Every writer needs an assistant. Meet mine!
I’ve been thinking about getting a dog for ages. Earlier this year I was semi-set on jacking everything in, selling all my worldly belongings and going travelling for as long as my meagre savings would afford me.
Instead, in September, I ended up at Cardiff’s Dog Home, bringing this little lady home with me. It’s the same as travelling indefinitely, right??
The one thing a dog does bring into life is a real sense that you’ve got to live every day.Ā You can’t just laze around passively on the sofa, doing nothing, messing around on your phone, when there’s a greyhound that needs a pootle around the park. And there’s no doubt that I’ve been feeling a hundred times better since we’ve had her.
I wrote more in depth about adopting Zelda for We Are Cardiff: Meet Zelda, the newest member of the We Are Cardiff crew. They had called her Zara there but obviously Zelda is a much better name (I am also a massive Nintendo fan, and have spent about 300 hours of this year playing Breath of the Wild). We don’t have much info, other than she was an ex-racing greyhound, shipped over from Ireland. She’s nearly six years old, and her racing name was Skywalker Candy.
I didn’t know anything about greyhounds before we got her, but I boned up with the Retired Greyhounds book, and I’m so glad I did. I learned lots of things – like greyhounds can’t really do ‘sit’ properly, they love following you around all day long, and they don’t actually need much exercise at all – two 20 minute walks are enough for most dogs.
Anyway, I won’t go on too much about her here, even though I’m sure there will be endless posts about her in the future! I’ve also become one of those people, and started an Instagram for my dog, so if you want to see how she’s doing, follow her here: instagram.com/ZeldaPooch. Frankly my everyday life is pretty boring apart from her, plus sometimes seeing things being shared on there was making me judge my own life harshly, and feel bad about it. So it’s all about dogs now. Everything is all about dogs.
If you’re thinking about getting a dog, please consider adopting one. Since getting Zelda, we’ve joined an “unofficial” sighthound walking group, nearly all of whom were rescued from Cardiff Dogs Home, and they are the loveliest, goofiest group of hounds you’ll ever meet, with so much love to give.
Adopt don’t shop!
From me and from my snoozing greyhound.
Helia Phoenix 