Top dog in the family

Today I am going to introduce you to my best boyfriend - well I shouldn't say that or I will make my other boyfriends jealous! Tomorrow I will show you my equally best boyfriend - the one that lives downstairs!

Byron has been a member of our household for almost ten years - I know that because he celebrated his tenth birthday on January 12th and he was a young pup with eyes wide open when we bought him - but he was fortunate enough to be allowed to stay with his mum until he was about 12 weeks old because Colin and I were away on holiday and couldn't pick him up when his brothers and sisters left home.

Byron is a "Paddy poodle" an invented dog! His father was a huge handsome standard poodle and his mother a cute Irish Water Spaniel. Irish = Paddy... see?

We used to have a golden Cocker Spaniel - he lived to be 15 years old and it wasn't until six months after we lost him that we realised that Colin was not sniffling and coughing any more. He had been allergic to the dog hair and we hadn't realised it. Byron does not have hair, he has wool like a poodle. He does not shed any hair so can live inside the house and not make a mess on the carpets. He does not smell all doggy when he is wet so again he can come into the house and (Except when he has had a lamb bone) we can breathe easy around him. It was a chance chat with a friend that I learned about Byron being available and how he would be "anti-allergenic" so without even consulting the man of the house I decided he was to be ours! Its a good job there wasn't a divorce!

With Colin it was love at first sight so no divorce!

Byron now has a new friend - well not so new now, we found Samson at the Council Dog Pound a couple of years ago now and they are firm friends. I will take some pictures of Samson and introduce him to you tomorrow.

Byron is a delightful dog and is an instant hit with all who meet him. The eyes are getting a little cloudy now but since he does not read very much we will not be paying thousands of dollars to a doggy eye specialist to have the cataracts removed. He can see very well still and he is a happy chappy and to us that is all that matters.

AJ