Puppy BLUES

Dana had to face facts — it was time to make a heartbreaking decision

- Rebecca Mansell

She had been warned, and she hadn't listened. Instead, Dana had plunged head first in with her eyes shut, blundering ahead without really thinking it through.

Now, here she was, on the edge of despair, wondering how she could possibly get through another day with him.

A further day to add to all the rest of running around, never a moment to herself, losing hope of ever getting him to understand.

'Him' was Merlin, a 10-week-old springer spaniel. A bundle of sheer havoc wrapped up in fur. A wriggling black and white body attached to a head that was almost entirely black apart from one white spot near his tiny nose. And while people exclaimed how gorgeous he was, Dana could hardly nod with agreement, exhaustion seeming to have rendered her incapable of conversation.

'No, not again!' she exclaimed as Merlin attacked the sofa with a ferocity akin to a crocodile chomping on its prey. He lifted his soulful brown eyes to look at her before returning to ripping apart her furniture.

Just as she reached him, he took off at breakneck speed to sink his sharp little baby teeth into the freshly painted skirting board.

'You do realise that springers are renowned for having lots of energy?' Dana's mother Priscilla had said on the phone a few months before. 'And aren't you a bit old for this?'

Dana bristled. 'Of course I know that! I am more than capable of taking care of a dog.'

'Not a dog, dear, a puppy. When you were a child, we looked after Alfred. It was hard work. I couldn't have done it without your father.'

Her mother's words echoed in her ears as Dana scooped up Merlin and tried to put him into his crate for settling time. Alas, the puppy had other ideas as his needle teeth ripped at her arm and he slipped from her grasp. He sped off again, then promptly weed on the carpet.

'No, Merlin!' she screeched, fully aware this was not the response advocated in the puppy training manuals.