Navipets!

[Greenbeast]

Good work, we briefly had a maine coon last year as i love them but he didn't get on with many of our animals here and went missing 

[Tigger]

Oh wow, what a spectacular transformation and so deserving of his name 

[M]

I was hoping that Goliath would be back from the vets this morning as I do Wednesday mornings too, but sadly he didn't make it. Whilst under to have his mouth problems investigated, it turned out he was extremely ill, and so only one option was fair and kind at that point.

At least his last few days were spent being fussed by all of us, rather than on the streets, and it was amazing how we all took to him instantly.

A week of ups and downs.

[Tigger]

Oh Mart, that is so sad, such a lovely looking big old boy too.

Indeed, he had a great time at the end and was loved and fussed as he deserved.

[todthedog]

So sorry to hear that Mart.  You did all that you could for him. He was loved at the end.

[biff]

Very sorry to hear that Mart,
              Take heart in the fact that he finally met a true friend before setting off for the happy hunting ground. These brief but powerful encounters leave us sad but richer. He was lucky to have met you.
              Biff.

[M]

Doggie news. We started boarding a new guide dog trainee in the summer. He'd just arrived in Cardiff for advanced training. The first words from the trainer when she dropped him off were - "I've no idea how he got this far".

Absolute sweetheart, but finding training stressful and displaying anxiety, he panted for the first two days we had him, and I had to sleep in the kitchen with him on the first night as he was crying. Anyways, having won our hearts (and everyone he'd met beforehand too) and after another 10 'last chances' he was finally withdrawn.

We asked if we could have him, and GD's said yes.

So we finally have our forever dog, and Buster's* stress levels have dropped off now that he has a forever home and isn't being moved around anymore.

Also, now that he will no longer be a GD we can relax some of the rules which are there to avoid bad habits in case the GD owner doesn't want them to do certain things - such as going on the furniture or up the stairs, not that you can tell  ..............





We're giving him a few months to fully settle in, so won't be boarding full time any more GD's till Jan(ish), in case it undermines his confidence that this is his home. But we've had short stays (just a few days) with other dogs, and he's brilliant with them all, and seems to be a calming influence, even on our friends nutty retriever puppy who never settles and never stops barking - but she was a sweetheart here with Buster.

*He was originally Hobson from a 'H' litter with lots of H siblings, but became Buster at some point.

[biff]

Hobsons choice for Buster Mart.
     Good luck with your new dog.
   Biff

[Tigger]

Great news Mart, he's obviously embracing the opportunity to explore those previously restrictive boundaries

[todthedog]

Great news Mart. One lucky dog. Good to see his bed training progressing well! 

[stannn]

Well done Mart. I’d like to see an upright pose.
Stan

[M]

Hobsons choice for Buster Mart.
     Good luck with your new dog.
   Biff

We like the name so much, we got a new cat yesterday just to call Hobson!

Actually, not exactly true, I've had my eye on him for weeks at the cat rescue, and my Mon/Wed cleaning partner has been teasing me to take him home, but we were planning on two kittens next, as we haven't had any for 20yrs as a multitude of cats have 'found us'. But I finally gave in.

His name is Cello, but it doesn't suit him as he's more of a double bass, I've been calling him BeBe (Big Boy) as he's big, fat, and has a large round face. But then I realised I keep calling the dog Bigboy, so that's no good, and Hobson will become Hobbsie, but that'll confuse everyone as Hobbes (my avatar) passed a few years back. So we are looking for suggestions, and are thinking Xmas ideas, a great one suggested by Wifey's Facebook friends was Claus, but he's such a gentle giant that seems unfair (but did make me think Ben form the childrens TV show Gentle Ben).

Currently 'Puddin' is topping the charts.

Pic to follow, but don't want to disturb him as he's settled on one side of Wifey on the bed, whilst Buster is settled on the other ...... things could get 'interesting' fast!

[todthedog]

The battle for bed space is always tricky. Trying to maintain your own place is hard.

[M]

More animal pics.

Here's one of Buster vertical, meeting a young Guide Dog puppy. They adored each other. Buster is very tall, but all legs, only 28kg, and has managed, to my astonishment, to squeeze through the railings surrounding a nearby children's play area.




Next we have a recent 'Ohhhhhh!' picture of cat/dog harmony, but actually Buster just stayed still and hoped old Flash didn't thump him. But thumps are less frequent now, and he has started to do big head rubs against Buster's snout. I guess you can take the feral out of the garden, but not out of the cat.





And lastly gorgeous Puddin the new boy(ish)





Sadly, whilst we adored him, and he was great fun, I suspect he was a Crunchie short of a selection pack. Basically, despite him being about 2yrs old, we got a muscle bound 13lb kitten that was as solid as a Staffie. He quickly settled in, then decided that Flash was a friend, and began to kitten pounce on him (up high in the air then down with a thump) at every single opportunity. Flash has never, till now looked small, but the 'fights' that kept developing were entirely one-sided. Despite his best growls, hisses and spits, Flash couldn't seem to convince Pud that he wasn't a toy, so would end up hiding under furniture and getting distressed.

So Pud's stay with us became a 3 week foster session, rather than the hoped for adoption. But he's happy back at the rescue, and is being advertised as dog friendly as he and Buster got on so well.


That's about it for now. We are now open again for Guide Dog boarding, so hopefully we'll have more to love, hug and report on. And maybe a couple of kittens, as Flash likes the ones that have visited for a few days, and kittens seem to like Buster.

[Tigger]

Hi Mart,

A shame about Puddin but at least knowing he gets on with dogs should help with his credentials towards finding his fur-ever home.

As for the pic of Flash and Buster, that's definitely an ooh.  OK Buster is being smart and avoiding thumps from 'the boss' but still a great pic

Ian.