On the way home from the first meeting, DB had thought-out-loud about adopting P even if his parents wouldn’t. After the first walk, the idea was firmly fixed in his head.

A second walk, the next day, sealed the deal. P was going to be rescued whatever his folks said (and they weren’t making dog rescuing noises). DB set about making arrangements and talking to the staff about finalising the adoption.

We couldn’t take her home immediately because she has ‘stomach problems’ and had been fighting with diarrhoea for a month or so. That explained why she was in the RC at all and why it had taken so long to arrange the first walk after the first meeting.

At the time of the first walk she’d been diarrhoea-free for a couple of days but they were waiting for the results from a series of blood tests.

We left with the promise of a phone call when they knew what the vet said. We shouldn’t hold our breaths – it could still take a couple of weeks before she was considered fit for release.