Goodbye Jessica, Hello Milo

Saturday was a bit of an odd day.

Firstly, it was my daughter's 18th birthday. (I cant believe how fast she has grown up).

After wishing her happy birthday, we discovered that Jessica our 11 yr old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had finally got to the day we were dreading. Her heart and cancer was too for her to cope with and a final trip to the vets was needed.

We felt terrible, to have to say goodbye is so hard and to do it on such a special birthday made it even harder. One thing I am truly grateful for is my best friend who came with us to help me at the vet, I could not have done it without her. Thank you Mandy.

So, we are down to 2 dogs, Sheba the GSD and Bubbles the Toy Poodle

A few days earlier, I had mentioned seeing an advert on the customer notice board of a local pet shop. "16 week old Black Labrador Cross for sale". My daughter remembered this and decided that as it was her birthday and we were so sad, this was just the boost we needed. Teenage pester power wins again.

Meet Milo

His owner had bought him for her young daughter, who lost interest in him after a month, so they decided he need a home where he would be appreciated. His dad is a full Labrador and his mum is Labrador cross, we have no idea what the cross is, but as he grows up we might get a few clues.

He is friendly with humans and dogs, doesn't pull on his lead, sits when asked and comes when called (most of the time). He has already had all his puppy vaccinations and been house trained. He is a really affectionate dog and we all fell in love with him straight away.

He is a lively bundle of fun and a joy to watch when off his lead in the fields on our walks. My youngest son is really happy, as now he has a dog he can play games with. Our poodle is too easily scared and the GSD is too attached to me and doesn't want to play very often.

In the 4 days we have had him, he has settled in well and our other dogs (and cats) have accepted him with no real problems. His arrival has brought some renewed life our walks and all the dogs look excited when the leads come out.

I think my daughter may have been right, Milo is just the medicine we needed to brighten everyone up after caring for Jessica through her slow decline. We are all looking forward to years of fun, games and learning as Milo grows up.

Puppy training classes already booked to get us heading in the right direction.

Camping in North Yorkshire

We didn't go on holiday last year, so boys were really peatering for a holiday this year.

I found a quiet campsite called Bunnyland on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors.

Here are some pics of campsite.

There are gypsy caravans for hire on the campsite, which look really lovely.

The nearest seaside was Saltburn-by-the-Sea, we went there most days. There was a Victorian Funicular which took us from the town to the beach. The main part of the beach was no dogs, but at each end dogs were allowed and all access from the promenade to the beach was via ramps, so my chair had more used this week than it has seen in a long time.

Sheba enjoyed running on the beach, but kept her eye on me all the time and kept returning to me to check I was ok.

The boys braved the sea, but it was very cold. Sheba a chicken and kept running away from the waves

Across the road from the beach, there is a lovely woodland walk, which follows a shallow stream. The footpaths were well set out, so it was easy going in my chair and the boys and Sheba had plenty of chances to paddle.

Back at camp each evening, Sheba headed straight to her bed. She was very well behaved and received lots of fuss and attention from the other campers and the site owners. Whilst on site we didn't need to keep her on a lead as she stayed within our tent and windbreaks.