It is amazing who you can meet at Costco! I have no idea how Annie and I began our conversation but before we knew it, we were new best friends as she shared her dog, Beezus’s English tale.
Annie moved from the USA to Bristol, UK in 2014 with her female Bernese Mountain Dog, Beezus, for work.
The university town of Bristol has students miss their dogs. On BorrowMyDoggy.com they sign up to spend quality time with other people's best Fido friends. It is a great concept and with Annie's busy lifestyle she knew it would be perfect to register Beezus.
The university town of Bristol has students who miss their dogs. On BorrowMyDoggy.com they sign up to spend quality time with other people’s best fido friends. It is a great concept and with Annie’s busy lifestyle she knew it would be perfect to register Beezus.
At this time, Charlotte was a Zoology student completing her undergraduate degree with plans of continuing on to Veterinary school. She loves dogs and knew that borrowing a dog would be a stress reliever and force her to get outside and exercise.
During her final term, while completing her senior thesis she would borrow Beezus several times a week. They walked to cafes where she was writing, or to her home to hang out with her flatmates.
"Beezus was a Godsend,” said Charlotte. “During my last year at university and final exams, Beezus’s happy spirit lifted my spirits."
Charlotte graduated in June 2016 and moved back home to London to start her Veterinary studies. At the same time, miraculously, Annie relocated to London for a new job.
“Charlotte continued borrowing Beezus for weekends when I was traveling,” said Annie. Two years later, Beezus and I said goodbye to Charlotte and relocated to Vancouver, Canada.
But their story does not end there!
The ladies kept in touch, and that summer Charlotte flew to Vancouver, to visit her “borrowed family”.
“It was her first visit to Vancouver and she fell in love with it,” said Annie. “While here, she reached out to a several veterinarian clinics. The good news is that Charlotte will be returning this winter to stay with Beezus and me as she completes a placement for her Veterinary degree.”
Some more “Borrow Beezus” experiences:
•A young college student’s girlfriend loves Bernese Mountain Dogs. So, for her birthday, he borrowed Beezus and surprised her with a picnic at a park.
•That same girlfriend was organizing a fashion show for the university and borrowed Beezus to walk the catwalk with the lead model.
•Beezus was loaned to a 10 year old girl for her birthday slumber party and along with her three friends, they had a picnic at the park.
- Annie confesses that she was jealous of her dog when Beezus and not she was invited for a weekend at a country estate!
The minute that Annie learned about BorrowMyDog she knew the idea was a winner and it has proven so on so many levels.
“Not only has Beezus met wonderful people who care for her, so have I,” said Annie. “She has had so many wonderful adventures and always came home happy, instead of sitting around bored all day in my flat. She was exercised, socialized and had a full life. I did not have to worry about her and we discovered the connection was a way to meet family we did not know we had!”
Note: Beezus’s name is from Beverly Cleary’s childrens’ books about Ramona and Beezus Quimby. Beverly’s books were the first Annie read as a child and when she moved to Portland, Oregon she lived in the neighborhood where the books took place.
