a one and only. Any new baby would have had to be a girl but grow to be big and strong and have the temperament intrinsic to Mastiffs that we had grown to love and trust – gentle but protective.
As fate would have it on that day there sat two little Mastiff X American Bulldog sisters – cuddled together on the concrete floor of the pen; they were two of 12 puppies that had been surrendered to the AWL and subsequently given Star sign names collectively being referred to as “the Zodiac puppies”.
The decision on which to choose was made for me – Animal Carer Gillian insisted I meet “Libra” first (her favourite) – whilst at the same time other people had arrived wanting one of the girls as well….So to them went “Capricorn” and “Libra” came home with me.
“Libra” was renamed “Luna” and the scrawny frightened little girl who came to us weighing only 4.1kg at 2 1/2 months is now 30 kg at 7 months; she is clever, eager to please and astoundingly affectionate to two and four-legged creatures alike regardless of their size. She has taken over the house, the yard and the cats – and we wouldn’t have it any other way…her exuberance for life and ability to make us laugh on a daily basis makes up for the chewed up shoes and pillows, the shrubs stripped bare – even the demise of the Austar remote.
The truth be told my Paul didn’t want another dog because of the insurmountable grief upon losing his boy – and didn’t want to go through it again.
…but as Gillian said, “It’s better to have loved a dog for a while than never to have loved one at all”.
As you can see from the photos; Luna has very much become “Dad’s Girl”…. and he can’t imagine life without her… but how much longer she can get on his lap remains to be seen!
Thank you for allowing us to bring her home.
Michelle J
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