This year, I started off with a new job at Cheshire Dogs Home, a rescue center for dogs. At its most basic, the job is just caring for 30-50 dogs. In reality, it’s like being a cleaner, dog walker, nutritionist, stress manager, vet nurse, and more. In May, I was asked if I’d like to be the vet's assistant who visits the dogs home twice a week. He mostly does routine procedures like neuters but performs nearly all the care for the rescue dogs. The current assistant was going on maternity leave and the other two trained assistants were too busy being managers. Shortly after starting my internal training, one of the managers announced she would be leaving so the role was promptly left to me. As the other manager would also be leaving the dogs home relatively soon, it was decided I should get as much experience as possible. I’ve been on placement at a private vets once a week and I’m starting an online course in the new year to become certified as an Animal Care Assitant. I didn’t really think my path would lead into veterinary nursing but here I am! So far it’s going really well, I love learning new things and helping animals.
Working at the dogs home, it wasnt long until I brought a dog home. Little Lenny (a chihuahua x pug, 2.5 years old) came to us because his owner had mental health issues and had been in the hospital for weeks. He had been moved around to other relatives’ houses and been kept in another kennel during that time. He was quite nervous at the shelter but soon took a liking to me. Though I loved Lenny, we rehomed him to a couple that we thought would look after him. A week and a half later, they brought him in, unsure if they wanted to keep him as he had “bitten” the woman and their niece. They dropped him off, but decided to come back for him the next day. A week later, an anonymous person messaged the home saying they’d seen an ad on a dog selling website that looked like one of ours. It was Lenny. The managers called him up and questioned him over the ad, but the man deflected. Later that day, he said they were bringing Lenny back because he had bitten again. Back at the shelter, Lenny was more distrustful than ever—only letting me near him. The home was unsure they’d be able to rehome him to the public again. Through a teary phone call, James agreed to come meet Lenny. The two fell in love instantly and we took Lenny home the next day. Lenny has been easy and difficult in lots of different ways. He’s the easiest dog to walk, quiet, loves cuddles. He’s also opinionated and not afraid to tell you when he doesn’t want to do something like walking in the rain.
We’ve also added another dog to the family more recently. June is very different from Lenny. She’s a 10 year old hound cross (we think). Found as a stray, we don’t really have any history on her background. She’s a bit timid but very friendly with dogs and people. We’ve loved seeing her come out of her shell and really enjoy life. She loves going on long walks and sniffing everything in sight.
Speaking of animals, I’ve also got horses back in my life! Once I finally got my own car in August, I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was get back into horses. I’ve decided to loan (basically rent) a horse two days a week. His name is Gizmo and he’s an 11 year old cob, a very common breed in the UK. Although he started off very lazy, he's gotten better and better as the weeks have gone by. I’ve really enjoyed getting to spend time with horses and start riding again.
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of this year has been buying our first home. It was no easy process and we’ve actually been living in the house since October 2021 because it was the empty and the man selling it to us was a family friend. We waited many months for the seller to move the paperwork through and finalized the sale in August 2022. James and I (and his dad, Mike) have been doing all that great new homeowner jobs which never seem to end.
We’ve been lucky enough to have some wonderful trips this year. We met up with my dad in Switzerland in March. We ventured down to Cornwall for James's cousin's wedding. We went to America for two weeks in the summer. Plus we spent a many nice weekends by the beach in Wales.
James and I also started a new hobby in the new year—climbing. Mostly indoor bouldering, but we do go traditional rope climbing occasionally. A friend of ours took us outdoor climbing which was a really amazing experience.
Overall, it has been a fantastic year. After many years of waiting for things to happen, it finally feels like everything is starting to come together. I've begun to build my life here and am grateful for all the people who've helped me along the way. Here's to another year!