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Greyspirit Weimaraners |  |
| How we Began |
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We are Joanna MacLaine & Richard Dickson we live in West Lothian, Sadly on 26 November 2005 I said goodbye to Nuggets, my beautiful ginger boy, he'd eaten something like an onion or lilly bulb on 24 November and the damage to his liver, kidneys and blood was irreversable. He was 9 1/2 years old, far too young. For years we had wanted to get a dog, but our circumstances were not good. We both worked full time, and we worked for the same company during the day. Richard then changed jobs and his working hours were different. Instead of working 8.30am - 5pm, he was now working 4am - 1pm, I was still working 8.30am - 5pm so although our hours were different, we still didn't feel they were suitable for getting a dog as it would still be at home from 8am - 1.30pm which is quite a long time. After a few years Richard changed his hours again, this time he changed to nightshift, now things were looking up for us getting a dog. We debated a few breeds - Weimaraner, Vizsla and Dalmatian were our main considerations. We decided against a Dalmatian because of the quite high risk of skin cancer and deafness and the fact that one of our neighbours had a Dalmatian dog. We then considered a Vizsla, but they looked quite small and dainty and seemed to look old quite quickly as they go obviously white at the muzzle. We then saw a really old bitch who was so grey she was speckled all over and when we asked what breed she was and were told Vizsla, that decided us, we were having a Weimaraner. We then had to decide if we wanted to take on a rescue one or take on a puppy. We called Independent Weimaraner Rescue and Re-homing administrator, a lady named Mrs Fairlie. She asked us loads of questions about our lives, circumstances etc. and advised us as we had cats it may be many, many months before she could place a bitch with us, as IWRRS will only place dogs that they can verify have lived with cats. We said we'd consider all she had said and get back in touch. We discussed the pros and cons of taking on a rescue dog or a puppy, and after about 3 months of deliberating we opted for a puppy. We called Mrs Fairlie back to thank her for her help, and also to ask if she could point us in the direction of a reputable breeder. She advised us that although she was the Administrator of IWRRS, she was also a breeder herself, and that she was waiting for one of her bitches to come into season and would be mating her, she offered to add us to her waiting list of possible owners, and also said she would be more than happy to put us in touch with a couple of other breeders who may be having a litter in future. We felt that as we had built up a good rapport with Mrs Fairlie, we would be put on her waiting list rather than seek a puppy elsewhere. About 2-3 months later Mrs Fairlie called to say her bitch had come into season and been mated, and she would be in touch when she was certain that the bitch was in whelp. She called about 5 weeks later to say her bitch was indeed in whelp, and she would call us after the pups were born. About 3-4 weeks later I had called to ask her a question, and had the bad timing to call on the day her bitch was having the puppies. She then called us the next day to say that she had a litter of 9 puppies, 5 bitches and 4 dogs. We made arrangements to go out and see the litter when they were about 4 weeks old. At this point we were still only on her waiting list, and had no idea if we would be allowed a puppy from this litter or if we would need to wait again for another litter in future. We went out to see the pups and they were gorgeous, we were again asked loads more questions, and in turn we also asked her loads of questions. As we were leaving, we asked if we could be considered for one of her pups, she said she'd already decided we could have one before she'd even met us. 4 weeks later we picked up Keir, our first Weimaraner.................. |
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| greyspirit.weimaraners@blueyonder.co.uk | 19-03-2007 |