ONE OF THE BEST USES of online social media is to bring a smile to a little child's face and few things do that as effectively as helping to rehome a puppy with a loving family. We used to take stray dogs into our home, including the possessed Holly at left. Through an early form of social media (i.e., mailing lists and discussion boards maintained by denise cox), we connected with Holly's minder and then we took the major step of letting Holly invade our home. The results were so unbelievable that we're probably going to give Holly an entire chapter in our life story.
Holly added a real dimension to our lives. She needed care, gave me exercise, kept local troublemakers off the back wall in the garden, and provided fun--all rolled into one athletic animal.
When Holly lived with us, we lived in Kilkenny and read stories written by Josephine Plettenberg from her Gowran farm. From the tone of several of her articles, Josephine had her own "Holly moments" with puppies who spread rubbish through her garden. Although it's now five years since Holly ruled our lives, we clearly remember Holly chewing leather purses, filleting a brand new Motorola phone, uprooting saplings from the garden, chewing through kindling next to the fireplace, and flossing with carpet she conquered in three separate rooms. And we also remember the comfort defined by Holly as she sprawled upside down in front of an open hearth blaze. Holly the crazed Samoyed-Spaniel cross earned a place in our lives. I still consider the act of rehoming her to be one of the most effective uses of social media that I have seen demonstrated in my life.
From five years ago -- "Animals teach us"
Holly was the subject of our first photo set.
