I often had pairs of customers who were from the same household. Most often these would be two dogs of the same breed and usually the same colour or two dogs of similar breeds such as two types of gun dogs i.e. a Labrador and a Springer Spaniel. I suppose it was only to be expected that people had a certain type of dog they were attracted to, so even if they had two or more they always tended to be a similar breed of dog. There were a couple of exceptions to this rule the most notable being Molly the Boxer and Gizzy the Pughasa however even here there were similarities in that both had brachycephalic skulls so this characteristic was something that appealed to their owners.
Peppa and Marley and Buffy and Pebbles my next two pairs of visitors also followed this trend. Marley was a young black Labrador while his “sister” Peppa despite being a smaller type of dog was still a Labrador cross. Both were black, Peppa having a pretty white bib marking on her chest. Buffy and Pebbles were even more similar as not only were they both Border Terriers but they were both wheaten in colour. Both were a couple of sweet old girls and despite the passing of the years both were still game for a wonder around my garden and still displayed that indomitable terrier spirit.
I myself have always tended towards gun dogs and in particular Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Pointers or what I tend to term as “doggy dogs”. However in more recent times I have been surprised to find myself drawn towards small dogs such as pugs and even toy dogs such as Chihuahuas mainly because despite their size they have such huge personalities coupled with shed loads of courage that you just wouldn’t expect to find in such a small package. Could I ever see myself morphing from being a big dog person to a small dog or, dare I even mention it, a toy dog person? I must be bucking the usual dog owning trend as although I would definitely carry on having “doggy dogs” in my life I think at the same time there would also be room for a small, cheeky, brave little character to occupy a corner of my heart.