Jasper's on Cloud Canine!
Evening Mail
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk
By Jane Tyler
September 11, 2004, BIRMINGHAM,UK--They say every dog has his day - and Jasper's has finally arrived.
The pitiful pooch, who spent the first six months of his life chained up in a back garden, could today be crowned Britain's top dog.
Day after day the tiny mongrel puppy was left out in all weathers by his callous owners, just being fed the occasional scrap of food.
He was never let off the chain and eventually it became embedded in his fur and had to be surgically removed by a vet.
After enduring six months of cruelty he was rescued by the RSPCA and taken to their animal hospital at Barnes Hill, in Birmingham.
But even then his sad existence didn't end.
Because of his bad start in life, Jasper had behavioural problems and no-one wanted him.
Day after day he watched as people stopped at his kennel, but then walked away uninterested.
He spent 18 months at Barnes Hill before caring couple Colin and Jane Page fell in love with him and took him into their Erdington home.
Today his rags to riches tale will be complete when he represents Birmingham in the finals of the RSPCA's Dog of the Year competition at Shrewsbury.
Jane, aged 54, a teacher at Short Heath Primary School, in Perry Common, said it had been a challenge teaching Jasper, now aged five, social skills.
"Because he'd spent his entire life either in a back garden or kennels he'd never been in a house before," she said.
"Things which other dogs take for granted, like doors and stairs, were a mystery to him.
We had to teach him how to go up and down them one step at a time and it was a while before he could go down the stairs without falling flat on his face."
The couple, who have another rescue dog Patch, enrolled Jasper in dog obedience classes and he emerged a star pupil, winning awards from the Kennel Club.
"He's a completely different dog to when we first got him," Jane said. "He's a lot of fun, eager to learn and has a real personality." ..SUPL:
