My daughter was desperate for one. My husband had wanted one his whole life. ‘Sorry, no,’ I said firmly. With three kids, a full-time job and a big old scruffy house to manage, I was standing firm. Plus, I was a little scared of dogs, and imagined that bringing one into our home would be similar to having another baby; i.e., a ton of responsibility with the added factor that it might bite us. When a neighbour told me that she ‘could never be dog-less’, she might as well have said, ‘I can’t imagine life without a conga eel.’
The Dog Share
I just didn’t get it at all. Meanwhile, my family continued to ‘mention it’ from time to time and, gradually, I started to soften. As we lived in the country and I worked from home, a dog would enjoy plenty of exercise and rarely be left alone. I wrote a list of pros (fun, cute, everyone wants one) and cons (fleas, tics, vet’s bills, pooping indoors?). ‘Okay,’ I said finally, ‘but everyone will have to take their turn with the walking. All right?’
With full cooperation promised, we chose Jack, a nervy collie cross - or rather, he chose us. When we took him for a short walk, accompanied by one of the rescue centre’s volunteers, he kept sitting on our feet. Part of me still worried that, as soon as we brought him home, this seemingly docile hound might ‘turn’ and savage us. But he turned out to be the sweetest, most affectionate friend.
What I hadn’t considered was the wonderful bonding effect a dog has on a family. The teenage stage isn’t the easiest; everyone can seem terribly disgruntled, and as a parent you feel your kids pushing you away, rolling their eyes if you so much as sing along to the radio.
At best, we are viewed as mildly embarrassing - but more likely as fun-wrecking dinosaurs, lamentably out of touch. Yet when Jack arrived, tensions eased immediately. He became a common interest, to be fussed over, played with and loved. He made us laugh - together. As my friend Kath puts it, ‘A dog is like the glue that bonds the family.’
Of course, as our kids grew older the promises of walking Jack daily were soon forgotten - but I didn’t mind that. As my husband worked in an office, and our teens were at school, he had become my constant companion and I relished our strolls. Writing novels can be an intense and lonely business, and I loved the way Jack would nudge my hand off the keyboard to signal that breaktime was upon us. I became fitter and healthier and, when menopausal fury started to hit, I found that nothing was more soothing than a big hike with Jack. And if I was stuck with my plot, or convinced that my current book wasn’t working out, a brisk march in the sunshine, or across snow-crusted fields, would soon restore my confidence again.
Our kids grew up and left home and, keen to downsize and enjoy city life again, my husband and I moved to a flat in Glasgow. Jack adapted with ease. An older chap now, he still enjoys his walks, chasing sticks and tennis balls. His joyful nature still reminds me not to take life too seriously.
This week marked ten years since the day he came to live with us. I have never regretted it for a minute. In fact I like to pretend I didn’t have to be nagged - and that adopting a dog had been my idea all along.
Fiona’s new novel, The Dog Share, is published by Avon on March 4
RELATED: A day in the life of me by Fiona Gibson
I used to be a night person, the last one to want to leave a party. Later, as a new parent, I’d sit up writing way after everyone else had gone to bed. Then we adopted a collie cross called Jack, and I assumed that, if he wasn’t let out into the garden by 7 a.m., the house would be flooded with wee. So I started seeing a part of the day that I’d only heard about previously... to read more click HERE
