Remember Sparkie? He’s the guide dog in waiting…..well he was the guide dog in waiting but not any more.

He went off to his assignment and er, well, he’s back with Liz and David after seemingly being the star of the guide dog world. You see he got a bit too big for his boots and wanted to be top dog with his new owner and of course in the circumstances that couldn’t be allowed to happen.

After settling himself down for a nice cosy night on his new mistress’s bed for the night and growling at her when she told him to get down, he sort of blotted his copybook. She felt she couldn’t cope with such a wilful chap so he has found himself to be jobless.

He went for a trial to become a police sniffer dog but he was so well trained as a guide dog and fetching would have been considered a poor show for a guide dog so he didn’t go and get the toy he’d been asked to get so the police didn’t think he’d be right for them.

Now Sparkie is living the life of Reilly as a pet in waiting. What does this mean? It means that a nice couple needs to come forward and offer this loveable chap a nice home where he can play and romp around to his heart’s content without the stresses and strains of working……lucky Sparkie.

He’s a cutie and was the training school’s star but sometimes, well even the best of students don’t quite get it right in the real world. That’s why it’s such a rigorous programme – it’s designed to find just the right dog for a person whose sight doesn’t work and with the best will in the world sometimes things don’t work out the way that’s planned.

There are no recriminations but also for Sparkie there are no ‘second chances’. He’s given it his best shot and now it’s time for a new career as a pampered pooch. Don’t they say we all have to face into two careers these days? So Sparkie is no different from any of the rest of us mere mortals. Until that special couple come forward to look after and love this dog then he’s lodging with Liz and David who are making sure he doesn’t feel rejected or lonely until the right person appears on the scene.

I hope that Sparkie finds his niche in life quickly…but at the same time, I know he’s got a loving home until that day.

If you’re thinking of giving a home to an unwanted dog, then why not apply to Guide Dogs for the Blind? They just might have a well-trained and loving chap like him in need of a good permanent home. I can’t think of a better pet, can you?

Last year I was on a wild goose chase!