Winter Warmth

Our photography theme this week is “warmth” and nobody understands warmth like Livingstone – full name Dr Livingstone I Presume.Livingstone is a dog with a story. He staggered into our garden one Sunday morning. Snow was thick on the ground but the sun was out and we were soaking it up after watching snow fall for two days. When I first saw him I did not recognise him as a dog – he was a pathetic piece of skin draped on a hunched skeleton. A puppy that had survived the snow and the jackals. At first we thought the kindest thing would be to ask the vet to put him out of his misery but then decided he had made it so far, who were we to end his short and brave life?  For weeks we had to treat him like a human baby – he was wrapped in baby blankets and carefully fed. He knocked on death’s door more than once in those weeks and there were many visits to the vet.These days (seven years later) Livingstone is alive and kicking. He has his own heater which he allows me to share when I’m sitting at my desk. He also thinks the two dog feeders are exclusively his and snaps and snarls whenever one of the other dogs gets near – they have to sneak their meals when he is guarding the heater! He is determined that never again will he be hungry or cold.