Thursday 31 May 2007

Who's who and how did we end up like this?

An interlude post from the humans. This is going to be a very long post, so pour yourself a coffee, pull up a comfy chair, and put your feet up.


Who's who and how did we end up like this?

We never planned to have this many dogs. We were aiming at two. We missed.

It's a long story... of course. As a "grown up" (which I guess is a posh way of saying you pay taxes) I'd always wanted a dog, having spent formative years with Coke, Cheeka, Simba... then numerous family dogs. We've always had dogs, my family: Poppy, Daisy, Suvi, Marlowe, Amber. The aunt's and uncle's dogs, grandparents' dogs, the list goes on.

When I met the Dogfather (before he was the Dogfather) we acquired a dog from the Blue Cross, a local rescue in the UK. "Acquired", "A dog". No way. Brandy was THE dog. Brandy The Dog, Mr The Dog. To this day, six years since he left us, he is still BTD, MTD and watches us from pictures on the wall. We never had another dog while he trampled his paw prints into our putty-like hearts simply because he did not like other dogs and did not want to share us. It was the Brandy way.


Brandy.Brandy and Mr Lemonhead - his favourite toy.


When we lost Brandy the world ended and we were "NEVER GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER DOG". After two weeks we could not stand the aching void and snuck Boots into the house. Boots came from one of the family who could not keep him any more.

He was slinky, he was black. He slept all day and every other minute he could manage. He was a LURCHER. Best kept secret in the universe. The perfect working person's dog. Hardly ever barks. Likes to go out for quick sprints and adventures, then sleep it off for the other 23.9 hours of the day. Provided there is no defrosting fish left on the counter to be stolen. Very inconvenient, interrupts the sleeping.


Boots before he started going grey!

Having a lurcher who HAD lived with other dogs gave us the ideal opportunity to acquire another dog. What.. TWO dogs? We found rescue that specialised in greyhounds and lurchers (that would be EGLR then). They only had a puppy who would fit our household (we already had Maddie the cat at this point). We hummed, we hawed. We erred, we ummed. I was mostly working at home at the time but was worried that there might be odd days I would have to work away from home, so we hummed and hawed some more.

A couple of days later I phoned EGLR again and there was a wee girly (but grown up) dog who needed a home and might fit our household. Unfortunately I forgot to mention this bit to the Dogfather, so when we went to look at the new girly dog, the Dogfather thought we were looking at a puppy (and had his heart set on such).

The girly dog was lovely. The Dogfather wanted to meet the puppy.

Oops

As a result, in September 2001, Cleo"The Girly Dog" and Tealeaf "The Puppy" both came home with us.


Cleo and Tealeaf when they first arrived.

We were a three-dog-one-cat-two-people family. And we were NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY MORE.

Three was enough. More than enough, we really had our hands full. Tealeaf was the first puppy we had ever had as grownups and we got a lot of things wrong...

Editor's note. At this point we moved to a bigger house.

What with us phoning the rescue every now and then for advice about the dogs (very nice and helpful people they are too) we got to know the lady that runs the rescue quite well. We offered to help if we could, transport runs, fostering etc.

So we started to foster, some lovely pups, some gorgeous older dogs, all went on to happy new homes and most still stay in touch and let us know how the dogs are getting on, and some are now really good friends.

In November 2002 I got a call from the rescue asking if we could take in two dogs as an emergency foster, an elderly deerhound and a gorgeous lurcher, their owners had signed them over to the rescue when the husband had to go into hospital.

"Of course" we said. Idiots. But there was NO WAY WE WERE KEEPING ANY MORE. ok?

Megan and Michael arrived. Michael went off to another fosterer after a few days as we also had a friend's two greyhounds coming to stay and the house was full (no really? 7 dogs are too many?). After a few days and lots of discussion we decided that trying to rehome an 11 year old deerhound was a bit silly and she may as well stay with us as she probably would only be around for a few months. (Nothing to do with the fact that she was utterly gorgeous and we were smitten, no nothing to do with that). Gullible twonks.


Meg when she first arrived (and boy, could she flirt!).

We were a four-dog-one-cat-two-people family. And we were NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY MORE.

A few more fosters came and went, some stayed a few days, some stayed for months. Freddie who had Lupus came and nearly, nearly became one of the gang. Jura, who the rescue thought might only last a few weeks and needed a place to stay, came, plonked herself on the sofa, made a miraculous recovery and went on to be rehomed with Freddie. All left their muddy paw prints in our lives.


Freddie and Jura when they arrived.


Getting a little crowded...


Freddie and Jura going off to a new home together

Having gained a reputation for looking after the poorly and old dogs, we were asked to look after a 10 year old lurcher girl with cancer, they did not expect her to live more than a month or two. So Myrtle came to stay, and we adopted her right away.


Myrtle :)


I think we are going to need considerably larger sofas...

We were a five-dog-one-cat-two-people family. And we were NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY MORE.

Then in December 2003 a friend contacted me asking if I had noticed there was 16 month old wolfie looking for a home in a rescue nearby. Oh dear. The Dogfather had ALWAYS wanted a wolfie, he grew up with them and was besotted with the breed. Oh dear.

So KuBrin came to live with us.

We were a six-dog-one-cat-two-people family. And we were NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY MORE.


KuBrin as a gangly teenager when he arrived.

Sadly, a few days after KuBrin arrived, we had to say farewell to Myrtle, she gave us a fabulous four months and was a delight to have around (though Maddie the cat probably would not agree).

We were a five-dog-one-cat-two-people family.

Editor's note. At this point we extended the current house to make more dog living space.



KuBrin was (and still is) a bit of a handful, so apart from one more (howling, and I really mean it) puppy we stopped fostering. Then as things started to settle and KuBrin calmed down a bit (it's all a matter of relativity) we discussed the possibility of squeezing an oldie or two. You know, the ones that don't get a second look in the rescues because they don't have long. (NB. at this point - Megan had been with us for two years and was showing NO signs of slowing down - a 13 year old deerhound is ridiculous - the average lifespan is usually listed as 8 years.)

Lo and behold, a couple of days after this discussion, EGLR phoned as about Hobo. She was a 16 year old girl of mixed descent, not even the LEAST bit lurchery. In fact we think she was knitted cos no one part of her matched the others. Hobo had been left in a builder's yard when her owner went to jail. Obviously the rescue did not think she would last long, she was very wobbly on her pins and needed a warm fireside to "live out her days".

So Hobo came to stay with us.

Hobo and a small bone..

We were a six-dog-one-cat-two-people family. Again.

She was brilliant, she was funny, lovely and viceless. You could not ask for a nicer dog. "Don't walk her with the other dogs" they said, "She won't cope". We could not keep her IN. In our multi dog home she perked up, took an interest in life, started barking at everything (especially dinner), pogoed though our lives and generally made her presence felt. There was one memorable occasion of "handbags at dawn" with Megan when the sound of a ruckus made us bolt downstairs in our dressing gowns to find the two old biddies sitting growling at each other, each having slipped on the laminate.

A year and a half later Hobo broke our hearts.

And there we are... back to being a five-dog-one-cat-two-people family. And we still are, for now anyway.


Tealeaf (aged 6), Boots (11), Megan (15), Cleo (10ish), KuBrin (4).

Anyone made it to the end?

Tuesday 29 May 2007

KuBrin the Guard dog

Look at this lummox.

He's so big he can't fit all of him on a sofa and needs a pouffe for his paws:



Unfortunately, his dad has gone away AGAIN and he's consoling himself with a rubber chicken.



Yeah. He's fierce.

Sunday 27 May 2007

Official Birthday

Here in the UK the Queen has an "official birthday". This is such a good idea that I have one too.

Well - actually it's because I don't actually KNOW when my birthday is cos I was dumped as a puppy. So now it's the second bank holiday monday in May. That's tomorrow by the way.

So to celebrate this, here are some very early pics of me, plus 7 things of Tealeafnesses. (as tagged by Bella )

When I first arrived I had to sleep in an indoor kennel, this is the same one that General Jackson sleeps in now.


I also had very long legs which took some growing into:


I had (and still do have) a predilection for shredding paper. It was a bad news day anyway.


And I liked doing the dishes:


Bootsie tried to eat me once:


I have big paws:


I am a sentinel dog (I've been teaching KuBrin too)


I am six tomorrow - but I can still do cute:

Friday 25 May 2007

A sofa built for two

No bicycles. But this sofa is definitely a two seater. And us lurcher boys are just really good friends. Honest.

Thursday 24 May 2007

Fox-poo moment

Ooops. I've been caught at it again. There is something about foxpoo that I simply cannot resist, no matter the consequences.

Damn. Found out.

"Nodaddynodaddynodaddy NO!"


Why does KuBrin think this is a spectator sport?


And then there's the towel, yuck!


But I alway escape to roll in fox poo another day. Har Har!

Wednesday 23 May 2007

Wolfhound Happiness

Happiness for a Wolfhound is your Dad coming home:
In fact, it makes a wolfie boy so happy he does mad-dogs in the garden:



(It's hard for such a large dog to hit such a small target)




I love my Dad:

Prof Leaflet presents...

Prof Tea Leaflet esq BSc(Bones), PhD(og)
would like to present to the waiting world :

His patented, all rights reserved, acme, hound-o-matic...

Basset Enlargers !!!!

Basset Enlargers

These can be used at any time, day, or night,
to assist the intrepid (eh-hem) smaller dog, to get to those
hard-to-reach spots.

Kitchen worktops, cupboard shelves, even car roof-racks.

Nothing is safe if you have a pair of a pair of Professor Leaflets 'Basset Extenders' (c).

Choose from the basic range of wooden 'Basset Extenders'...

or...

You may like to consider the deluxe automatic,
internally-sprung-titanium model

(good for the heavier BFBP up to and including 50 kilos, includes the optional safety hard hat with cat-fur-lined-ear-slots, all rights rescinded)


All currencies accepted by 'PawPal'

Optional Extras:

Stealth Infrared Night Goggles
Head Torch

Add this deluxe infrared sight head torch for those 'night-time excursions' into the kitchen.

Bonce Cap
Hard Hat

Depending on how well you balance - or - with the delux
automatic-internally-sprung-titanium model, you might consider this fabulous hard hat.

Adaptors available for Corgadors, Daschounds, etc, etc...


And remember -

You'll never look up at that Wolfhound again.

Sunday 20 May 2007

Wolfhound blues

I've got those
"my-daddy's-gone-away-for-the-weekend-and-I-ain't-got-nothing-to-live-for-BLUUuuuues"

The Dogfather has gone away. He has been away since friday morning and he's still not home yet.


Alpha-B and Jackson's dad felt very sorry for me so they made me a special toy. Tealeaf and I played with it for a bit which cheered me up:



But then Tealeaf ran off with my new toy


and I have the wolfhound-blues again:



I hope my dad comes home soon.

Friday 18 May 2007

Tag tummies

We've been tagged by Ernest to show off our tummies. In the world of lurchers and greys, lying on your back waving your paws in the air (not drowning) is called Roaching. I've no idea why.

Anyway - here's us lot doing our best roaches.

Me - I'm a fab roacher:


Cleo is shy about her tum cos when she was younger she had to sleep in a concrete kennel and therefor her tum is a bit nekid. She'll still show it sometimes though:


Boots has no shame:


Megan is a complete slapper:


Maddie does not "do" roaching, so we have sneaky ways of getting her tum on camera.


And finally a rather old piccy, but I could not resist. QB was quite new to the house, and the Dogfather will not be pleased that I am posting this! (But he's away this weekend so us sneaky lurcher types can get away with MURDER)



Peee esss.
I have tagged
Pippa, Finnegan and Texas - each of you is now supposed to tag 3 other dog bloggers. If you can find any that have not been tagged yet!