Gia's Story

In May 2021 I moved to a beautiful flat in Whalley Range Manchester, UK, and If you're a fan of The Smiths like me you have no doubt heard about Whalley Range in the song "Miserable Lie". Admittedly Morrissey doesn't paint the place in the best light, but I'll let him off.

Slap bang opposite my beautiful flat is a beautiful park. I count my blessings that I live across from it every day. By the time I moved all my stuff in, had carpets fitted plus lino the lot, and actually bought everything (it was getting too much sitting on the floor, or having company sitting in the bath, because I hadn't got proper seating yet!)

Once all that was sorted it was July time. The height of Summer. I frequented the beautiful park daily. I would see people walking their dogs and looking really happy. I'd have friends round and we'd rock up to the park, but whenever I was walking round it alone it felt like something was missing.

Fast forward to October 2021 after obsessively looking online at The Dog's Trust Manchester Branch website I saw her "Hettie" a West Highland Terrier I scanned her info, and applied for her in rapid time. I'd applied for a few other dogs with no joy, but I just had a feeling this time I'd be successful. The next day I got a call basically saying if I still wanted her she was mine, however she does come with health issues. The website touched on this briefly, but here's the lowdown, she was found as a stray with a very large cancerous mass. The mass has been removed by us, they said, however it will come back. Only 25% of dogs with her condition survive without it coming back later on, so we will be essentially looking for end of life care for her, and she may only last a month at best. This was so heart breaking for me to hear, but I was certain I wanted to meet her, and meet her I did she was the sassiest little rebel who just looked at me like "you gonna take me home, or what?" How could I argue with that? Once I walked her around the compound and got to grips with her medication, and signed some papers it was home time!

It instantly felt like she has always been with me. I took her for a walk round to a friend's house a friend who is a little scared of dog's, but couldn't resist a meeting with my new addition, " What's her name", she said "Hettie", I replied both agreeing that the name did not suit this little sassy girl. Looking at a picture in the room of Gia Carangi the Italian - American model we settled on that name, and being Italian myself I was all for it. After a couple of hours Gia knew who she was it was very much a new name to match her new life.

The staff at the rescue centre were so sure Gia would never walk off her lead, or play with toys, and that I would struggle to groom her. In my head these were limiting beliefs that I didn't want Gia to carry into her new life, and I knew how naturally determined she was, and I knew I wanted to help her defy the odds in any way I could. My first act was to take her off all of her medication, she was on so much it was making her groggy, and it wasn't helping her get the best out of her time with me. I looked into holistic methods to make her more comfortable, and they worked a treat.

Luckily my sisters dog Mya was a puppy round about the time I brought Gia home. Mya is A Yorkshire Terrier who at the time just wanted to play, she'd throw her toys at Gia and Gia would wonder what to do with them, but by the end of their time together she was playing with toys and throwing them around too!

Gia was never short on canine companion's she made friends effortlessly, she walked on lead by me and I was hesitant to let her free until 6 months in! That's right you heard me. Gia was lasting longer than anyone thought she would, she was thriving! I could now take her for a full groom now too, and her groomers loved her they even said she'd stand on her back legs after every groom to hug them! Anyway back to the park. Gia's best friend Bobby A Pointer who loved to run well Gia must of had a bad case of FOMO, because she wanted to run too! Barking and barking until I let her free. Bobby's owner said just do it, so I did, and that was the moment that was most rewarding for me seeing her run without any cares, sporadically looking back at me to see if I was watching her, and I was in absolute awe! The remainder of our walks together were always off lead after that, but nothing will ever top that very first run it will stay with me forever!

Gia lasted a total of 14 months with me, and given her diagnosis was unheard of! Over the course of that time I sent regular updates back to the centre. Each one was met with the same response "We can't believe how well she's looking". Everybody had written her off. Even I was guilty of underestimating her at times, she was determined her illness would not define her, and I loved that!

Next month it will be a year since she left (11th February). Even now I'm still not over coming home and being without her, she was a force of nature, My very own Wonder Woman in dog form. I am so proud she took on everything that was thrown at her, even down to her name change which at 6 I thought would be hard for her to grasp, there I go underestimating her again! She turned 7 in my care that's the most heart breaking only 7 and been through so much.

Gia had such a positive impact on me I have written a children's book about her journey which I hope to get published soon. It' highlights the importance of rescuing and giving an animal a second chance. I can't justify paying for a puppy when so many are in need. I didn't let the fact Gia was so ill stop me. If anything it made me think she needed me more.

The Taylor Swift song "Bigger Than the whole Sky" reminds me of my time with Gia

"Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye you were bigger than the whole sky, you were more than just a short time".