In 2018 we adopted a hound-mix dog who we named Atticus. He was a black and white dog of indeterminate breed who was approximately 1 year old when he came to us.

As a hound mix he had a very stong prey-drive. Any time he was off-lead, he would attempt to chase cats, squirrels, or any small furred or feathered creature that he saw. Naturally this meant he always had to be leashed.

He was a wonderful companion for many years, though he did have some health issues – During lockdown he tore his ACL tendon, which required surgery, and an extended period when he was not allowed run or climb stairs.

In the summer of 2025 he became ill very suddenly and lost the use of his back legs over the space of a week.

After he passed away, we decided that we would get a puppy for our next dog instead of a rescue dog for two reasons. The first and most important is we wanted a dog with a low-shed or non-shed coat due to Eoin’s asthma. The second (lesser) reason is we wanted to train a dog as a clean slate, rather than have an older dog with already formed traits.