Having a dog, it’s like having a best mate, but one that doesn’t criticise and one that doesn’t answer back. We’ve got four dogs at the moment. I love them all dearly and they’re all very different characters.
I’ve been a real dog person my whole life. Growing up in England we always had a dog and a cat. I got my first dog of my own when I left home at 19.
She had loads of different homes and no one wanted her. So I took her and then she dumped 14 puppies on me! So that was a bit of a shock, because I’d only had her for three weeks.
I met my partner, he had a dog and we got another dog between us. We moved to Ireland in 1999.
Orca the Great Dane.
We didn’t know anybody here, we just took a notion and up and left the UK with three dogs. We wanted somewhere with a little bit of land where we could walk them, that’s why we moved here in the first place.
We live in a place called Geevagh, about 17 miles from Sligo town. We run a boarding kennels there. It’s great fun because the dogs are all lovely and it’s very rewarding.
I love the peace and quiet here. I loved the fact that at night it’s just dark. There are no street lights anywhere, so it’s just pitch black and you can see the stars.
Award winner
I got Orca on 8 July last year. My previous Great Dane had passed away in the February and then I lost another dog only 11 days after. I just needed to smile again.
Orca won Petmania Puppy of the Year 2021. I didn’t think we’d ever win. I was sure it was going to go to one of the little fluffies, because he was the only dog in the final that wasn’t a little fluffy.
Going in the sea is Orca’s favourite thing to do. I take him to the beach a lot, because it’s easier on his joints
I said: “There’s no way we’re going to win this, he’s a great block of a monster.” I was really surprised. My last Great Dane was 96kg, Orca is still growing. It was lovely. The woman phoned me from Petmania and I think I was just in shock.
Going in the sea is Orca’s favourite thing to do. I take him to the beach a lot, because it’s easier on his joints. Culleenamore in Sligo is our favourite beach.
Sligo is stunning. The scenery everywhere is just beautiful. I wouldn’t move away and of all the different places I’ve been in the world, Culleenamore is my favourite beach, ever.
Everyone laughs at that because it’s not a very used beach. There’s just something about it. It’s very peaceful. It’s just you and your dog.
Rescues
Culleenamore has a massive seal population, common seals and grey seals. It’s one of the only places in Ireland where the two will mix and live quite happily together. I always see them out there and sometimes you see their heads bobbing in the water as you’re walking.
I realised a while back that there was a seal rescue. I looked them up and saw that I could actually get involved. So I did a training course with them, because if you’re not trained you’re technically not allowed to touch a seal on a beach. You have to be trained to go and remove them.
Jo Gurney and Orca.
I’ve probably done 10 or 11 rescues now. It’s nice because I felt like I’m giving something back for all the nice times I’ve had at the beach.
With the seals, it’s the pups, it’s the babies; usually they’re only up high on the beach if they’ve been abandoned or if they’ve lost their mum in a storm in the rough sea.
I trained in whale and dolphin rescue as well. That’s a lot more difficult now, because with whales a lot of the time they’re too big to re-float.
I started doing a thing called “mantrailing” with Orca, it’s like the first stages of trying to do search and rescue for people
A person called a runner, they go off and hide somewhere, say in the woods. They leave an article of clothing like a sock, hat or a jumper.
With the seals, it’s the pups, it’s the babies; usually they’re only up high on the beach if they’ve been abandoned or if they’ve lost their mum in a storm
You take the dog over to it, you let the dog sniff it and you tell the dog to go find them. That’s all they’ve got to go on and they will go and find this person. It’s amazing to watch them.
I don’t know how far we’ll get, we’ll get as far as we can. I didn’t know to start off with how much training there would be, because it’s not something I’ve done or I didn’t know anyone who had done it. It’s just a case of, let’s train up and see how we get on.
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Having a dog, it’s like having a best mate, but one that doesn’t criticise and one that doesn’t answer back. We’ve got four dogs at the moment. I love them all dearly and they’re all very different characters.
I’ve been a real dog person my whole life. Growing up in England we always had a dog and a cat. I got my first dog of my own when I left home at 19.
She had loads of different homes and no one wanted her. So I took her and then she dumped 14 puppies on me! So that was a bit of a shock, because I’d only had her for three weeks.
I met my partner, he had a dog and we got another dog between us. We moved to Ireland in 1999.
Orca the Great Dane.
We didn’t know anybody here, we just took a notion and up and left the UK with three dogs. We wanted somewhere with a little bit of land where we could walk them, that’s why we moved here in the first place.
We live in a place called Geevagh, about 17 miles from Sligo town. We run a boarding kennels there. It’s great fun because the dogs are all lovely and it’s very rewarding.
I love the peace and quiet here. I loved the fact that at night it’s just dark. There are no street lights anywhere, so it’s just pitch black and you can see the stars.
Award winner
I got Orca on 8 July last year. My previous Great Dane had passed away in the February and then I lost another dog only 11 days after. I just needed to smile again.
Orca won Petmania Puppy of the Year 2021. I didn’t think we’d ever win. I was sure it was going to go to one of the little fluffies, because he was the only dog in the final that wasn’t a little fluffy.
Going in the sea is Orca’s favourite thing to do. I take him to the beach a lot, because it’s easier on his joints
I said: “There’s no way we’re going to win this, he’s a great block of a monster.” I was really surprised. My last Great Dane was 96kg, Orca is still growing. It was lovely. The woman phoned me from Petmania and I think I was just in shock.
Going in the sea is Orca’s favourite thing to do. I take him to the beach a lot, because it’s easier on his joints. Culleenamore in Sligo is our favourite beach.
Sligo is stunning. The scenery everywhere is just beautiful. I wouldn’t move away and of all the different places I’ve been in the world, Culleenamore is my favourite beach, ever.
Everyone laughs at that because it’s not a very used beach. There’s just something about it. It’s very peaceful. It’s just you and your dog.
Rescues
Culleenamore has a massive seal population, common seals and grey seals. It’s one of the only places in Ireland where the two will mix and live quite happily together. I always see them out there and sometimes you see their heads bobbing in the water as you’re walking.
I realised a while back that there was a seal rescue. I looked them up and saw that I could actually get involved. So I did a training course with them, because if you’re not trained you’re technically not allowed to touch a seal on a beach. You have to be trained to go and remove them.
Jo Gurney and Orca.
I’ve probably done 10 or 11 rescues now. It’s nice because I felt like I’m giving something back for all the nice times I’ve had at the beach.
With the seals, it’s the pups, it’s the babies; usually they’re only up high on the beach if they’ve been abandoned or if they’ve lost their mum in a storm in the rough sea.
I trained in whale and dolphin rescue as well. That’s a lot more difficult now, because with whales a lot of the time they’re too big to re-float.
I started doing a thing called “mantrailing” with Orca, it’s like the first stages of trying to do search and rescue for people
A person called a runner, they go off and hide somewhere, say in the woods. They leave an article of clothing like a sock, hat or a jumper.
With the seals, it’s the pups, it’s the babies; usually they’re only up high on the beach if they’ve been abandoned or if they’ve lost their mum in a storm
You take the dog over to it, you let the dog sniff it and you tell the dog to go find them. That’s all they’ve got to go on and they will go and find this person. It’s amazing to watch them.
I don’t know how far we’ll get, we’ll get as far as we can. I didn’t know to start off with how much training there would be, because it’s not something I’ve done or I didn’t know anyone who had done it. It’s just a case of, let’s train up and see how we get on.
Read more
My Country Living: 16 year old Waterford farmer sets up her own business
My Country Living: shepherd a big believer in art as therapy
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