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.

Keeping the Animals Cool

The weather has been so hot lately, it has been difficult to keep cool for all of us.
We don't have enough room in our garden for a decent size pool, but I decided the dogs could really do with one to help them to cool off after their walks.
I bought a cheap baby paddling pool and set it up in the shade of a small birch tree, whilst the boys were out with the dogs.
When they got back Joe got straight in and used treat to encourage Sheba in.

Jessica came over to have a look at what was going on, but got out too quickly for me to get a photo

Bubbles had a quick paddle too, as you can see only her paws got wet.

The main players seem to be Matt, Joe and Sheba, who somehow all managed to get into the pool at once. (Matt even managed to fall over and get soaked, but I had put the camera away by then)

Out on a walk

The fields look so colourful at this time of year. I've always loved seeing the poppies growing through the crops.

This morning Beth and I took the girls out along the footpaths by this field. It was Bubbles's first big walk and she had lots to explore.