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Hi Everyone,
In 2017, myself and my partner Dan crossed paths with a little ginger and white stray dog on the Southern Coast of Spain.
3 years earlier Dan had been rushed into emergency surgery at Durham University Hospital and we were told to say "a proper goodbye, just in case". Dan did eventually recover but the events had kickstarted an totally unexpected adventure. We paused our jobs and drove away from our home in Durham in a second-hand campervan.
It was during these travels that we came across the little dog, who had been abandoned, with no collar or chip, and who had been found sheltering during a huge storm by a lady called Blanca. There is a huge problem of dogs being abandoned in Spain; where dogs often get driven out to rural villages and left there. So many, its so very sad.
We decided the campervan had room for one more and we named her Leela. We instantly became a very contented travelling trio. But bedraggled and very skinny little Leela was hiding a big surprise. The vets gave us a few days warning and a difficult decision, as to whether we wanted to terminate at 50 days! but we said 'no way!' even just within days Leela was now family and we couldn't risk her life. So soon Bella, George, Rose, Pati, Teddy and Jess arrived! We committed to raising them and finding them good homes. Whilst Teddy and Jess found their new homes with some amazing friends, for one reason or another, Bella, George, Pati and Rose stayed and joined our travelling team for the next 3 years. Two humans and 5 dogs all having incredible adventures as we travelled through Europe, mostly in the campervan but sometimes house-sitting. From the beautiful sandy beaches of Spain, to chasing butterflies through sunflower fields in rural France, to riding cable cars up into the snowy mountains of Switzerland, they spread smiles (and a lot of woofs) wherever they went! Bella and Rose even took me for a very long, 27 day, dogwalk across the French Pyrenean mountains... But that's a whole other adventure story!
I know I can't post links up yet but when I can I'll put a link to our blog estheranddan (dot) com where you can read more about the story, the dogs and see their individual profiles. The 7 of us were recently featured in Your Dog in September
Actually during the lockdowns, Dan also used the time to write the full story of our adventures over the past 6 years "What Adventures Shall We Have Today?", in which Dan humourously captures the very best travel tales from 6 years on the road. Naturally the dogs are the stars of half this book, which is available on Amazon if you search for it or "Dan Colegate".
Dan's inspiration led to the creation of a collection of heartwarming dog poems, which combined with pictures of the dogs, is a great gift for dog lovers of any age and guaranteed to bring joy, laughter and maybe even a tear or two.
"Love, Fluff and Chasing Butterflies" is also available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback and 50% of the royalties are donated to the Dogs Trust.
And we've just created a series of 5 children's books inspired by the true events of finding Leela and our adventures with the dogs. Which I will post more about over the next few days. We've had great feedback and I'm very excited about seeing them enjoyed by children and parents.
So that's me and my story with Leela -
Hello Everyone and Woof...
...look forward to being involved in the community!
In 2017, myself and my partner Dan crossed paths with a little ginger and white stray dog on the Southern Coast of Spain.
3 years earlier Dan had been rushed into emergency surgery at Durham University Hospital and we were told to say "a proper goodbye, just in case". Dan did eventually recover but the events had kickstarted an totally unexpected adventure. We paused our jobs and drove away from our home in Durham in a second-hand campervan.
It was during these travels that we came across the little dog, who had been abandoned, with no collar or chip, and who had been found sheltering during a huge storm by a lady called Blanca. There is a huge problem of dogs being abandoned in Spain; where dogs often get driven out to rural villages and left there. So many, its so very sad.
We decided the campervan had room for one more and we named her Leela. We instantly became a very contented travelling trio. But bedraggled and very skinny little Leela was hiding a big surprise. The vets gave us a few days warning and a difficult decision, as to whether we wanted to terminate at 50 days! but we said 'no way!' even just within days Leela was now family and we couldn't risk her life. So soon Bella, George, Rose, Pati, Teddy and Jess arrived! We committed to raising them and finding them good homes. Whilst Teddy and Jess found their new homes with some amazing friends, for one reason or another, Bella, George, Pati and Rose stayed and joined our travelling team for the next 3 years. Two humans and 5 dogs all having incredible adventures as we travelled through Europe, mostly in the campervan but sometimes house-sitting. From the beautiful sandy beaches of Spain, to chasing butterflies through sunflower fields in rural France, to riding cable cars up into the snowy mountains of Switzerland, they spread smiles (and a lot of woofs) wherever they went! Bella and Rose even took me for a very long, 27 day, dogwalk across the French Pyrenean mountains... But that's a whole other adventure story!
I know I can't post links up yet but when I can I'll put a link to our blog estheranddan (dot) com where you can read more about the story, the dogs and see their individual profiles. The 7 of us were recently featured in Your Dog in September
Actually during the lockdowns, Dan also used the time to write the full story of our adventures over the past 6 years "What Adventures Shall We Have Today?", in which Dan humourously captures the very best travel tales from 6 years on the road. Naturally the dogs are the stars of half this book, which is available on Amazon if you search for it or "Dan Colegate".
Dan's inspiration led to the creation of a collection of heartwarming dog poems, which combined with pictures of the dogs, is a great gift for dog lovers of any age and guaranteed to bring joy, laughter and maybe even a tear or two.
"Love, Fluff and Chasing Butterflies" is also available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback and 50% of the royalties are donated to the Dogs Trust.
And we've just created a series of 5 children's books inspired by the true events of finding Leela and our adventures with the dogs. Which I will post more about over the next few days. We've had great feedback and I'm very excited about seeing them enjoyed by children and parents.
So that's me and my story with Leela -
Hello Everyone and Woof...
...look forward to being involved in the community!
