Penny’s Tail

Written by
Darrell Adams, Gideon Brothers’ Director of Sales and Penny’s dog parent

When we first saw Rosie, she was sick, in a SPCA shelter in Singapore and we were not sure if we should take her home.  You see, we take dog parenthood seriously, she was very underweight, had a bad eye, teeth problems, no history, was nine years old and she smelled like the north end of a south-bound camel!  We didn’t know if we could handle the costs or the heartache, it took us over an hour to sit with her and decide – it was the best decision we ever made.

On the way home with her, we started thinking about what we should call her, as Rosie had only been her name for three weeks, and it did not really fit.  We were driving along in tropical Singapore and I saw a Frangipani tree on the side of the road, and she is basically half a dog (2.3kg at this point), so it was Penny!  Next step, call my Boss, his sister is named Penny, explain – crisis averted!

We got her home, and she didn’t really move. She was so unwell that she got up to eat, drink and go to the bathroom – we were worried, we were already attached, she was already family.  Day two and we are off to the vet, Penny gets a new diet, a new leash, a pretty bowtie (she is a lady after all) and her one and only love – her cactus.

The cactus has been a major part of her life ever since, she has killed five in two years, but in the beginning the relationship took time to grow.  Penny could only give the cactus 2-3 minutes of play before she was worn out, but all that would change!  As Penny got stronger, we realised that one cactus would not be enough – enter “The Pig”.

After a few months, we realised that she was all Jack Russell, she simply does not stop. 10k walk, ready to play – 504 rounds of fetch, still ready to play.  She has gained a little weight since we got her, now weighing in at 4.2kg, but it is all muscle. The vet tells us she has an enlarged heart, I firmly believe that it is just muscular, like Arnold Schwarzenegger looked the day before he won Mr Universe – swole.

It is at this point we realised that Penny was special. We went on holiday and our Singaporean neighbour took care of her – Penny did tricks when commanded in Hokkien.  So, she is ripped, blonde, cute and bilingual, I was starting to get concerned for my job – Note to self ‘Keep her away from robots or she will replace me!’

The next step in keeping Penny away from my career was to move it, I knew she didn’t speak Croatian, so we better move there!  I accepted the role of Sales Director with Gideon Brothers and our life in Croatia began, but not before the transit.

The flight to Zagreb took us through Istanbul, Turkey but the journey was in business class (Penny demanded it) and we were alone in the plane #covid.  The hostess for the flight told us that we could let Penny out of her travel bag if she stayed on leash.  Penny set about wooing the hostess and by halfway thought the flight, she was eating Camembert and Salami on a flat-bed!!

We have now been in Zagreb for 3 months and Penny has slipped into the Croatian lifestyle.  She loves to go out for Kava (coffee) and kulin and just explore the outdoors.  She drives with her head out the window and has grown a nifty winter coat.  She still loves her cactus (we bought a lifetime supply with us in case they were not available in Croatia) and loves to walk in the sunshine.  Her one bad eye has been joined by a half bad other, but she smiles as she walks into poles.  She loves meeting new people and new dogs, and she now knows that Zagreb has a huge population of Jack Russells, and she plans to sniff every one of their butts.  Finally, she is learning Croatian and already knows what “slatka” means, so I guess my job is still in trouble!

We still do not know her history, but we know her future. We plan to treat her so well in the last part of her life that the first will be forgotten. Please love your animals and treat them well, they may only be part of your life, but you are all of theirs.