Tomorrows the Day

So today is Heidis last day with us before she goes to her forever home tomorrow. Gosh I'm going to miss her but the perfect life is lying ahead for Heidi and I'm sure she will have a great future ahead of her. Recently I have started trying Heidi get used to a head collar, trying it with several dogs, including my own I seemed to be very unsucessful. Every dog had being insistant in taking it off and it just stressed them out however with Heidi, even though she was unsure at first she is getting used to it. Even better it stops her pulling and choking on a walk. She is already walked on a harness instead of a collar but it still puts pressure on her chest and causes her to wheeze because she runs and pulls so much. I'm hoping her new owners will take onboard the advice about a head collar in hopes she will get much better on the lead in time. 

Now I know I said I was dogsitting when she left but plans have changed and its back to having another foster dog. So next is a lurcher x terrier named Roo. Roo has come into rescue via Helping Yorkshire Poundies who saved him from the pound and put him in emergency boarding until we've had a foster free to save him. So this is Roo:

Roo is a 2 year old male lurcher x terrier and this is what his profile is (taken from WYDR website)

He has lived with dogs, cats and children and is a lovely loyal family pet. 

Roo knows basic commands but needs to be rewarded for good behaviour otherwise he gets nervous and feels threatened if you shout at him as he is a gentle kind soul.  We are looking for calm, kind, patient owners who know how to bring the best out of a dog and give it confidence not shout at it all the time.  It is obvious this dog has not had sympathetic handling in the past.

Roo loves to snuggle up on the sofa by a warm fire to watch TV with you and just wants to be with you.

Roo is a slender dog so is not very strong on the lead we don't yet know what his recall is like off lead.

Roo travels well in the car and loves human company so will come on holiday with you and out and about and be your best friend.

I am getting Roo in the morning but probably won't update until Heidi is gone in the afternoon. I need to keep an eye on bossy boots with him because she is really starting to get more possessive here, she really is a naughty, cheeky little girl when she wants to be. He is not yet neutered or vaccinated so that is obviously the first port of call for him. Hopefully vaccinations tomorrow and neutering on Monday for him, then he will be ready to go to his new home. He already has loads of interest so doubt he'll be with us long.

 Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Heidi xx

Less than One Week Left with Blanche

Sorry for the lack of updates but there is really nothing to say. Blanche is still here but has found her forever home and her new owners will be picking her up on Friday and taking her to her forever home by the sea :). Blanche is being as super as ever here... apart from the occassional incident with Sally and Tinks due to her overpossessiveness of her 'spot' and food but I'm hoping she is learning it is naughty. 

Blanche was neutered on Thursday and that went well, in fact her recovery has being great and she is back to her normal self and the scar is looking really well. We are having another check-up Tuesday but I really don't think there will be a problem there. As soon as Blanche came home from the vets I received a worried phone call from her new owner wanting to know how she was. All I could say was she was sleepy but well as she was sleeping cradled in my arms. They have also informed me her new name will be Heidi, which I am trying to introduce to her already to get her used to it. Personally I think it really suits her and I am sure you will agree :) Her new owners have phoned again today to check up on her, they really are going to be perfect for her and I can tell how much they love her already! They have also reinforced their already secure garden in preparation for her. I am so excited for her but she really does not have a clue. I just hope she settles in quickly and well as she has been here nearly a month now so is very settled.

Now thats all for darling Heidi. At the moment I don't think I'll be getting another foster dog due to dog sitting for a previous rescue dog that was one of the first adopted from the rescue. But that will just be for a week then I will be back to fostering the second week in June hopefully. Oh and great news, I have just got a job at Pets at Home, it is only for 12 hours a week so will get more time to spend with the dogs and more importantly will be in a job I will enjoy. 

Now you may remember a couple of weeks back I explained about Barnabys knee displacia, unfortunately as normal as he was acting after being treated a visit to the vets said he did need the operation to sort it out and stop any future problems so I took him in on Monday. He is doing really well hopping along 3 legs but is still not using his leg which is apparently typical but he is due back to the vets on Friday for another check up to make sure it is all healing well...

So much for a small update, haha, hope everyone enjoys the bank holiday with their doggy family,

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Heidi xx

Great News!

So as I said last time the people who viewed Blanche last week did not get back to us so we waited for another suitable enquiry form and the other day we got it. A couple in Blackpool registered an interest in Blanche, wanting a small dog to fit in with their family and after looking further afield than Blackpool they saw Blanche. They immediately filled a form in, contacted Kathy and as soon as Kathy told me I phoned them and had a word. They asked all the right questions about Blanche, her temperament, her behaviour, everything someone genuinely interested would ask so after a quick chat it became apparent they would be right for Blanche so we arranged a viewing for this weekend. The viewing went great, and after both sitting down Blanche sat on the mans knee and just relaxed, being the friendly girl she is. It's fair to see I could tell how much they loved her. After a cup of tea and a long viewing session with plenty of Blanche cuddles, photos of their house and past dogs and plenty of stories along the way it became apparent to me they were Blanches owners. In fact they knew before coming they wanted her and have already booked her in to the holiday they are going on at the end of June! So even if they didn't adopt her they would be taken her on holiday with them!! 

They really were great though and when it came time to leave they made sure I knew they were adopting her and made sure to tell me not to let anyone else have her. Now normally we would have let them take her but we have made the decision together to wait till the beginning of June, when the couples daughter is home from uni for the summer and will be in to get her settled in. They both work part time but as Blanche is fine left this is not a problem for us and the couple said they are not far off from retiring. So Blanche has a good future laying ahead of her, with promises of plenty of woodland walks, beach walks and holidays around the country. She will be truly spoilt and I can tell she will be a big part of their family... in fact it already seems that way. So while we are waiting for the 1st of June to come around we are going to get Blanche neutered and save them a job. I am going to leave it for maybe a week just to make sure she is fully recovered from the kennel cough (she has coughed a little over night). I know I am just worrying for her but she is a sweet little girl and has really become a part of a family. But she is just my foster dog and soon she will be in her forever home where she will get the best treatment she could ask for!! 

 

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Blanche x

Hmmm

I know I said I would keep you updated  but after the viewing I thought it best to wait for the lady to phone back before saying it went well. I thought it went really well, the lady and her daughter absolutely loved Blanche and enjoyed a good play with her but days later and I have still not recieved a phone call or email saying they would be interested in adopting her :( We have made the decision not to call the people back as we do not want to pressure anyone into adopting a dog if they don't want to so its back on the search for a home for Blanche. So today we are going to go cat test her... to be honest I don't think she will be cat friendly but it is worth a try. Then hopefully we can start going through the list of potential owner enquiries. 

Poor Blanche is such a difficult dog to make a decision for, although she can be bossy and is slightly food agressive she is such a playful little dog and really does love Tinks. Every morning when she wakes up she will go over to Tinks to get her to play and then they will have a good run around the house, nibbling each others necks. I must admit though she is getting better and although now starting to protect 'her' sofa when Sally growled at her earlier to tell her to back off and let her eat in peace Blanche simply ignored her, whereas before she would have gone for the attack. So she is learning, it is just knowing whether she will be like that in a new house or not. It has taken 3 weeks to get to this stage with her so I think she will just be the sort of dog who needs time integrating into the family and a stern voice to tell her she is not the boss! 

Blanche seems to have finally recovered from her kennel cough, she has a couple of antibiotics left but she's finally not keeping me up at night coughing. So as long as she stays to good health she will be able to be vaccinated and neutered in a couple of weeks, when her immunity is back up. 

Now I have received a phone call from Terrys new owners to tell me how well he is doing but I'm going to update on that later in the week... if I don't please be patient, I have a lot of assignments due in at the moment that I'm trying to stay on top of. I may do it in a new page on the blog or just do a new post... either way I'll let you know... maybe on Friday haha 

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Blanche x

Viewing Arranged

So since last posting we have made the decision to rehomed Blanche as an only dog. Although she is friendly with dogs in the garden and loves to run and play she does have food agression, which has left our sally with a nasty bite in her side. Now I can deal with it, it is just a part of fostering, however I know many people would not and what we don't want is her getting rehomed and then coming straight back for 'attacking' a resident dog. She is not an agressive dog and I do not want her portrayed that way. She is the friendliest, gentlest little dog and sometimes I cannot believe she has attacked Sally. She's such a cuddly little girl and I love her to bits. Which is why I can't see anyone else not.

On Tuesday Blanche went back to the vets and has been put on more stronger antibiotics. She is already responding well to these so hopefully after this course she will be all better. Now Blanche does have a viewing on Sunday by a lady and her teenage daughter! Like I said I can't see anyone not loving her, 2 other fosters met her tuesday and loved her and even my neighbour loved her, shouting her into the garden as we had another fence built up. So she has being getting plenty of attention lately! So hopefully if all goes well with the viewing we will be able to arrange a homecheck for next week so fingers crossed. Really hope it goes well for her, mind you I do love her, she's a great little dog and fits in perfect here. But she is too perfect for us to keep! And somebody out there will love her just as much as me I'm sure. I will update on that early next week anyway :) 

I met Barnaby, the handsome collie x jack russell, again today. Unfortunately the poor boy had a poorly leg so I took him straight down to the vets this morning. As lovely and friendly he was to me when I went in, when we got to the vets it was obvious there was a problem. While the vet tried to examine him all he did was cry and scream and jump around, and as he was just going to make the problem worse the decision was made to sedate him and keep him in for an xray. This afternoon when Barnaby was picked up it was found that he had patella luxation, where the knee cap will keep popping out of place and although given antibiotics if it doesn't get better he will need an operation. If he needs it the rescue will get this sorted for him because the rescue dogs are the most important here and is where your money goes when you donate! So please donate, if Barnaby needs it, it will be a costly operation and I'm pretty sure the xray wasn't cheap.

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Blanche 

More Pictures

 

Finally we've had some signs of Summer. So obviously that meant it was time to get the agility set out. Tinks is really getting the hang of it and is such a superb dog. She can even weave perfectly now <3 Blanche on the other hand did not understand the concept, however I did get some nice pictures of her smiling, waiting for treats. Haha. She really is a pretty little girl and by the looks of it everyone else thinks that and since she was put on facebook it looks like she's receiving a lot of interest. Like I always say though Kathy sifts through all the enquiries and will pick out the most suitable home for Blanche. Unfortunately though Blanche is only one dog and can only go to one lucky family. And wherever she goes the person will be very lucky as she really is the perfect little dog. Literally I have just shouted her from downstairs while she was upstairs and she came charging down and leaped straight next to me on the sofa for a cuddle! Blanche still has a little bit of kennel cough so I'll probably get her back into the vets Tuesday for another appointment. Poor girl, she is getting there though and is now only bad first thing in the morning.

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Blanche x

Oh and if people could please vote WYDR - https://www.directdebit.co.uk/thebigbreak/100goodcauses/pages/causedetail.aspx?causeid=934
Doubt we will get to the top but it would be nice if we did

Recovering Well

So some good news, Karma went to a new foster on Monday, who are looking to adopt Karma if he isn't too much hard work. I can't see that being a problem and it was pretty much love at first sight when the fosters met Karma. He immediately jumped on their sofa and sat with his new foster dad. So Karmas new 'owners' seem great and I can't see it taking long for them to becoming just that, official owners. The couple are well known by the rescues longest foster and are very dog orientated. After losing their poodle last year, life wasn't the same and I'm sure Karma will fix that hole in their lives.

Now to Blanche. Blanche is actually doing really well, although we were very worried about her kennel cough yesterday she showed some sign of recovery. Overnight she only coughed a little when she first woke up and hasn't coughed much during the day. Yesterday Blanche went on her first proper walk. She does pull a little on the lead but she is not strong so is hardly a problem. She is such a terrier though that she has to look down every single hole/gutter she can find! Blanche does bark at dogs when on lead but I don't think its agressively, I've had to make sure I walk around dogs though due to her kennel cough so can't 100% tell. Shes not dog agressive though, she is fine with our 2 and only gets funny if they try steal her food, at which point Tinks gets petrified of her and just cries and shakes. Tinks is such a monkey, she barks at other dogs when we are out, and runs up trying to attack, in the house if she gets attacked she just screams and hides! One problem with Blanche though is she likes to bite leads!! Unfortunately shes managed to nibble my 'I need a home' lead. it's still usable but I'll have to buy another one when I next go to a show. Shes a little monkey. She gets so excited when you get the leads out, she barks and looks so happy and think she is biting the lead in excitement more than anything. She is such a relaxed dog and just loves to be cuddled up to you on the couch. She comes whenever you call, shes just the typical family dog. She has her playful moments of course where she wants a good belly rub while she tries to nibble your fingers! haha. Blanche is also so housetrained she can be left long periods of time with no accidents. Today was a rare occasion where we had no people in the house for 7 hours and no accidents! I must say I was shocked when I came home and dad told me! What a good little girl! 

Lucy, Tinks, Sally and Blanche x