Written by Rebecca Henning
Professional photography by Chris Wall Media
My husband and I had been married for a few months, living with our two “firstborns” – our precious cats. He’s always been more of a dog person (personally, I love both) and started longing for a canine companion.
We went to a few rescue organisations and none had any puppies (which was very important for us needing to introduce him/her to our cats). We ended up at the Randburg SPCA, doubtful we would find “the one”. Walking down the row of cages, we saw a little scruffy wire-haired pup looking at us longingly with her chocolate eyes. My husband turned to me and said, “That’s the one, she looks like she could be called Alley”.
We introduced ourselves and she was just so loving and happy from the moment we met. Having made our decision to take her, we went to the reception desk to organise the logistics but were told she was already booked! In fact, there were already three people on a waiting list for her... Disappointed, we got in our car to drive home, but as we were pulling out we decided to also add our name to the waiting list. My husband ran in to give them our name and number.
We weren’t too hopeful about it and carried on with life, preparing to take our leave the following week. A day before we were catching our flight, my husband received a call from the SPCA to say that the little wire-haired pup was available for adoption and asked if we still wanted her. We were fourth in line! How is that not fate? It all happened so quickly; I had to get to the SPCA that day to sign her adoption forms and reserve her before we went on holiday.
Once we got back from holiday, we went to fetch the little bundle who’d just been spayed the previous day. We took her home and introduced her to the cats, who adjusted very well to her gentle nature. And well, the rest is history!
It's now two years later and we can't imagine life without her! We've since also got a second dog as a companion for her. Riley is a German Shepherd, about one year younger than Alley, and they're inseperable. Alley is highly intelligent and agile, acing her training classes. She can be timid at times, which I suspect is due to her being a rescue and possible previous mistreatment. She's super friendly with other dogs and submissive in her interactions. Protecive of us with strangers around.
We had no idea what the results of her test would come back as! From her features, we definitely thought some sort of terrier, but were clueless otherwise and suspected a proper mix – which is what we got!
Alley’s MuttMix Results:
Level 3 Airedale Terrier
Level 4 Alaskan Malamute
Level 4 Bloodhound
Level 4 Boxer
Level 4 Australian Shepherd
Level 4 Dachshund
Airedale Terrier and Dachshund fit well, and maybe Alaskan Malamute too, but Bloodhound and Boxer were a total surprise!
I’m glad we went through the process; it just gives us a little bit of insight into what she’s made up of. She’s a special pup and we’re so lucky to have her in our lives!
