On Christmas Eve 2001, a little blind and partially deaf poodle named Meg was going to be put down by her owners who were moving to Australia. Luckily Meg came to our attention, and with the help of The Evening Post a new home was found for Meg.

Following is an an early update from Meg's new owner, which shows what a lucky girl she was:

Hi everyone,

Meg has been with me for a month now and I thought you might to know how she is faring. I feel she is settling in well and getting to know the household routines. For instance, today, for the first time, she made no attempt to come to work with me. She has obviously realised that she doesn't come on the first outing of the morning.

There are very few other outings that she misses out on. In fact, she has a pretty good social life for a geriatric poodle. She has been on dates for coffees, lunches, dinners and barbecues. This is largely due to the hit she has made with my friends and family who usually end invitations with "Do bring Meg". In fact her self styled 'godmother' phoned to ask Meg for coffee and then said to me "You can come too, of course." I am not at all surprised as Meg is such a sweetie with a gentle, trusting personality. I have found she can be stubborn as well. We have had a couple of clashes of wills about whether I really mean it when I tell her it is time for bed or to get out of the car. She is pretty bright and within 2 or 3 days had learnt some new commands - "Careful, Meg" (to stop her bumping into things in new places) and "Up steps " and "Down steps". I do feel a bit silly calling those ones for a long flight! Despite her blindness, she copes quite well but, on a recent walk, I let her down badly. I had guided her round lots of obstacles but didn't give a thought to a grating in the pavement. All four legs disappeared down the holes in the grating! She did need comforting!

Meg is having treatment for her arthritis as there were signs that it was more painful than your vet had thought. We started off with pills but have moved to a course of injections and this means that she can now have longer walks without discomfort. I thought it was important to start dealing with the problem before the cold weather arrives to exacerbate it.

I enjoy the way Meg likes to join in with everything I do. One of her favourite pastimes is gardening and her speciality is following the tracks of something (I think it must be the resident hedgehog) in, out, under and round the plants. She also adores the compost heap and the opportunity to exchange pleasantries (or swear words?) with neighbouring dogs. The result of all this is that the exquisite little dog Heather presented me with often sports a carapace of twigs, leaves and spider webs. Lucky you gave us that soap!

Thank you so much for letting me adopt Meg. She is a treasure.

Best wishes from us both.
Ann

P.S. The cats are coping remarkably well.