K C Apso

I use the term KC Apso as short hand for Sam's breeding. His father was a King Charles Spaniel and his mother a Lhasa Apso hence the KC Apso - I suppose we could have called him an LA Spaniel but he is from the wrong side of the pond.

I was invited to a party to be held at my younger sisters to celebrate her birthday on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in July. For a change the weather held out and we were able to party in the garden.

When I arrived I was astounded to see the most gorgeous little ball of fluff wandering around the feet of the numerous guests. She was absolutely fearless which is as trait of the King Charles Spaniel but also keeping close to her 'master' a lhasa apso trait.

That, I learned, was Molly my brothers new puppy. She was only six weeks old, very tiny, and had longish white/pale blond hair but a 'topknot' of a darker brown on the top of her head. What impressed me most was her total confidence as she wandered amongst the party goers who inevitably included a number of children.

I learned that she had been acquired from a neighbour and that she had a brother who was, as yet, unadopted.

I was so taken with Molly that I asked my brother to call the breeder immediately to find out if the other dog had been adopted. Sadly we were told that he had gone to an elderly lady a few streets away which would really suit the lhasa Aspo side of his breeding. I was really unhappy but as long as the dog had a good home it was OK.

A few days later I received a call from my brother to tell me that the lady had returned the dog as she felt that she would not be able to cope maybe the king Charles Spaniel bit was too apparent as they can be wilfull. Her loss our gain I thought.

One slight challenge now was that I had not discussed the idea of a dog with my partner as, initially, we could not have the dog so there was no point. Now I had to convince her that we needed a replacement dog for our Lofty (a Jack Russell who had passed on some 6 months earlier breaking our hearts). After some persuasion I half convinced her and then went off to collect the dog. ...

The dog had been bred near to my brothers house and it was a journey of about 120 miles each way. This had to be done after I had finished work and that would be at 8.00 pm. So at that time I rushed down to Leicester from Huddersfield (no hypermiling then!) to arrive at about 10.00 pm then to the neighbours where I met mum a lhasa apso and dad King Charles spaniel and who was to become Sam.

He was the cutest thing that you have ever seen, very tiny but very alert and, like his sister, confident.

I had prepared to carry him home by bringing a cat basket to carry him in. So after the customary cup of tea and exchange of funds he was mine and it was time to head for home. Of course, it was now 11.00 pm and I had 120 miles to go BUT I had also agreed to let my dog loving sister-in-law meet him in Nottingham.

It was a good job too as Sam hated the car and cried, shook and threw up in the basket on the way. My sister-in-law was delighted to meet him despite the fact we had to basically bath him to clean him up. Eventually I set off again and by now it was 00.30 am and still 70 or so miles to go.

Now Sam was really pathetic as he hated the car and whined and cried all the way north. By the time we got home it was about 2.00 am and he looked dreadful as he had been sick again and had been slobbering.

Not the most elegant way to meet his new 'mum'. She, however, came up trumps and he was quickly cleaned up and dried off. By now it was 3.00 am and I was exhausted. Sam was put to bed in a small cardboard box in the kitchen as he was 'not sleeping in the bedroom '.

Next morning we came down having had a peaceful night and he was asleep curled in a tiny ball in the corner by the bin. He woke and welcomed us with a waggy tail before going outside to do his duty.