I was born on 28th March 2010, at Netley Marsh in Hampshire. I’m a mongrel, or so my paperwork says. That means that my parents were two different breeds of dog.

My mum was a Border Collie, and my dad, a Jack Russell Terrier.

Alan says that I take after my mum for my colouring – black and white – and after my dad for my size.

Alan said from the first day that I came home with him that I would probably take after both my parents for my temperament – smart but stubborn.

When Alan and Ann came to see me, they bought another dog with them.  He was Sparky and he was to be my future step-brother.

Only Sparky didn’t seem quite so sure at first. I’m not sure that he really wanted a
step-brother, particularly not a young puppy like me. I think he was especially not certain because when he came to see me, I was with all my littermates. I had four brothers, although one of my brothers had already gone to his new home by the time that Alan and Ann came to see us.

We were all really pleased to see Sparky, as the only other dogs we had seen were our mum and dad, but I’m not so sure that he was quite so pleased to see us! He was very nervous.

Anyway Alan and Ann chose me to come home with them, and they put me very carefully into a nice warm cardboard box that was lined with towels, so that I would feel secure on the way home in the car. The only problem was I couldn’t see out from over the top of the cardboard box, so I decided to sit on Ann’s lap through the journey and watch the world go by.

They got me some food and a collar and lead, but Ann insisted that she didn’t want me to have a cage, but rather that I should sleep in a bed with a cushion and blanket like Sparky. After the first night I changed her mind however and I had a cage after that for a few months. Alan and Ann said right away that I needed a name. They said that they did have one in mind when they were looking for a puppy, but that when they saw me they felt that the name didn’t fit me, so they decided to pick another one for me instead. They weren’t sure what I should be called then and tried many names out on me.

Alan was a fan of a TV programme called Star Trek and tried lots of different names from characters in that. I quite liked Riker when I heard it, but before the decision was made Ann suggested another of Alan’s favourite TV programmes – Dad’s Army – again they tried lots of different names from the characters, but they were all boring. That is until I heard the name Wilson.

“Wilson.” Alan said.

I looked up.

“Oh do you like that then, Wilson?”

I looked at him again.

“Well I think you’ve chosen your name then don’t you?” He asked.

So that was it, from that day I was to be known as Wilson.

My new home was fun. I had the run of the house, and most of the garden, although there were some parts of the garden that I wasn’t allowed at first due to something called an “escapology.”

I really liked my new home and I especially liked my new bed, although really what I wanted to do was sleep with Alan and Ann in their bed.  This meant that after the first night I had to sleep in a cage at night, particularly until I was house-trained.