A normal walk along a remote beach turned into a Christmas miracle for two dog owners who discovered their cocker spaniels were long-lost siblings.
The extraordinary event, which was akin to the plot of a Disney film, happened at Fenit Beach in Co Kerry on Christmas morning.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Dublin native Noel McCluskey told how he was walking along the strand with his children and his dog, Smudge, as dozens of people were flocking to the beach for the annual Christmas swim.
Shortly after Noel let the energetic pup off his leash, Smudge ran towards another dog that looked just like him. The pair then began to play as if they recognised one another. Noel and the other dog owner then began to talk about their pet’s similarities – and before long realised that they were from the same litter of puppies, both bought from a registered breeder in Co Cavan nearly a year ago.
‘It was such a random thing to have happened,’ Mr McCluskey said. ‘We bought Smudge when we were still living in Dublin and the other owner got their dog, Betsie, from her brother who also comes from Dublin.
‘When he ran over to this other dog I thought it was very unusual to see another cocker spaniel nearly the exact same size and colour. They were nose to nose and it did seem like they recognised each other. They would have played together all day if we let them at it.
‘I told this woman that my dog is nearly a year old and she replied, “Mine too! She’s one on January 6”.
‘She then took out her phone and showed us a picture of her dog’s parents and we were amazed when we realised that it was the same image we were sent by Smudge’s breeders in Cavan.
‘All we could do was laugh at how our dogs managed to reunite on this tiny beach in the west of Ireland, especially since both of them initially lived in Dublin.’
Noel added that Betsie and her owners live locally so he’s confident that they and their pets will meet up again.
‘I’ve never heard anything like this happening before and it’s definitely something we’ll all be talking about for years to come,’ he said.
