It means her back left leg doesn’t work as well as the other three. Her kneecap is permanently dislocated. It’s rather good timing that this article has come out over Easter weekend, because much like the Easter Bunny, she hops when she runs (she doesn’t leave any eggs, however).
It causes her no pain and there is nothing required to fix it. Another of Georgie’s little idiosyncrasies is that her right ear always flicks back and remains there. But these are things that make Georgie her. She is perfect – for us.
I’ve been going to the dog park now for roughly a month with Georgie, and it is one of the most positive places you can go as a human being, with an amazing cross-section of people all happy to stop and chat and who are genuinely interested.
There is no such thing as the perfect dog, but when you start conversations, you learn their dog is perfect for them too. Advice is willingly handed out, comfort given and relationships are formed.
A shared love of a dog then springboards into personal relationships with people. Lots of people go there for a multitude of reasons. A woman was taking her mother for a walk in her wheelchair the other day, just so she could get out of the rest home and feel normal.
It’s heartwarming to see amid all the negativity in the world at the moment - I highly recommend it for your mental health.
As a bit of a newbie to this environment, I have learned there are rules (or as I like to call it, a system of petiquette). These mostly revolve around picking up the little brown gifts your beloved pooch leaves behind.
There is no better leveller in life than picking up dog faeces and carrying it around in a small bag until it can be disposed of. The first day I went, I forgot my bag and the bag dispenser had run out. I felt like a criminal.
When it comes to life, I am more of a “bag half-full” person than a “bag half-empty” type - I prefer to be positive. However, when it comes to Georgie’s gifts, straight to the doggy doo bin they go, and I get a fresh bag (which are provided for free). It doesn’t even get a chance to be half-empty.
I’ve deduced that there are three types of owners when it comes to this situation. The first are the people that happily do the doo and carry their hot little bag around the park with them.
The second type of owners let their dog do their business then pretend nobody can see they have just left it there. I followed one such owner of a dog the other day. It was a massive dog, and what was left behind was so large that I nearly needed crampons and a pickaxe to get over it.
I wanted to race after her, as a qualified member of the poo-lice. I liken these people to those who pick their noses in their cars. They think because they are in their personal vehicle, they have some sort of invisibility vortex around them and nobody can see them. A note to both. It may come as a surprise to you – but we can.
I met an example of the third type of owner the other day. Even if it isn’t her dog’s little gift, she picks it up. She sees it as doing the right thing. Now that is what I call dogged determination. She will go to heaven.
To prove that no matter what, you defend your own dog, a lady was talking to me about Georgie’s luxating patella the other day and said she “must be inbred”. I have to admit I was slightly offended.
I was born with the same condition as Georgie, but with not one but two subluxing patellas (kneecaps). After a lifetime of painful dislocations, I finally got them fixed and had them permanently relocated in my 30s. I’m pretty sure I’m not inbred, but some may beg to differ.
I was trying to get Georgie to run around the fenced area while off-lead the other day, and a woman and her friend got out of their car to come and have a chat about how things were going.
I noticed the most interested woman didn’t have a dog with her. I asked where her dog was. Fighting back tears, she said she had to have her darling dog put down six weeks prior and she couldn’t stop coming to the dog park because it’s where she felt close to him.
She comes every day, just to remember. If you have ever had to be there when your dog or cat is put to sleep, you’ll know it is harrowing. I had to put my first and only dog Rosie down within a year and I was profoundly impacted by it.
Not everyone has physical tattoos, but all pet owners who have lost one have the name of that pet tattooed on their heart forever.
