Millie's Story

Millie was my first ever dog. We've always had dogs in our family (Mindy and Mitzi the Yorkshire terriers, Tandy the collie cross, Nettle the springer x lab, Brook the springer, Rex the terrier & Emma the Yorkshire terrier) but non of them had been 'mine'.

In December 2001 when I was 19, I started work at a veterinary practice in Consett as an auxiliary nurse. It was my first official animal job and I was keen. However it didn't turn out to be my dream job. Management were awful, the hours were ridiculous and the pay measly! On the 11th February of 2002 the dog warden walked into our practice with a tiny black and white puppy in his arms. She'd been taken off some children whom had been using her as a football and suffered a leg injury :-(

We took her in and x-rayed her. She looked about 3 months old, was thin and a little nervous. The x-ray showed a floating patella, causing her to limp and be in a bit of pain. I asked the head nurse what would happen to her, and to my shock and horror, she said the puppy will probably be put to sleep as she was a stray and needed treatment that wasn't free! In hindsight I feel this may have been a joke, but at the time the nurse looked serious! I said that no way was that going to happen and I decided that she was coming home with me. It was a rash decision and at the time I was still living at home, so my parents were a bit shocked when I walked in with a puppy that night! We already had Rex and Emma and my parents weren't sure about taking in another dog. I pleaded with them to let her stay as I had already grown attached to her. They yielded eventually!

Millie playing in the sea near Whitby

So the then un-named puppy stayed. She had no training and the first thing she did was wee on the carpet! I struggled to find a name for her and went through several before I settled on one. My mam wanted to call her Mitzi after her old Yorkshire terrier but it just didn't suit her!
At the time, my sister had a black and white mongrel called Roxy and the little puppy looked a bit like her. One day my sister said "she's a mini Roxy!" and I thought Minnie might suit her! However it still didn't suit her and from Minnie I got Millie, which felt right!

Millie was a handful from day one. Her house training took months and she would chew everything in sight! She chewed my mam's shoes, the chair legs, the table legs, the plants outside and my clothes! She dug huge holes in the flower beds and tried to eat poisonous bulbs! Having a bad start in life really effected her and she over bonded with me. I didn't help the situation by taking her every where with me and letting her sleep on the bed. She developed severe separation anxiety and I couldn't leave her with anyone but my parents. I'd take her to shops and she'd wait outside with a friend or relative while I went in, and she would scream, whimper and howl until I came back out!

This was obviously a problem that I had to deal with. I was only 20 when I got her and I'd never trained my own dog before so I made lots of mistakes with her. As the years went by she did improve, and by the time I started working at the PDSA as a student veterinary care assistant in 2006, she was 70% better. As I studied I became more involved in canine behaviour and training and I started applying what I knew to Millie. In 2007 I met my other half, Graeme. I started taking Millie with me when I went to stay at Graeme's in Barnard Castle, and Millie wasn't allowed to stay in the bedroom with me! Graeme flatly refused to let the dog in the bedroom and wasn't keen on her even being upstairs! She'd always slept either on my bed or under it so she didn't much like being relegated to the landing (this was the compromise!)

On a rock in the Lake District

Millie and I spent our time living half with my dad and half with Graeme. Sadly my mam passed away in December 2007 just as I had met Graeme, so it was difficult not being with my dad all the time but I loved spending time with Graeme and walking around Barnard Castle. It wouldn't have been so bad if home hadn't been an hour's drive from Graeme's! Millie still had problems with separation and she was very highly strung. If I left Millie with Graeme in a public place for any reason, like if I went into a shop or to the toilets, she would still cry and whimper until I came back. People would look at Graeme as if he was hurting her in some way!

I was still working at the PDSA Pet Aid hospital in Newcastle and this was the reason I hadn't moved in full time with Graeme. The commute was a nightmare and I didn't like the idea of having 3 hours traveling every day. So we were still with my dad 4 days a week. At the end of 2008, the two other dogs that lived at home had to be put to sleep a week apart from each other. They both had kidney failure and it was awful losing both of them. Rex was roughly 17 or 18 years old but Emma was only 12 years old :-(
Millie suddenly went from living with 2 doggy friends to living with none. She didn't see them after they were put to sleep so had no comprehension of where they went. She'd known them most of her life and it was all she knew. She took it badly, pacing the house and being very subdued and quiet.

 

Millie starting to look old and grey!

 For the rest of Millie's story and the story of Brenna, please wait for my next blog!