Canine companions

Felicity and Andrew have our sympathies with the loss of their dog, Braan.

Last year, we also lost our own four-legged motorhoming companion. She was Ruby, a Labrador-Dalmatian cross who was 15 years and nine months old. We adopted her from a local rescue centre when she was 15 months old.

After a couple of years of sharing our caravan with us we changed to a motorhome and she didn’t look back. Always looking for new adventures and places to explore. She travelled all over the country with us, from the West Country to Campbeltown where our son lives, travelling between the front seats with her harness connected to the passenger seatbelt anchor point.

She would sit up and look through the windscreen to see if we were there yet, but she may have been checking that I was on the right route.

Like Felicity, we always looked for dog-friendly pubs and cafés. Once Ruby had been to them she never forgot where they were, even if it was a couple of years before we returned to the area.

Her favourite site was Corfe Castle Dorset Camping, where she enjoyed visiting Swanage Railway, always wanting to see the steam trains and travelling on them. Her eyes would light up when she heard their steam whistles blow.

Over the last two years she had difficulty getting in and out of the ’van so we got her a ramp that she very quickly mastered. She started having what can only be described as strokes and when these started to become frequent we decided to let her go.

Our first time away in the ’van without her was hard because she not only left a big hole in our hearts, she left a big hole in the ’van.

Her memory will always travel with us as well.

John Parker