Portrait Of A Dog – Grace (Kelly)

Grace

Grace is an Irish Setter bought by my father’s partner about ten years ago, so she’s the oldest of the crew. She comes from Scarna’s Red Dream, a dog breeding centre specialized on the breeding of Irish setters (it is in fact one of the biggest in Europe). Born from Cordarragh Sebastian and Cordarragh Titania and originally named Aisha, Grace was among the first dogs my father’s partner got, as she switched to adopting them instead of buying puppies from breeding centres. I think this is a great option, especially because you give the dogs a chance to have a better life and escape from traumatic experiences.

As some of you may know, Irish Setters are usually very intelligent, loyal, affectionate and energetic. Grace embraces all these qualities, even now that she’s old.

She was already nine years old when I met her, so I learned through my family’s tales that she was hyperactive and vivacious when she was younger; she once destroyed the living room when nobody was home, because of her inclination to play and run back and forth in the house.

This image is quite different from the Grace I came to know; now that she’s an old lady, she spends the majority of her time sleeping on the floor or waiting for food. She is gourmand like Jolie, with whom she has a mother-daughter relationship, as I mentioned in this article about our Pomeranian mix.

You can’t imagine how much Grace is interested in food. She is always present every time we are in the kitchen, and one needs to be careful because she may literally steal you the food from your hands! I was told that she once stole a piece of Parmesan cheese from the kitchen counter and escaped to the garden to eat it by herself 😁 she loves food so much that sometimes she is the only dog showing interest for salad, too!

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Campaign Against Animal Abandonment

My father and his partner’s nine dogs

I adhere to the various anti-abandonment campaigns of animals in the summertime promoted by animal welfare associations and organizations.

All these campaigns stem from the desire to discourage pet owners from abandoning them before they set off for the summer holidays, when this occurrence reaches its peak. In Italy, where I live, the abandonment of an animal in the street is a criminal offense and the situation of stray animals, particularly in Southern Italy (where most of the animals we’ve adopted come from), has reached dramatic levels.

People need to stop treating dogs, cats and other pets as objects to be used only as a pastime to get rid of when they get tired of them. Taking responsibility is the first step towards stopping abandonment; I am proud to say that over the years part of my family has rescued numerous dogs who have been mistreated, abandoned and even brutally abused. Now these dogs have a loving home and they’ve been given the chance to live a happy, dignified life. I often spend time with them and they’ve helped me cope with my emotions during a particularly tough time. They love us unconditionally and are very protective towards the family. I am grateful to have them in my life and I will surely talk about each one of them individually on this blog. I also created a dog retrospective that can be found on my Flickr profile , where I show their funniest and most authentic moments.