Woolly says – Alfie the Dog arrived with us during the lockdown period of life. Jo and I had driven to Dogs trust in Shrewsbury following a call asking for help with a mutt that couldn’t manage in kennels after he had been found on the streets.

What greeted us was a morbidly obese, panting machine with seriously bad breath. The first few days consisted of the new addition to the household more of less ignoring us and not enjoying the strict diet and 4 short walks a day that the vet had recommended. Alfie’s history told us that his original owner had died and that the family who inherited him threw him out on his paws, a volunteer from Dogs Trust had seen him roaming the streets and had taken several days to actually catch him which given the size of his legs seemed surprising but Jo didn’t Christan him the mini greyhound for nothing. His breeding was also a bit of a mystery as his file stated he was a terrier which bemused us somewhat. Our first visit to the vet to get him checked over gave us much more help on this as they told us that he was a border collie mixed with a corgi a cross breed known as a Borgi.

Only a few days later and Barking Boy set out on his first adventure with us giving Nanty Carys and Nuncle Les an opportunity to enjoy his halitosis with a trip to Dorset and the chance to see his first castle and have a ride on a steam train. Alfie’s first trip

Within weeks the mutt had settled in fully and we had all started to get used to the new daily routines which usually involved copious belly rubs. With lockdown still imposing rules on travel and things we could do we all became very excited when the Welsh first minister announced that we could travel in Wales but not over the border into England, not a problem for us and we set about planning a trip away to Anglesey.

This trip was a turning point in our relationship with the furry sausage, arriving at a Roman site in the wonderful city of Caernarfon he was attacked by a lose dog not long after we had arrived. Jo battled to save our mutt as I tried to kick the aggressive attacker, she finally managed to get the blood soaked animal into her arms and very luckily, except for a cut to his gum, he was unscathed. From that moment on he became devoted to us both and started to enjoy being cuddled up with us at any opportunity he had.

Our adventures continued, we lost count of the number of castles Alfie went to, the historical buildings that he sniffed around and the walks that we all enjoyed.

As I did my research for our blogging days the human would check for dog access, no dogs meant no visit which suited us well. We found all manner of places that Alfie could visit from Sygon Copper mine where he became the smallest dog to have ever completed the tour, resulting in some orange legs for him, to Shrewsbury prison where the wardens decided he was far to cute to be under lock and key.

So many places and so much fun for all of us.

When Jo and I accepted the job in Herefordshire running the glamping site his world got even better. With two hundred acres to explore Alfie and Teddy the farm dog would take themselves off to the river or into the woods, arriving back from their mini adventures covered in muck and stinking of fox.

As each summer season arrived, he relished the chance to lie on the driveway onto the site demanding a belly rub as entrance or exit fee or soaking up the sunshine outside of the tipis as the human carried out her work under my supervision.

The winters found us planning trips out with my bestie Sion and his carer Jen, one of which involved barking boy taking a plunge into the canal in the longest tunnel ever.

In February the mutt foolishly had a small adventure on his own whilst out on a walk along the riverbank in Welshpool which saw him end up at the bottom of the twenty foot bank with Jo having to wade upstream to rescue him. Unbeknown to us this was the beginning of the end. Our next trip to the vets a couple of days later shocked us to the core as we found out that the boy was losing a lot of weight very quickly which was an indicator or something going on inside. Our hearts started to break as we were told that he would be put on end of life care, we headed back to Hereford to start the season knowing that every day was a bonus now.

He seemed to perk up immensely on our arrival and although not going so far and certainly at no great speed he resumed his sun basking operations and was still eager for our blogging days and walks along the river to see the swans.

Our weeks changed slightly as we incorporated a weekly visit to the vets for a weigh in and check over. Sadly, each week he shrunk a little more and his legs started to cause more and more problems, the vets offered different treatment, but it would cost hundreds of pounds and wouldn’t cure him only delay the inevitable. Following our weekly Wednesday check up Alfie the Dog seemed in good spirits as we went for a short slow walk along the river in Ross on Wye with doggy ice cream and cake for afters, a trip to his favourite shop to see all the staff who adored him and over the years have given him thousands of treats.

The evening arrived and Jo let him out to do his thing and he collapsed; our wonderful friend Steve came racing to our aid as minute after minute the boy just lay there. As I watched on it seemed like hours before he roused himself enough to get up and was helped back inside.

My gorgeous boy got through the night with Woolly and I sleeping on the floor next to him, by the morning I knew that I had to make the call that I had been dreading. With arrangements made Alfie the Dog seemed eager to come down to the glamping site as I raced round completing my work as fast as possible so that I could spend time with the boy. Zoe arrived to find Alfie sitting in the sunshine with his eyes closed just enjoying the moment, we carefully helped him back into the car and drove across the farm’s pastureland to the riverbank so he could stand in one of his favourite spots for the last time.  We spent the next couple of hours sitting with him pouring out our love for him and telling him how much we cared.

Forty minutes before the vet was due he made the decision to go back outside, with some help he finally made it to the front of our accommodation, where he lay down in the long grass with a smile on his face as I stroked him and told him what a good boy he was until the vet arrived.

Woolly says – Life will never be quite the same again, no barking, no more panting and incredibly bad breath and no more belly rubs to give. Alfie the Dog touched so many of us and everyone who met him loved him immediately, he will be forever in our hearts.