Sally the Dog

Sally was a mongrel bought by my family for the princely sum of 8 English pounds in 1980, from an animal sanctuary in Birmingham. As you can see, she is made up from many different breeds of dog; there's a little bit of labrador in the ears, and a bit of greyhound in the way she moves. There's a few other breeds in there too.

Prowling Sally

Probably the most notable feature about sally's personality was her evil temper. Don't be deceived by the pictures on this page - Sally was an extremely possessive dog who could go for a walk, find a bone or something like that, and it would be difficult to remove it from her because she would threaten to bite anyone who dared go near her! She always enjoyed chasing balls, but getting the ball back off her was tricky!

Chasing a ball

But Sally was not all bad. She was very good at greeting people after they had been out somewhere - she always came to the door with a furiously wagging tail, and was quite affectionate in those circumstances. In many ways she was a very dominant dog. It was always a battle between Sally and the humans for supremacy within the family.

Looking attentive

Looks were not Sally's strong point. Apart from being a mixture of many different breeds, Sally had the misfortune of going grey around her muzzle at a comparatively early age, so she always looked older than she really was. In some of the photos on this page, Sally is no more than 5 or 6 years old, but she looks older.

Holding a ball

In 1995, the family moved from Kenilworth in the Midlands to Stoney Stratford, near Milton Keynes. This really signalled the end for Sally - she had lived in Kenilworth for nearly 15 years, and never really got used to her new surroundings. Sadly she had to be put to sleep in October 1995.