Life’s good for Mike, the Kerry Blue

MAY I introduce myself ? My name is Mike, the Kerry Blue, or when I am in Dingle I am simply known as Mike the Madra.

This weekend is my eighth birthday, I have had an interesting life so far. The good people at Dogs in Distress rescued my mum and I when we ended up in the dog pound, don’t ask me how.

A year ago I lived in lovely Donegal and ran on beaches before I met my current parents on an odd trip to Monaghan where I changed cars and changed my life.

Is that how you call it, when I said goodbye to the salt air and hello to Dublin?

Here in Dublin, life is very good. When out walking, we meet very nice people. If I heard it once I have heard it many times by now:

“How handsome I am and my lovely white teeth?” “What’s your dog called?” “Is he a Kerry Blue?”

“You don’t see too many of them these days?”

“You know they are the National Irish dog?”

“Michael Collins had three of them...” Holy moly, I could go on...

A typical day in my life is to get up early in the morning, be collected and driven to my Buddy, Marley, who greets me at the gate. A gentle bark hello, happy days, then we settle in to a day of tireless fun of chasing, running and having our feet cooled in a small pond.

My new favourite is a big trampoline. When no one’s looking, wow, Marley and I take turns... bounce, bounce, bounce! When I bounce hard I can almost see the dog three gardens down. This bouncing is fun!

When not in Dublin, it’s a great weekend in Dingle. There, I love walking to pubs and hanging out in Dick Mack’s and Hannie Agnes’s, my favourites. The guys in The Skipper restaurant in Ventry even bring me out large bowls of water after a long run on the beach chasing and laughing with other dogs or birds, or both.

Then again, after a big drink it’s time to think and dream of bones... Happy days, life is good!

Check out Dogs in Distress, a small care group for animal lovers desperately needing funds. You can visit their Facebook page or see lots of pictures of me on the second page of the Happy Endings section of their website: https://dogsindistress.org/our-dogs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15177