Next in our occasional Twilight A to Z series, we’ve reached the letter D. Well, D is for dog, obviously, and there are also a few dog breeds beginning with D. Dachshund – we’ve had our fair share of those, including most recently little Scooby, dalmatians – not sure we’ve ever had a purebred spotty pud, and (great) danes – like the huge Jazz. We’ve also had lots of puds whose names begin with D, including dear little Dobie in the current squad, and Daisy, Dennis, Dougal, Dylan and Duke, to name a few now over the rainbow bridge. But how many dogs have we had altogether pass through the gates of Twilight?

A good question, and one that is not so easy to answer. Back in 2016, when we were writing our biography Paws Before Bedtime we reckoned on around 300. In fact, chapter five is entitled “300 dogs and counting”. In it we compiled a Roll of Honour, listing all the names we had noted down (or could remember).  The total did not quite make 300, as there are no records of the dogs’ names from the very early days. The following year Twilight celebrated its tenth anniversary and we decided to compile a photo collage of all the Twilight puds, present, past and in outreach. Again, we didn’t always have a photo of every dog, or in some cases we had a photo but we couldn’t remember the poor pud’s name, but we amassed just under 300 photos!

Since then a few more puds have sadly left us, new ones have arrived and we have the wonderful outreach team, too.  The current total of now stands at 308 individual photographs of puds, so its likely to be a few more than that, given  those missing from the early days. All Twilight dogs are special and each is loved equally, no matter whether their stay at Twilight is just for a few days, whether they leave and then return, go into outreach or whether they are the longest staying resident, which is Taffy.

The D Team

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The three hundred plus lucky dogs who have come through Twilight are just the tip of the iceberg. There are still thousands of puds, young and old, needing a loving home. The phone calls and the emails continue unabated, every day. Look on social media and there are hundreds of dogs looking for new ‘furever’ homes, harrowing stories of ill-treatment or neglect, and numerous refuges like Twilight, trying to raise funds to feed, house and heal them. So, if you are able to help in any way, please consider sponsoring a Pud, or making a donation.

We thank you for caring.