Boo! A new addition to the pack at Shaun and Wendy McKenna's farm

Although it was on that same trip that we decided that The Ginger Cow Company was going to be the name for our new business, that’s not the decision I’m referring to, but it was memorable for another reason also.

Up to that point we had two border terriers in the family, Scout and Elsa, but for the womenfolk I live with, for some reason, that wasn’t enough and regularly hounded me, that we should add another one to the clan. I’d always said no, but in a moment of weakness, as I sat in the hotel lounge on our first night away, I found myself trawling the internet to maybe find a new addition to the family.

Why I had decided to do this is beyond me, but that’s what I did. I must explain that I wasn’t being totally anti-social, sitting on the internet whilst in company, but Wendy had gone to get herself ready as we were going out for dinner and, of course, I would take all of two minutes to get myself sorted.

Lo and behold, with the wonders of the web, I found just what I was looking for and called the breeder to ask a few questions, because you can never be too careful.

After having a great couple of days away, we took a little detour via Durham to pick up our new puppy and needless to say, when we arrived home and the squeals of delight had subsided, I found myself in an unusual place, in the good books with the rest of the family – well at least for a few days anyway!

After some discussion amongst themselves, the new little lady was named Boo, which obviously wasn’t my choice, but then again, it was never going to be my choice, was it?

So, it was only a few months after this that we upped sticks and moved out into the wilds of East Yorkshire. In those few months, Boo, alongside the other dogs, were walked as you normally would, several times a day around the village we lived in, but life for the dogs was soon to drastically change, as well as for us.

For the dogs these changes included having so much more space to wander and to be free, away from traffic and the hustle and bustle of town living. There was an incident some time after we moved in when Wendy took Boo out shopping with her in Market Weighton. She wasn’t used to the traffic, the busy footpaths and also wearing a lead. As a result she spent much of that trip out dragging her belly along the footpath.

The dogs also had to come to terms with all of these new animals who were going to be sharing the same space with them, both wild animals and domesticated.

The surprising thing is that we have never had one incident with any of the dogs and our farm animals, but I’m afraid the same cannot be said for one member of our dog family and the local wild animal population.

I don’t know what Boo has against so many of the locals, but when it comes to rooks, rabbits, pheasants and wood pigeons it appears that she has got an issue. I’m sure she wouldn’t have a clue what to do, if she ever managed to catch up with any one of them.