‘He saved my life’: Big Issue vendor Clive, his dog Geezer and the fear every pet owner knows

Geezer is 17 years old and would self-describe, according to his owner, Big Issue vendor Clive Rowe, “as a formidable street dog”.

Formidable he may be, but he’s also adorable – a Border terrier cross Patterdale with a bit of Jack Russell thrown in, wiry and – these days – grey around the muzzle.

“He’s mellowed a bit now,” Clive says. “For the first 10 years of his life he was too busy chasing and scrapping with other dogs. Then about 10 years old, suddenly the taste buds came in, and now all he wants is treats, treats, treats. ‘Who are you? Give me a treat.’”

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Geezer is a good name for him.

“I take him into the woods and he goes, ‘Squirrels. Not interested.’ He wants the city centre, getting up to mischief.”

Clive has sold Big Issue magazine outside the Theatre Royal in Plymouth since August 2016, long enough to have his own pink plaque on the pavement as part of the city’s public art project. Geezer is named on it too.

Before the Theatre Royal there was London, Bristol and Exeter; 23 years as, in Clive’s own words, “a street alcoholic”.

Geezer has been by his side for the last 17 years as Clive has, bit by bit, got himself sober, passed exams, learned to drive, trained as an actor and become something of a local celeb. Geezer, he says, is the reason he’s turned things around.

“He saved my life, basically,” Clive says. “And he continues to help me mend in my mind.

“I’ve got more control over my emotions because I have to be polite with Geezer all day long. He’s tempered me over time.”

Clive got Geezer as a puppy in Exeter in August 2009, paying £175 out of his benefits. That day he bought him cooked chicken, bought himself a pie, and headed for the canal system to pitch his tent for the night.

Then he lost him.

“I put my tent up, look round, and he’s gone! He’s so tiny he could fit in my hand, and he’s just disappeared. I was calling him, ‘GEEZER!’ but of course that was no good – I knew it was his name, but he didn’t.”

Geezer, it turned out, had found a rabbit hole.

“He could have died down there.”

Geezer eventually reappeared, muddy and pleased with himself.

That first night a passing Labrador charged into the tent and ate Geezer’s chicken. So Clive picked the meat out of his own pie and gave that to Geezer instead.

“He had a steak pie for his first dinner.”

Clive went hungry.

“You feel like you’re dying at that moment,” Clive says. “Your stomach caves into itself. All your blood drops out of your body when you hear the news.”

That fear of losing him has never gone away. A few years into their life together, somebody Clive knew offered to pop to the off-licence for him – and took Geezer along. When he came back, Geezer wasn’t with him. He’d forgotten him and left him tied up outside the shop. By the time a panicked Clive got there, he’d gone.

“You feel like you’re dying at that moment,” Clive says. “Your stomach caves into itself. All your blood drops out of your body when you hear the news.”

It took until morning to find him: a stranger in a pub had clocked him as someone’s pet and taken him in for the night. Clive ended up outside the man’s door at eight in the morning, shouting Geezer’s name until he heard him bark back.

Anyone who’s lost a dog, even for 20 minutes, knows that feeling.

For many vendors, the stakes are higher. A dog isn’t just a dog.

On the pitch, Geezer earns his keep.

“If I’ve got him next to me, I don’t have to be so clever to sell,” Clive says, “because he’s got that magnet attraction. He’s a handsome little boy.”

But Geezer’s real work is elsewhere.

“He’s been my constant companion all the way through,” Clive says. “He anchored me. Otherwise any number of things would have been too much. He’s company, through all those bad times, until we got to the good times when I managed to give up the alcohol and got mental health treatment.”

“I can’t do relationships, friendship, girlfriends,” he says. “I’ve been single for 15 years. There’s nobody else. Because my mental health won’t allow me. So he’s my only companion, as well as being my lifesaver.”

Which is why Big Issue is partnering with Pet Database to give all Big Issue vendors’ dogs a smart pet tag – a QR and NFC chip on the collar, linking to a secure, DEFRA-compliant profile online.

Anyone with a smartphone can scan it, and the owner gets an instant alert with the scan location. No batteries, no app, and a free subscription for Big Issue vendors.

A peace of mind you cannot put a value on.

A dog with proper ID is a dog that comes home. And when that dog is the thing holding the rest of your life together, that matters more than most of us will ever understand.

It’s been an emotional conversation for Clive, who’s looking down at Geezer and blinking back tears.

“He’s my everything,” he says, simply.

His furry friend doesn’t notice though. He’s watching the pavement for treats or girls to chase.

Because he’s a proper geezer.

Smart Pet Tags from Pet Database:
petdatabase.com/buy-smart-pet-tags

We’re offering all pet parents peace of mind with a special reader offer. Follow the QR code and enter the offer bigissuetag to get a Smart Pet Tag worth £40 for only £10.