Michael was fourteen years old when Lucy came into his life. She was five years old by then: his Mum had wanted a family dog, and she had made a deliberate decision to choose an adult dog rather than a puppy. Life was busy at that time, and the thought of caring for, and house-training, a puppy, was too much. A ready-to-go well-trained adult seemed like the perfect option. It can be difficult to find an adult pedigree dog like a Cocker Spaniel, but the sequence of events just fell into place. A friend had just bought a puppy, and when Michael’s Mum contacted the breeder to ask about older dogs, he decided that Lucy was ready to be rehomed with a family. She had already had three litters of puppies, and he had decided that enough was enough: it was time for her to retire as a breeding animal. Part of the deal in taking her was that she should not be used for breeding any more: she was spayed soon after they’d taken her on. lucy had to learn to adapt to normal life Lucy had lived a restricted life until she came to live with the family, and it took her a while to adapt to normal life. She had obviously never been out walking on busy … Continue reading Lucy the eighteen year old Cocker Spaniel