Well, started off with having Shadow. She was named in memory of my lovely Gypsy and the reason for this was, every time I went upstairs Gypsy always came up with me and i always said to her "you are my little shadow".

Shadow was born on the 1st July 2012 at a farm in Berkshire. She was number seven of a litter of seven

and the farmer was breeding Springers for gun dogs, but he did not think that Shadow was suitable, hence he got in touch with ESSW (English Springer Spaniel Welfare) and they agred to rehome her.. That's her story, now you can have mine.

After losing Gypsy, my wife said that we were not going to have another dog, but I was so upset by losing Gypsy she gave in and we started looking. Someone told us about ESSW and we decided to get in touch with them. We went on their website and had a look at springers looking for a new home, but before we could apply for one we had to be vetted, so we made an appointment with ESSW and we had a visit from a lady called Sharon. She came along and told us all about ESSW and what they did and also checked us out to make sure we were suitable for rehoming. Also checking that the dog's new home was safe and secure. Once that was done all we had to do wa wait for a dog to come up for adoption, but surprise surprise, that very same night we had a call from Sharon saying a puppy had come up for rehoming and would we be interested? To cut the story short Shadow arrived.

While we were talking to Sharon we did mention that we would be interested in rehoming another springer. We had Shadow about two months and then we had it, another call from Sharon informing us that another puppy of six months had come up for rehoming and would we be interested? Both Pauline and myself talked it over and decided to go and have a look. We did not have to go far and we went and had a look on Wednesday 12/12/12. Needless to say we both fell in love with the puppy who was named Scarlet and that was that. Scarlet came home with us.

It is now the 14th and 2 days since we have had Scarlet and she seems to have settled in nicely. We have Shadow on our bed and Scarlet seems to sleep in her crate no problems. Both Shadow and Scarlet are getting on fine together and that's what counts. Scarlet is booked to see our vet on Monday to have her checked out, so all being well she will be okay.

Just a quick word about ESSW. They look after English Springers and arrange adoption and fostering. They are always on the lookout for potential parents for their springers. Just a word, they only rehome English springer spaniels and they do like the potential parents to have had some experience of springers before, but i don't think it is set in stone, so have a look at their website here.

Christmas Day 2012. Well what a great day. We went to Philip and Ali's for Xmas dinner and of course to see the grandsons. We took Shadow and Scarlet with us. They really got on well with Storm and max. Scarlet got on well with max and Shadow with Storm. I think Max is in love with scarlet!! Other than a few accidents, the day was very nice and as usual Ali's dinner was great. Really enjoyed my day. After dinner we all sat down to open presents.

Boxing Day 2012. We both got up about 7:30, had a nice cup of tea, then will be taking Scarlet and Shadow to Mote Park and give them a good walk. Then home for some bucks fizz. Will be back later to update on the day. well, have just got back from Mote Park, what a nightmare. Scarlet wants to go one way and Shadow wants to go the other way. Am tired out, so now going home to that nice bucks fizz.

25th April 2013: Sorry have not had the time to write, will give a quick update. Both Shadow and Scarlet are doing fine. Boy have they grown! Scarlet goes training every Saturday. The trainer is an ex-police dog trainer and he is very good, but Scarlet has a mind of her own and is going to take some training. I will try and get her right, I hope. Both are on their beds and having a few 'Z's.