It’s been a while. We’ve sort of gotten to know one another, but I suppose I haven’t really told you anything about me.
Gidday, I’m Puma. I think I’m a girl!
For the techies out there, I’m a 2009 Landrover Defender 110 wagon in Izmir Blue. My heart beats through a 2.4 litre Ford Duratorque engine, cradled by a ladder frame chassis, held up by skinny tyres, supported by beam axles. I’m about as old fashioned as a modern 4-wheel drive can be. You might, however, be better served thinking of me as a rescue dog, as opposed to a car.
I’m not exactly sure where I was raised, although I do know I was conceived in a large litter in Solihull near Birmingham in England. Maybe I played up as a pup, I’m not sure, but I ended up in a North Ryde in a well know penal colony called New South Wales. From here, the scant records I’ve been able to find, show I had a number attached to my front and back and was sold into a life poor treatment and hard work.
My vaccination certificates show me being taken to the vet on occasion in the Alexandria area of the colony until I was turned three. From there I was whisked off, I think to a new owner, in Western Australia. Here I moved from home to home and from vet to vet. Most of my critical needs were met however there was never any love handed my way. I worked, I drank and I tried to sleep under a shady tree in the stifling heat of WA.
In December 2017 my records vanished. I was unloved, worn out from hard work and ultimately sold to a nasty unscrupulous man in Melbourne.
I will never know why. I will never question why. But……in September 2019 my forever parents found me and bought me on faith. They had never seen me, save a couple of doctored internet pictures. Yet something told them I was the one. G apparently loved the colour of my coat.
I won’t say our beautiful time together started off brilliantly. I vividly remember Peter uttering “what the hell have I done”, as he cast his first glance upon my shabby coat. We stumbled home, I met G, and life in my real home began.
There is no doubt I was sick back then. I hadn’t been washed or vaccinated since I don’t know when. I had the worst case of incontinence. We had to make excuses, for I left a puddle wherever I stood or lay for more than a minute. I had obnoxious body odour. I was doubtless the ugly pooch on the block.
In what was a labour of love, Pete and G set about nursing me back to health. I got washed what seemed a thousand times, to the point where I had not a speck of dust left. I had the most expensive skin revitalisers rubbed into me. First the exfoliating lotions, then the delicious body creams that felt soooo good. They made me look young again. I felt fantastic.
Pete spent countless hours renewing all of my important bits. He bought me new shoes and convinced G I needed multiple day surgeries to bring me back to the way I always knew I could be. I even had some cosmetic enhancements to make me really stand out in a crowd of well-groomed mutts. What’s really great is we’ve found the most caring vets in Redcliffe.
We have been together for well over a year now. Our relationship has blossomed to where we now trust each other to go on long drives and not embarrass the family with puddles on the floor. We’ve been to the Simpson Desert. We’ve climbed sand hills together; we’ve waded for hours in chest deep water and we’ve camped in the middle of nowhere for days on end.
These days I walk with my head held high. Men, young and old, turn their heads in admiration as I stroll on by. Even a few young women have shortened their stride to take in my beauty. Pete is ever present ,presenting nothing more than a knowing smile. We are a team.
So why am I a girl?
I love being pampered. The long spars, the body lotions gently massaged into my coat, the cosmetic enhancements and the looks from the boys, all make me feel so loved.
But more than anything, when times are tough, Pete reassuringly and whispers ‘come on sweetheart, you can do this’.
I’m Puma. I’m a girl in my forever home. Hope to see you soon.
