MEMBERS STORY Jane Corbishley
by Jane Corbishley
We had never heard of this breed before, like a lot of people. We came across our first one by pure luck. We were looking for a breed that didn’t shed hair, was small and friendly and amongst the contenders was a Bolognese. We were looking online with two of our young daughters and the super cute photos of the breed were enough to seal the deal. Not knowing anything about who might breed them, we went online looking for puppies for sale. There were not a lot to choose from, but we found one which was ready to collect that was six months old.
To cut a long story short, my husband and two daughters went to collect him the next day. The next big thing was choosing a name. My husband wanted Colin (???) but in the end we settled on an Italian name Luca, after a character in The Godfather; not that we felt there was much in common other than country of origin. He was a little timid at first, but he soon became an integral member of our family.
He was the most beautiful dog with an amazing personality. We had him for 13 years and were absolutely devastated when he had to be put to sleep in February 2024. We left it for a few months but knew that we really wanted another Bolognese as we had fallen in love with the breed. We were lucky enough to find a wonderful breeder called Jackie in Cheshire, with help from Shirley Hewitson and Cindy Costello who we really can’t thank enough for their advice and help. While we were waiting for the birth, we were touring Europe. We were thinking about names and as we were in France and Germany at the time considered names from those countries. My husband liked the name Otto (he still wanted Colin, but that was never going to happen) and we also considered Remy. However, in the end we named him Vito, again after a character in The Godfather (my husband still considers his full name to be Vito Colin Otto, but I go along with it, even though he’s wrong).
I remember we were in Versailles on holiday when the litter was born. We really wanted a girl. We got minute by minute updates on the birth. The first one was a boy, the second was a boy, the third and the fourth ones were boys also. We crossed our fingers hoping for a girl, but the fifth and last was a boy also. So that was that, a boy it was to be. However, we have no regrets.
He came to us in October 2024, and was like a whirlwind full of energy. He kept us on our toes. He is completely different to Luca; very playful, friendly and fearless. We have a dog flap which he quickly learnt how to use (don’t worry we have a secure garden). We also have a 13-year-old dog, a Poochon called Leo. Vito and Leo soon became like brothers, although I imagine Leo considers Vito to be a very annoying little brother. We’d forgotten what it’s like to have a puppy, what with getting up several times in the night, cleaning up after him, stepping in things we didn’t see, having to put things he wants to chew out of reach, bemoaning the destroyed item we found that we didn’t put out of reach.
He might be 15 months old now, but still acts like a puppy. He loves eating or rolling in fox, hedgehog, and pigeon poo. He has no boundaries; he just jumps on your lap and runs up the front of you to sit on the back of the settee and he’s not bothered if you have a plate of food on your lap, although he’ll soon be whining for a taste. My husband is an ice cream lover and after dinner Vito and Leo harass him until he gives them some. It’s hard to get him to come back to us on walks so we go through a lot of treats; we find the way to obedience with him is through his belly. He loves going out at night and barking at our neighbour’s dog, but thankfully they don’t mind. He has his own personality, so different in many ways than Luca. We thought Vito would be a carbon copy; how wrong we were. But he has his own character and it is one to love.
He has a good role model in Leo, who is wonderful dog, although I sometimes wonder who is in charge in that relationship. No barking or growling from Leo stops Vito harassing him when he’s in that mood. And it’s given Leo a new lease of life. Only yesterday they were running round the garden like crazy chasing each other.
We are so lucky to have him in our life. We often think about Luca and will never forget him. We are so glad we came upon this breed. They make wonderful pets. We can’t imagine ever being without one.
