I am a dog person. No doubt. I mean, I love all animals and horses were my raison d'etre for decades but dogs are my true love.

One of the earliest stories is of me as a small toddler found missing from my bed. An "extensive search" was launched (which I highly doubt. Knowing my mother there would have been an eye roll, a large sigh and a casual, brief glance about at best. One of my brothers while still only at crawling stage was found missing once and located some half an hour later, squealing with joy, sitting on the roof tiles of our 2 story house at the top of a ladder my father had left propped up against the wall.  At 20 months old, I broke my leg. Unobserved we have to assume. I had crawled up the steps of the slide, gone down backwards while managing to lodge one leg into the metal rails at the side so while I set off down the slide, my leg stayed put. The best part of this is that whenever my mother recounted the story of how she "had to entertain me for hours until the plaster cast dried", she always did so in a "Honestly, Juliet was SUCH a nuisance" type of way. She was 24 when she had me and I was the youngest of 4. We can only assume she was a little "over it all" and somewhat nonplussed with childcare by this time. So, "extensive search" is said with some doubt... )

Anyway, after the "extensive search" I was located in the dog bed with my arms wrapped tightly around Sally our beautiful German Shepherd with little Velvet, our Sealyham terrier tucked in behind, all of us fast asleep. Things have not changed much and I have never been without canine company since.

In my world, the best breed of dog is RESCUE and I have been blessed with many, many much adored rescue friends over the years.

I was listending to Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick the other day ( I met him at Carfest and he is honestly as lovely as he seems) and  he said that dog lovers often give the love to their dogs that they are not able to give to themselves. Yup- I totally get that.. but that dogs give back that love ten fold over. Unconditional, total and immeasurable.

3 years ago this Christmas, I was looking at dog charities. We were still in a sort of lockdown so long distance travel was not an option but I located a sad looking little Jack Russell (with a side order of Daschund) being fostered in Midhurst.

I brought her home on December 27th. She had lived her entire life in a cage on a puppy farm churning out litter after litter. She was thin, scared and completely overwhelmed but clung to me. She was shaking and just didn't know what to do with herself so I sat with her on the sofa with the ever tolerant Bertie at my feet.

I put on the tv and as it was Christmas, The Sound of Music was on. She was totally mesmerised and thus gained her name - Gretl (Von Trapp).

Fast forward and thanks to Bertie the magnificent being totally unfazed and me being well used to anxious rescues, Gretl has found her way and is quite the sassy miss but it has taken time. Out walking she would not let me out of her sight and would always stay so close to me that if I stopped she would frequently bump into me. This meant that she has only ever trotted with the very occasional canter as she she has never let me get far away.

Until now...

I rarely look for my dogs as they are always so close (possibly a risk here of climbing ladders or slides?) and a couple of months ago I glanced back to see...... no Gretl. This was a first and I was slightly worried when suddenly she appeared from round the corner and she was galloping. Full pelt, ears flapping, totally airborne with every stride galloping. The thing that truly melted my heart was the look of pure joy on her face. She continued past me, turned round and galloped back and so was born Galloping Gretl. It is now her favourite thing and is to be enjoyed at every possible opportunity and believe me, the joy on her little face is something to behold. She gallops away, she gallops back, she gallops over puddles, she leans into corners and those little 3" legs explode with a new found power.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, because Gretl is 10. That means that in dog years, she is 70.

Galloping Gretl is 70 and despite a hideous 6 years of caged life, neglect and abuse, she has put her total trust into me not leaving her and she has discovered the joy and liberation of galloping. I find it utterly humbling. With 3" legs but the heart of a lion.

So my point is, as always that age is just a number - a reference to the amount of times we have passed the sun. That it is never too late to start. Also though, just the freedom to be gained in letting go of stuff and finding joy in the simple pleasures. I always relate it to exercise but not today. This time I ask us all to consider what we can do that is simple but makes us smile or even laugh, be it kicking the piles of fallen leaves, dancing in the Kitchen, singing to the radio..... maybe remembering how much we enjoyed art at school and finding a local class or learning a musical instrument just for the heck of it.

Hanging on to the burden gets really heavy and you simply cannot gallop when you are carrying baggage - you will forever only trot,

 Just have the courage of Galloping Gretl to let go - cast  off the doubts. the insecurities, let go of what was and lets allow ourselves to be joyful and embrace the fun.

Remember - the more we care about ourselves, the more we can care about others. The happier we feel, the more happiness we can share.

A quote that I wish was mine..... "Whatever you do today, do it with the confidence of a 4 year old wearing a Batman T shirt."