While this Saturday’s International Dog Day is an opportunity to assess the pleasure, love, and commitment provided to us by man’s buddy, the majority of dog owners require little reason to commemorate their canine buddies.
For RTÉ Gold broadcaster and occasion host, Rick O’Shea, every day is a banquet filled with enjoyable and the eccentric shenanigans of his 2 dogs TJ and George.
“I was fairly sure that dogs weren’t for me,” the 50-year-old says. “I had had cats before and they come and go as they please but dogs are different altogether. There is so much more commitment involved and I was just too busy to even think of getting one let alone two. Then covid came along and changed everything.
“My wife was now working from home so when we were a few months into it, we had a conversation about getting a dog. She had been following the DSPCA for a long time on Instagram and one day she sent me a post from their feed, with two dogs in it.
“They had both come from the same home, so they were looking for people to take them together. I just looked at the picture and said: ‘Yes, it’s those two’.”
As we speak, there is an unexpected outburst in the background. TJ, who Rick refers to as a Jack Russell Chihuahua cross, has actually found another dog audaciously passing in front of your home. He is quickly signed up with by George, a Border Terrier Pug cross, who barrels in with a couple of high-pitched barks of his own. They quickly pipeline down as the angering dog bounds silently far from their grass and the very first of that day’s doggy dramas ends.
“TJ is the older of the two,” Rick says. “He had been in an accident when he was a puppy so he has a gammy paw and it’s difficult for him because he is the excitable and yappy one. If you let him off the lead, he’ll go like a bolt. He’s ten but he has the energy of three dogs. He’s the affectionate one who will sit on your lap.
“He likes being close to people and always has done.
“George was a bit more standoffish at the beginning and it’s only in the last three months that he will come and sit on your lap. We’re still joking that his persona is developing. But both of our guys are people-centric.”
Rick is rather sure that embracing TJ and George “kept him grounded and sane during covid” and due to the fact that they require a fair bit of walking it likewise kept his weight down while stopping him from just “eating [his] way through the pandemic”.
But more than anything it is the love and the sense of being valued that lifts his spirits one of the most.
“You get so much affection from dogs,” he says. “There are days when I come from work and my dogs are the most excited that they could possibly be to see any human. They go berserk when I come in the door. It’s like I come home from the war every day. It’s very hard to beat.”
Niamh O’Sullivan’s 10-year-old Cairn Terrier Maggie is likewise a rescue.
“We rescued her from the DSPCA by complete accident really,” the food and style influencer says. “I wanted to work closely with the charity to promote adopting dogs rather than people buying them, so I went out one day to highlight some of the dogs that had been there for a while on my Instagram and when I met Maggie it was love at first sight.”
Like all good romance, serendipity played its part. That really exact same day, Maggie was being sent to test the waters in another home and Niamh was resigned to never ever seeing her once again.
“Thankfully, it didn’t work out,” the 31-year-old includes. “She came to us and it’s been amazing having her. There’s always life in the house. She is sassy. She is very much the head of the household. She has a huge personality for such a tiny dog. It’s like she looks in the mirror and sees an Alsatian.”
Niamh, who matured around dogs, had to do with a year-and-a-half without one prior to embracing Maggie.
“It was weird not having dogs around for that period,” she says.
“Myself and my fiance both work for ourselves but I work from home and I really wanted the companionship. So it was me pushing to get one really. At this stage, David is equally as obsessed as I am. As well as keeping me company though, it also gets me out of the house and you meet people by just getting out and getting some air. When you work alone, like I do a lot of the time, that can be very important.”
Tom Dunne’s day generally starts with a brief walk to a close-by park with his Cocker Spaniel, Murph.
“We go there every morning at 8.30 and meet up with other dog owners,” the broadcaster and vocalist says.
“It’s become a bit of a ritual and he’s very popular with everyone. He’s very friendly and loves people. He gets on well with other dogs too. Happy character.” As it takes place, Murph is commemorating his tenth birthday on the day we speak. This triggers all sorts of fond memories for Tom.
“We got him from a woman down in Kilkenny,” he remembers. “He was the last one left of a litter and for years we thought he was actually the runt.
“We later discovered the breeder actually wanted to keep him but her husband had said no. His father’s name was Murph so he was named after his father.” Just a couple of weeks after satisfying him for the very first time, Tom brought Murph home to fulfill his children then aged 5 and 7.
“When the girls were younger we used to take him training every weekend and they would try to teach him things,” Tom says. “ They had to look after him and feed him and make sure he was OK and I think they’ve shared in his life journey in a way.
“He’s been sick three times and that’s given them a sense of not taking things for granted. Murph is a real glue in the house. He’s the centre of the house. He’s kind of everyone’s hero. One of my daughters came home from the Gaeltacht yesterday and it was the dog she was down on her hands and knees saying hello to. We had to take our place in the queue.”
Though he is “very gentle”, Tom confesses that there is, like the majority of Cocker Spaniels, a little divilment in him. There’s absolutely nothing Murph likes more than acquiring a good sock and putting you through your rates as you attempt to obtain it.
“He is a great companion,” he says. “I walk him a lot, at least an hour a day. It has become a huge part of my life. I love it. I take him along the coast and listen to books. I look forward to it every day. I am just so used to having this positive companion who is delighted to see me.”
