My next dog, I finally convinced my wife that a dog would be good for the kids, which she finally ok'd, however it had to be small dog, again. So my sister knew of a family that wanted to give away some pups from the litter their dog had. We went over to check them out and there was this one little runt being pushed aside by the other pups when he was trying to get a feed from mum, so figuring he would be the last pup to be picked up by anyone I felt sorry for him and thought I would take him and help build him up.

He too was a "bitsa" pup and looked like a little black ball of fluff with a small white V on his chest. When I got him home the kids were ecstatic and couldn't wait to hold, pat and play with him. It was so good to see their little smiling faces. My eldest boy, who was about five named him woofles (not sure where he plucked that name from), but woofles he was. Every night when I came home from work I would train him to sit, stay and come, have a little play with him and the boys, occasionally sneaking him inside after tea for a play and a cuddle when my wife wasn't looking. Every time I fed him I would take his food from his mouth and his bowl away from him while he was eating, so he wouldn't become over-protective of his food  and bite someone if the boys or anyone else happen to try this when I wasn't around.

Woofles was very smart and easy to train, did whatever I told him to. He was so smart, in fact, I should have taken more notice of his actions and realised earlier that his thinking was correct. For some reason he didn't like my wife and although he was a gentle and kind puppy to everyone else, he would growl, bark and show his teeth every time my wife tried to get out the back door and would pull only her clothes off the washing line. I found out later that my wife wasn't such a nice person, she cheated on me and we divorced after only seven years of marriage, so he was right and I was wrong, but that's another story.

Unfortunately we didn't have Woofles very long. One day I came home from work and he was gone. My wife said he must have got out from a hole somewhere in the back yard or under the house. The kids and I were devastated, I searched for days, but never found him. To this day I still believe my ex-wife either let him out, or gave him away. All I can hope is that he found a good home and had a happy life, as in the short time we had him, he brought great joy to my kids and me.



For information, tips and products for small dog breeds go to www.allforsmalldogbreeds.com.