“Hello! I am a five-month-old German shepherd. My name is Hadies and my human is Sam. I was born on a beautiful day in late March. My two litter mates and I were looked after very well by our mummy and her human Edwin. All we could do at first was find mummy with our noses, drink milk and sleep.
“After just under two weeks though, I started seeing some light and some colours and hearing all sorts of sounds, but I couldn’t quite make out what it all was.
“Sometimes I can see a big lump of black and it smells different. I know the smell of humans already and now I can see them. I guess this is the way the world is. Everything moves, everything’s coloured and it is never quiet.
“When the picture became a bit clearer, that big lump of black was Uncle Dobie visiting us. Those moving things were tree branches in the wind and a wind chime which now also sounded better, among the commotion emitted from this tiny blue box. I am told now that all that noise was fireworks, vacuum cleaners and all sorts of household sounds.
“My brothers and sisters and I met and played with children and many other types of people. They were all nice to us and gave us treats or toys.
“Toys were a big deal for us then and the humans set up all sorts of things for us to play with. There was a curtain made of tins, a plank for us to balance on to get from one place to another, a tunnel to go through, soft toys, rubber toys and ropes. We had places we could dig and we had to learn to get up and down the steps and over the kennel door to get out.
I wonder if the other dogs have not had the rich upbringing I have had
“All the other dogs came to visit at some point and it was fun trying to catch their tales. I look forward to it every time we go to visit them now, although they are not as big as I remember them to be.
“My new human is very happy with me and how I behave. Other dogs, apparently, are rather hard to control but I just haven’t met anything quite strange enough to make me forget that Sam is there to protect me. I wonder if the other dogs have not had the rich upbringing I have had.”
Although this story puts words in a dog’s mouth quite literally, Hadies is a real puppy and has really had a rich environment growing up. Perhaps, viewed from a puppy’s point of view, the Puppy Plan seems to be nothing too special, but for those that have not had the benefit of it, it would have meant the world.
Contact Dogs Trust on 2142 1500 or 7771 1100 to find out how to choose a puppy you’ll be happy with.