My DogsBlog.com

Well what do we have here?  My mum has allowed me to come online and let people know all about me and my pals (known as The Rabble!!!)

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Cromwell. My parentage is undetermined no doubt there is some terrier and some hound (cos I have a howl not a bark!!) but otherwise I’m pure Mutt and proud!! I am around 14 years old, I was lucky enough to be rescued by some police when I was around a year old. My first person wasn’t very nice and tried to hurt me in ways I don’t like to think about. I was taken from that place to a dark cold kennel, but believe me it was better than I had. One day this woman came through the doors and wept when she saw me!! Within minutes I was in the back of her car and going to a place she kept calling ‘home!’.  I didn’t know what to expect but boy was I happy, I had my own HUGE bed (she said it was hers but I knew it wasn’t really!!), I had a lovely little house and a garden I could spend my days laying in. I loved my new mum and we would go for miles and miles of walks everyday.  After 5 years together my mum said that she thought I was getting sad, I admit I wasn’t happy when she would go to work but I didn’t expect what happened next!!!! 

 She piled me into the car, and we drove into the hills near our home. When we stopped my heart sunk, I could hear all the broken souls crying and shouting….she’d bought me back to another sad place!! I couldn’t believe the one person I trusted was going to leave me and break my heart.

 I cowered in the car, and wouldn’t come out. She said she’d be right back, and I just knew she was going to get a big man to hurt me.  I peered out of the back window, only to see my mum with a chunky funny coloured girl dog!!! I was so shocked, not only was she leaving me but she was replacing me with that thing!!!

 She came to the car, and another person held the funny coloured dog. Mum made me get out and I shivered and cried. But to my surprise instead of going into the scarey place, we went into a big field and had a walk!! She then let the funny coloured dog off the lead and we had a play (she was rather nice actually…called herself Tiz!!!). Then it dawned on me, she wasn’t leaving me…she was getting me a friend!!!

 I bounced…I howled…and I cried…of course my mum wouldn’t ever leave me, she was a good mum and she wanted me to be happy!!!  So that was it, we became 3!! Tiz was apparently a Staffordshire Bull Terrier crossed with a Beagle, why I’ll never know cos she’s the faults from both breeds!!! Stubbon, naughty and willful…but she has a heart the size of the world and gives the best kisses and cuddles!!!

 We were so happy, everyone loved Tiz even though she was naughty! And we’d spend everyday together.  Then suddenly one day mum said we were moving house! She said we were going to live in a place called Wales on a farm!! And 3 days after Christmas she dropped another bomb shell!!!!!!

Sidney!!!!!!!!!!!  How on earth she found him I’ll never know!! (Actually she said it was a lovely rescue lady who had him dumped in a box!!)  Sidney is unique, he’s a first and an only!! He’s apparently a standard Poodle crossed with a Jack Russel…yes you heard me right!!! He was 12 weeks old, but even then we knew we were in for a time!!! Talk about bright, this little fella was way to sharp for us!!! Housetrained himself in a day (followed me and Tiz out the dog flap)…sitting within 2 days, and mum didn’t need a lead for him..he just followed her every step!! This boy was putting us to shame!!!

So 3 weeks later we all pack our bags and move to our new life!! It was fab…big house and acres of fields all belonging to us!!! Mum got another new arrival, a HUGE big horse called Kane!  And then she told us we needed to think about dogs less fortunate than us and we were going to become a foster family.

I enjoyed having the vistors that followed, lots of lovely sad dogs that just needed someone to show them how to love again. My mum was sad everytime someone left, but she knew they were going to great homes so she was happy! 

One day she collected Duke from the sad place….oh my he was a funny looking dog!! We all laughed at him, cos his legs were too short and his head too big!! He made funny yapping noises and he wobbled when he walked!!! My mum kept saying what a happy little dog he was…and somehow we all knew, it had happened again!! Mum had fallen in love with another waif and stray!! So he stayed and became Cooper (cos mum said Duke was a big dogs name!!)

So here we all are…4 rescued dogs, but my mum says she didn’t rescue us, we rescued her! She says without us she’d be alone and unhappy,  and she’d not have half the friends she has now.

That’s our history.  And I’ll try and keep you informed of our lives as they happen. Thank you for reading.

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My name is Lily (previously Sophie, but changed for reasons I wont go into right now). I am from a mixed-heritage background; my mother is Labrador and my father Staffordshire Bull Terrier (apparently Mum would cheekily refer to him as her ‘bit of rough’!). They tell me that I have my Mum’s ears, personality and brains and my Dad’s head and build. Not that I remember much about my parents; I never met my Dad and only have one or two fuzzy, but fond, memories of my Mum.

I spent the first few months of my life in and out of the vets and at Babworth Rescue Home; a kind of orphanage for dogs. It’s not as depressing as it sounds; I had great fun at the centre, the staff were lovely and many a happy time was spent barking the day away with the other dogs. But it was fantastic when I came to live with my new family and got a warm bed all to myself.

About a year ago I was adopted by new ‘parents’. I put ‘parents’ in ‘quotes’ as it’s pretty obvious that we are not blood related in anyway. At first I was a little embarrassed for them both; referring to each other as ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ when talking to me, but over time they have learned to refrain from this behaviour in front of visitors, so it’s not so bad and if I’m honest I have to admit to finding it a little bit cute. And at least now that I am a little older (I’m 1 and ¾) they have dropped the soppy ‘my’ and ‘dy’ and now it’s just Mum and Dad.

I know some dogs who refer to their adopted human parents as ‘Master’. It’s each to their own I suppose, but I personally don’t like this archaic title; and let’s make no bones about it (bones – see what I did there?!), I am definitely the boss in this household (the trick of course has been not letting anyone catch onto that fact!).

I’ve read a lot of blogs by humans about dogs, and whilst entertaining at a certain level, I decided it was high time we had a view from our perspective, and this is where I come in: I aim to blog about my life, my family, friends and everything that is important to me, which is primarily eating, chasing sticks, eating, walking and eating.

I hope you will enjoy my ramblings and will visit my blog often at http://lily-thedogwithablog.blogspot.com/. Whether you have two legs or the more familiar four, I welcome your comments, views and questions; please feel free to post replies on my blog or email me at lily@burnt.me.uk.

Love and Licks

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How to throw  collie in to dis array! lol

Max is a dog of habit, he comes to find me and get me up at 6.30 am for his walk, then he fusses for food and then waits for me to go to work for me to put down his boredom toys that have the main part of his breakfast in them.

Then he sleeps, see his friend Mary for treats and trick training, then sleeps till it is time to look out which ever window waiting for me to get home. When I get home he does a silly dance with tail going, bum waggling, hopping, jumping circling and a bit of licking till i say upstairs and go and get changed.

 Max then waits for me to find my jeans, socks, t shirt and the minute my coat goes on or I pick up the lead he is by the door waiting to go for his walk.

 We go outside I say wait and he stops to allow me to lock the door and if required put his lead on. If the car beeps to show it is unlocked he waits by the boot to get in.

So as you can see a dog of habit and many owners especially those with collies will have simula stories.

 So, this morning I got up early, so no lie in for Max, I got ready, walked Max had breakfast. Then went to the post office with him in the boot, this was to collect a parcel. He looked so confused after this, he could not decide if he should be waiting for his toys, going out with me in the car or what.

 It further confused the poor black and white boy that Mum was taping up her passenger side window. The winder had decided to snap on me on the way to the post office (or so I found out later).

 I am sure I am going to get home tonight to a few things moved and a dog hoping that normal Mum and routine is resumed. What will he make of  Mum having a day an half off tomorrow and Friday, with a walk with both Dad and me on Friday afternoon.

He will likely love the attention, but having people home when it is week days is totally out of place. He loves his routine, but also loves his cuddles, so I am sure he will love it.

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One of my last blogs was about booking holiday accomodation or sitters for Max or your dog.

We have ben through this and have a few recommendations -
1, know your dog - try your dog out in a kennel for a night and day, see if they will cope with it or come back traumatised. If your dog like Max wont go near kennels or crates, it is not for them.

2, Do loads of research to find sitters and kennels - quality, cost, availability and services offered vary hugely. We had a quote for £40 a day plus travel from Kent to have Max at his home (Expensive) to £16 a day for Max to live in a house with other dogs. We looked more into taking Max to stay with a family and found that the rayes of about £16 to £21 a day is about right.

Max did a day and a weekend (2 visits) with the lady we used and he loved it. He came back after his holiday and spent as long as I did asleep… doggie jet lag or just catching p on all those missed hours of sleeping on our bed!

When I went to collect Max he was hairing round the garden with the owners dog and I was told had made lots of human and doggie friends who would really miss him.

3, Check out the other dogs. Max would be 1 of 2 dogs (him & the oswners dog) staying over night while he was booked in and would join a friendly bunch for doggie day care during the day.

Max can be quite dominant, he is a yound dog who is use to being the boss of other dogs in his friendship pack, so when we left him for his trial night we wanted to ensure he got on with the owners dog and the other dogs that came to visit. Which he did.

At 1 of the places we visited the lady had 2 of her own dogs a thin over full garden and was edgy towards Max which put us on edge and Max, so he did not settle on our 1st visit so we did not go back.

Take advise, look at your optiond and I can not stress enough book early… people book for their summer holidays a year inn advance and I would suggest a tentative booking at least 6 months out for even a special weekend away you may find issues in finding space.

V x

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Max has decided that our bed is the place to be.

This means that if the door is closed to our room he opens it, if the bed is made and his cover is on he rearranges it to suit his comfort levels and if he is cold he may even pull the cover partially over him.

He has never done any damage and with the doggie duvet (old duvet from years ago with a cheap duvet I found in the attic) on the bed he is pretty good at keeping our bed clean.

Recently Marcus was in the US on business, so the boys and I had a week with just us. So, soft Mum let Max and our cat Barney sleep on the bed and they loved it.

Max is now used as a bed warmer for Marcus’s side of the bed while he cleans his teeth. It is then 1 instruction and he moves to his bed on the landing. He may move back to sleep at the bottom of the bed over night, but that depends on the door being left ajar or not.

Max loves his life and we love Max. He may be a clever collie but he is sure a clever member of our family.

Vx

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We have now had Max for a while now. He is a total character, toally adorable, cuddly, clever and sometimes even a little mischevious.

He loves people and has made lots of new doggie and human friends.

The strangest companionship he has made is the cats next door. They are totally band from the back garden, he will even chase any cat apart from Barney (our cat) along the fence line to ensiure that no cat comes into Barney’s territory. But if they are sun bathing or in sight in the front garden he will wait and see if they come over. One of the two cats wil come over very carefully as long as everyone is still and give Max a kiss or even rub up against him. He will not chase them and if other cats are in the front garden he will ensure they move. Max does not chase cats, rabbits, foxes and even the odd vole have taken his fancy but cats he knows are not to be chased.

The other friend he has made (girlfriend ) is a Heinz varieties lurcher cross lots of other types of dog who he visits when we go away. She is very quick, very demanding and pretty clever. When he goes to visit they are inseperable, they hurtle round the garden at 100 miles an hour and Max will even drop his treasured tennis ball once caught for her to pick up and bring back. If any of the other dogs get too close he will give 1 bark and she will stick with him.

Moose the chocolate lab is his best friend, he is a big burly chocloate lab. Who had issues with his legs when a pup so did not get socialised till he was a year old. So, Max and his Dad sepnt lots of time with him showing him that other people and dogs aren’t that scary really. Now, if you say find Moose or anything to do with Moose Max goes looking. When they meet for a walk (which they do a few times a week) Max gives Moose a kiss and they walk side by side. They share balls, they share sticks and they even copy each others’ behaviours. It is hard sometimes telling who is the collie and who is the lab…!! Totally adorable to see…

Dogs change your life, they take work and commitment, but with time and your input a loyal friend and fascinating family membber like Max is yours.

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We took Patch in, without a second thought. We think he’s about 4-5months old and a Border Collie. How anyone would give him up, is beyond me. He’s so adorable. He was found on an old demolition site and handed into the local police station. My other half’s sister brought him home to us, rather than sending him to a rescue and it’s as if we’ve never lived without him.
He lives his days playing and enjoying life with Sam, his new big (small) brother. Sam is our 9 month old Jack Russell dog. He’s settled into sharing cuddles and his home with Patch amazingly and they get along great. We could never part the two of them now, they formed such a bond, I dare not think about seperating them.

Last week we had a camping trip to Scotland planned and taking one pup had me anxious enough as it was, taking two…. well I daren’t think about it!!! But we did it, had an amazing time and one special moment, I realised how much Patch had gone through and how I’d love him forever. We took a road trip up into one of the mountains. It was the middle of nowhere - Literally - we got out along a mountain road and had a bit of a walk around and adventure. When it came to go home, my parent’s hopped into there car and I fastened my niece and nephew in the back for them. Patch ran straight into their car and wouldn’t get out at all. He’d been a bit cautious of being out walking in the middle of nowhere and never left our side. We opend our car and Sam jumped straight in. It took all my patience to get Patch out of one car and into the other. On the drive home I realised why he did it…. He was terrified of being left alone again! Thinking about the surrounding we were in and the surrounding where he was found, he probably had memories of being there and was determined he wasn’t going to be left again! I fell in love with him all over again!
I’ve really tried not to think about what he’s gone through in the past. I’d just go mad and go out looking for the people responsible for leaving him! But he’s such an adorable little fella, you just can’t help loving.

I’m hoping to post on here often, so do call back and see how things are going!!

This is Patch on the left with his big small brother - Sam   

This is Sam and Patch curling up together in the car

A walk in the woods.

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As a child i had grown up with dogs, in the whole of my life there have only been 2 weeks of having no dogs in the house. We have had a Springer Spaniel (Tess, a rescue, who lived to 18),  a Cavalier King Charles x (Kelly, a rescue, who lived to 17), a Greyhound (Sophie, currently 8, a rescue) and a Border Collie (Bart, currently 7, not a rescue). I was desperate for my own dog though as these were family pets. Having convinced my parents that i would in fact be leaving home and moving in with my partner in the very near future (1 year later it eventually happened!) they agreed that i could bring a 3rd dog into the house! I had gone up to the RSPCA in Leicester to the pet shop there as i needed a few bits for my Chinchilla, whilst there i decided to have a look at the dogs. A male was out of the question as our Border Collie, whilst submissive in every way possible to our female Greyhound, would not tolerate another male. As i walked through the kennels i could have taken everyone of them home. All the dogs stand looking at you with begging eyes, wagging their tails. Then i came across a small black and white dog, leaping up at the cage door, licking frantically through it, crying, tail going mad - an absolute nutter. Reading her information sheet she was found as a stray, was messy, wasn’t housetrained, had seperation anxiety, hadn’t been tested with other dogs, crazy on the lead and not a good traveller. Everything was wrong about this dog, EVERYTHING! Yet when i put my hand through to stroke her she wrapped her front paws around me to love me and that was it, that was the dog i had to have! Things didn’t improve there though. Having registered my details with the reception i was allowed to meet Zoe. It turned out that Zoe had been found near to a travellers site with no fur left on her body and covered in petrol, her fur was just growing back which is why it looked so scraggy. I called my Dad to come and walk her with me and we took her together. It was pooring with rain and this dog had absolutely no control. On the lead she jumped madly in the air, she wrapped my legs in knots with the lead and when she stopped for breathe she tried to eat the lead. Her hair had parted right down the middle of her back where it had rained on her and she looked so cute, even so i was convinced my Dad was going to turn around and ask what on earth i was thinking of we made our way back to the kennels. I was completely gobsmacked when we walked into the kennels and my Dad asked where we went from here. It turns out Zoe’s magical charm had got him hooked too!! We had to arrange for our 2 dogs to come and meet Zoe and see how they got on, we would also need to have a home check and Zoe would need to be spayed before being released. We bought Bart and Sophie to meet her and she loved them, although Sophie had to tell her a few times when she leaped on her!! the ladies at the RSPCA were happy with this so now Zoe was booked in for her op and we were booked in for our home check. That night i went to B&Q and spent £90 on trellis to make one of the garden fences high enough (as Zoe was an acrobatic Lurcher it needed to be 6ft). The next day a lady came to do the home check. I hadn’t slept the night before, cleaning, tidying and worrying about what it would involve. When she turned up she took a look at the garden and the crate, saw our other 2 dogs and was quite happy, she signed the release form and that was that. I picked my partner up from Uni at 3pm and we went straight to the RSPCA to pick her up. When they bought her into recpetion she was as mad as before and Lee looked at me as if to say - are you mad?! But when we got in the car, he sat on the back seat with her and she curled up with her head on his knee and didn’t move until we got home. She worked her magic on him and my Mum & Sister too when they got in. She was mad and wrong in so many ways, but that was it, we all loved her!

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This is the story so far of a dog called Alfie…

I had been daydreaming about getting a dog for over a year, since my flatmate moved out and took his dog with him. However, my work commitments prevented me from considering it seriously as was out of the house all day.

Recently however, my partner has changed jobs and is now working shifts. This meant that we could realistically look at getting a dog because someone was almost always in the house.

Last Saturday (21/07/07) we decided to go and look round our local kennels and rescue centre, Deerness kennels in Langley Moor, Durham. I must say, it was a heart rending experience, at one point I was in floods of tears but I am so glad I went!

We looked around for about 45 mins, took a few dogs for a walk and were quite taken by a few, though the ones I was taken by weren’t the same ones my boyfriend Ant liked!

We went and looked around again and I happened to notice a lovely friendly looking young dog that I hadn’t seen before, just sitting quietly at the door, watching us intently. I went up to the door to say hello and he just started wagging and trying to lick me through the wire. I fell in love with him instantly and thankfully so did Ant! He was a medium sized, predominantly tan wirey haired lurcher, probably greyhound x some type of terrier.

He had been brought in as a stray, found working the fields, looking for rabbits etc but was in good condition (so he must have found some!)

 Unfortunately he had to stay at the kennels til the Tuesday as he had only come in the previous Monday, so Tuesday eventually came round and we collected him and (unfortunately!) had to pose for a photo, where our new friend decided to give the kennel owner an eyeful by catching my vest top with his paw and pulling it down while I was knelt down next to him! How embarrassing!

We decided to call him Alfie.

 When we got him home he had a good look round, checked everything out and decided the best place for him was the bed! Totally chilled, just lying there looking at us (photo to follow!) and even got down whenI told him to!

He has had a steady stream of visiters since he arrived, and he has charmed the socks of every one (even my mother!) He is such a loving dog, just wants to climb all over everyone and lick them to death! He has stolen 3 cuddly toys, a tin out of the rubbish, my feather duster which he invaribley had mistaken for a green and black pheasant and plucked all the feathers out and ate half of Ant’s beans on toast! Ant had, in his wisdom, left the beans on toast on the coffee table when he went to answer the phone! Well what do you expect!!

Alfie has been sleeping on my bed (yes, I know, bad girl!!) and would get in the bed given the chance and on Tues night I woke to find his paw in my ear!

He is just such an amazing dog, he even made my mother follow him downstairs because she had left the front door of my flat open and he kept going backward and forward til she came to look and thats what he was showing her. He could have easily walked out the door but he seems to have decided that he is at home with us. We are so lucky to have found him, he is just perfect for us. He even gets on with my horses!

Hopefully I will manage to add some pics and will update this with details of his training soon!

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I would like to share the story so far of Chubbs - My Staffie Cross who I rescued a couple of months ago. I will start at the begining

 Following the sad death of my whippet Lola, my other dog, a loyal Border Collie named Ben, became noticeably sadend / quiet. He was used to having another dog about the place and so I decided to look for a pal for him and indeed for me! I wanted to rescue a dog as I felt guilty about buying one from a breeder when there are thousands of dogs in rescue centres across the country. I paid a couple of visits to the RSPCA / County Police rescue centre, Deerness Kennels in Durham. I wanted to make sure I had the right dog, the one who a. got on with Ben and b. needed the most help.

Chubbs was at the kennels with the help of the Dogs Trust. Abandoned by his previous owner (still with his ID tag on can you believe) he was brought in with a broken rear right leg. It is unclear if it was broken before or after he was abandoned, but it was unfortunately too late to save it and it had to be amputated. The first time I saw Chubbs I didnt even realise! I think it took me about five minutes to notice, the rate he was running about and jumping up it just was not noticeable!

I walked Ben while the handler walked Chubbs the other side - they got on really well! This was a suprise as Ben is very picky with who he makes friends withm but the reaction was great. Chubbs went back to his kennel and I took Ben home to consider the options. It was an easy decision to make, Chubbs was so friendly, he just wanted to play, even after being in the kennels unwanted by anyone else since before Christmas 2006- thats three months and no one wanted him! Bearing in mind this is the police / dog warden / stray centre for the ENTIRE COUNTY OF DURHAM and it has hundereds of people visit, I was shocked.

And so Chubbs became part of the family. He even knew how to shake hands, sit and lie down already - the handlers at the kennel had been teaching him.

Chubbs settled in nicely. It was clear he had not been house trained as he had some accidents - this can be expected of any dog and he soon learnt that outdoors was the place to do his business with a little training - he even lets me know now that he needs to go out by sitting at the door and giving me a couple of little barks.

Chubbs is such a happy dog, he doesnt let the fact he has three legs change his personality in the slightest. I cant for the life of me work out why anyone would want to abandon him or why so many people did not want him. Im proud to be his owner and am pleased to be able to give him the quality of life that such a loving, funny, charismatic dog deserves.

I have taken the liberty of enclosing some photos - one of Chubbs and Ben together on my bed (cheeky dogs!) and one of Chubbs with myself today. Also, a link to Chubbs’s very own page on the strayaction.co.uk website - me picking him up with some of the people from the centre > http://strayaction.co.uk/viewpage.php?page_id=6 Deerness do a lot of good work and I highly recommend them - and if you are thinking of getting a dog, think how much more rewarding it will be, knowing that you have given an otherwise homeless dog a chance to have a decent life.

More to come on Chubbs as he progresses - I have just brought him a new dog house to live in during the day, so news on that to come.

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