One man and his dog make a wonderful pair in Errol, spending their later years together.
Sprightly 87-year-old Willie Cairns was all alone after losing his wife a year ago, when his family helped him find a four-legged companion.
Mickey the rescue dog is 16-years-old and was by far the oldest dog in almost 30 years of rehoming that PADS (Perthshire Abandoned Dogs Society) staff had through the kennels at Forteviot.
But after Willie went to have a look there in May and Mickey met his eye, they formed an OAP - old aged pals - partnership.
Alison Kennedy at PADS pointed out that if one human year is seven dog years, wee Mickey is 112.
She added: “Add that to Willie’s 87 years and they have just one year short of 200 years between them.”
Willie is waiting on a double hip replacement operation and is not as mobile right now as he would like to be.
“My dad is a strong, fit man,” explained his daughter Carol Faulds. “Until he gets his op, he goes about on his scooter.
“Mickey is happy to go for a walk, but on the way back he likes to hop up and ride along with Dad.”
Carol described how when her mum died in November last year, her father was lost and they discussed getting a dog to keep him company at his home.
“We agreed a young dog wouldn’t be suitable for him, so in the spring we kept an eye out for an older dog to adopt.
“We’re a family of dog fanatics - I have a rescue spaniel, Jasper. My daughter Christine has two dogs - people know them round Perth, Tilly a St Bernard and Tally a rescued Newfoundland who came from Hungary - and so naturally, we contacted PADS.”
Louise Perrett, the manager at PADS, said: “We got this little black terrier-type dog in and he was only with us for about six days - full of beans he was.
“His owner had died and he was clearly quite elderly, although the vet found him in tip top health.
“We were flabbergasted when we discovered he was 16, he still had plenty of go in him and we wanted to get him a new home.
“His history was pretty amazing too - Mickey was born in Mexico. His previous owner was a nurse in the US who adopted him and when she retired, brought him to Scotland.
“Very sadly she died and Mickey came to us.”
Willie, a retired lorry driver, joked: “My pals who come out walking their dogs say we should try to speak Spanish to Mickey.
“And to be honest, when I got him, I thought he might be deaf, but then I heard he belonged to an English lady, so perhaps he just couldn’t understand my accent. Now we understand each other fine.
“I love Mickey. He’s a wee cracker, best dog in the world.”
If you want to see if PADS has a friend for you, the kennels at Forteviot are open to the visiting public seven days a week.
Call 01764 684491 to discuss the dogs they have looking for homes.
