The old rescue dog who’s changed my life

EVERY self-respecting city slicker needs a dog by their side while they sip almond milk lattes, but why must it be a designer breed, asks Jill Poulsen.

I FANCY myself as a bit of an Inner-City Yuppie.

And any Inner-City Yuppie worth their salt knows that you can’t simply show up to a cafe for your almond milk latte without bringing your dog.

So when I recently moved to Brisbane’s very hip, very happening New Farm I knew I needed a dog more urgently than I needed a couch.

After a quick whip around of New Farm Park it was clear to me that what I needed to really fit in was some type of oodle — Labradoodles, Groodles, Cavoodles, Moodles — the options are endless.

As a passionate former poodle owner I could understand the attraction of an oodle and wanted in.

Unfortunately my boyfriend didn’t feel the same way and put the kibosh on it immediately.

Turns out he didn’t fancy paying upwards of two grand so I could flit about the bustling cafe scene in my active wear ordering almond milk flat whites while flaunting my oodle.

So instead we adopted a seven-year-old Blue Heeler from an animal rescue not-for-profit.

I’m mildly allergic to the hair she leaves everywhere, she’s missing half her front teeth and she constantly embarrasses me in front of the oodles by trying to eat them, but she’s in the top five best friends I’ve ever had.

Long walks and lattes are all part of the new and improved lifestyle of Lou. (Pic: Jill Poulsen)

Lots of people asked us why we wanted to adopt such an old dog and the answer is a mix between “Jill’s lazy” and “nobody else wanted her”.

The people who rescued her off the street, with hair missing and bones showing, are among the kindest people I’ve ever met — the only reason they couldn’t keep her is because they had a dog already and Lou (my dog) is strictly a one dog family type of girl.

There’s not enough belly rubs to go around, otherwise.

I get the feeling people don’t want to adopt old dogs because they’re afraid they will up and die on them.

They will, at some point, but so will any dog you bring into your life.

There is no doubt Lou’s a mature lady and I probably won’t get to have as many years as I would like with her but it’s like the inspirational memes say: “it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all”.

It’s a tough life, but someone has to accept all the belly rubs humans want to hand out. (Pic: supplied)

There’s loads of benefits that come with owning senior doggos; she’s pretty well trained, chilled out and when I take her for a run I can blame it on her for stopping after 20 metres.

Our little street dog is also pretty hardy and so far hasn’t cost me a fortune at the vet.

I’ve seen her eat a chicken leg, covered in small rocks that she had buried for a fortnight, no problems.

I don’t think an oodle would’ve faired so well.

The RSPCA has long warned that one of the problems with fashion breeding is that they tend to be bred indiscriminately to keep up with the demand — allowing health and behavioural issues to creep in.

Not to mention the RSPCA alone receives tens of thousands of dogs through its shelters every year — plenty of which will need new homes.

Now, fellow Inner-City Yuppies, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: the only thing more fashionable than a pug or an oodle is having a social conscience.

So if you’re growing tired of gloating about how cute your designer dog is, get a rescue dog and you can gloat about what a good person you are, too!

Of course if you do you’ll become a rare cross breed of Yuppie and Hipster — a Yupster.

Jill Poulsen is a Courier-Mail senior reporter.

@jill_poulsen