Written by Charl Prinsloo
Professional photography by Living Light Photography
During February of 2007 we were relaxing at home when Vicky’s mom came to visit.
But this was no normal visit as she, on her way to us, had heard strange sounds whilst walking through the park and came across an extremely small puppy lying in the shrubs next to a house boundary wall.
She picked up the puppy, probably not even two or three days old, and hurried to us to try and get some milk for the little one to drink.
We immediately decided to take her in and could clearly see that she was extremely malnourished and not in a good space.
Vicky spent nights awake looking after little Tashnique, bottle-feeding her every three hours. She was extremely small, and Vicky used a doll’s milk bottle, as normal baby bottles were too big for her tiny mouth to latch onto the teat. After a few weeks we started introducing porridge and then later some solids.
Not very long after that, Tashie came into her own and accepted us as her family.
She slept on the bed with us, many times falling asleep on my chest after making some howling sounds.
She became stronger and healthier with each feeding and received plenty of love from the entire family. We felt privileged for having her in our lives and that we could make a difference in hers after being abandoned and left for dead.
In June, the same year, we got an Alaskan Malamute named Shadow, and Tashnique finally had a brother to play with.
They were so different but completely inseparable and were each other’s companions for 12 years. Although Shadow weighed in at almost 50kg and Tashie as little as 6kg, she was still the boss.
Sadly, Shadow passed away on the 7th of September 2019. Tashnique, now aged 13, is living her best life with us as the only child and is being spoilt rotten.
Tashnique has been an absolute pleasure taking care of, as she’s a shy but extremely caring and loving little princess. She simply loves playing with her toys and fetching the ball, as well as driving around with us on road trips.
We’ve always wondered what mixed breed she was, so we had a DNA test done by MuttMix…
Tashnique’s MuttMix Results:
Level 3 Pug
Level 3 Collie
Level 3 Cocker Spaniel
Imagine our surprise when the results came back as Pug, Collie and Cocker Spaniel mix… now we understand the snoring (Pug)!
Our lives revolve around this little Princess, and we can’t imagine not having her in our lives. May God bless us with many more years with this little one!
Dominque of MuttMix adds…
Mixed breeds don’t always physically show all of the breeds that are in their DNA, but those “hidden” breeds usually add to the quirks and personality traits, as has been demonstrated with lovely Tashnique.