Second Dog Blog

Lettie has started to notice the television. At the moment I'm watching a dog programme, and as soon as the dogs on the tv started to bark, she became twitchy and jumped onto the floor and pressed her nose up against the screen. Alfie has never noticed the set before, although he sometimes does react to loud dog noises. Further still she noticed a Westie bounding across the screen, and I think she knew it was an actual dog. What a clever clogs!

Why do some people have dogs? I came home from work, to find mum holding on to two dogs. One was a Weimaraner, the other a small fluffy dog, resembling a Lakeland x. They were muddy, tired, and the Weimaraner had blood on it's ears. It looked like they had been running for miles. They had no ID, and the small dog didn't even had a collar. There were no owners calling for them, and mum had just found them wandering about. They were also really thin, and generally looked rather depressed. How could any one let this happen? Eventually we found a neighbour who knew where the dogs lived, and they were returned to their garden. Apparently the owners leave the dogs out in the garden all day while they go out to work. I bet they don't know even know that they escaped today. I feel so angry about it (about the neglect that is), and unfortunately it's not the first time we've rescued escaped dogs. What gets me is that these owners are so blasé about it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I just wished we had handed them over to our local animal shelter:(

Alfie loves petshops - he hoovers all the dropped bits of biscuits, shoplifts treats from the bottom shelves, and has a sit down strike in the middle of the shop when it's time to leave. So me and my mum bundled the dogs into the car, and took them to our local garden centre/pet store so that we could introduce Lettie to it's delights. Lettie was petrified. It all started with the heavy, creaking swinging door that banged about as mum and Alfie stepped inside. Lettie's tail went straight between her legs, and she made it pretty obvious that she was going to refuse to enter. I picked her up, and carried her in, but I could feel her little body trembling. Once inside she was a little happier, but while cocky Alfie was trying to pick a fight with a loose parrot (I reckon the parrot would have won) Lettie was unnsure of all the strange bird noises etc. Hence I took her outside, mainly because I was worried she was going to have a little accident inside. I shouldn't have worried - while checking Lettie was ok, Alfie peed up a box containing a flat-pack rabbit hutch in the car park!!!!
We then had to make a speedy exit before any one spotted him!

Here's a moment for the scrap book: we gave Lettie her first bath:)
Alfie is now wise to the pre-bath routine, but as Lettie is the new kid on the block, she didn't notice the pile of towels entering the bathroom or mum filling up the tub. She didn't struggle when we dunked her in (the way Alfie reacts, it's like we try to bath him in toxic waste) although she did try to make a leap for freedom once or twice. Like most dogs, Lettie looked like a drowned rat when wet, and so did the rest of us by the time she had drenched us. Meanwhile Alfie was lying bone dry on the bathroom mat, looking rather smug:)

Once we had left the service station behind, we stopped to let Lettie and Alfie stretch their legs before returning home. Lettie was wiggling her bottom - she should really be called Beyonce - and really not that bothered that she was with complete strangers, including a rather strange dog. Taking Lettie for her first walk was bliss. As it was still early there was dew still on the grass, and as I held Alfie and Lucy held Lettie we ran through the grass - my feet getting soaked. But I didn't care. The sun was shining, we had two beautiful dogs, the world seemed perfect. Having lived a kennel life, Lettie wasn't used to walking, which made her relished it all the more. The dogs had great fun knitting the extending leads with myself and Lucy giggling while we tried to untangle ourselves. Once we were back in the car, I was slightly concerned how the dogs were going to feel spending a couple of hours together, but I needn't have worried. At one point Alfie was using Lettie as a pillow, and they slept most of the way home. It was so difficult to ignore them, I just wanted to give them a cuddle! It was a relief to finally get home, and Lettie settled in pretty quickly. So let the adventures begin...........

How can there be so many people at a service station at 9am on a chilly half-term morning? I don't think I'll ever know why this is the case, but me, mum, dad, my sister, and Alfie were some of those crazy people on Friday. As we had a long trip ahead of us, this was where we were going to pick up Lettie, and having got up at 6am, we were cold, still a bit sleepy and quite hungry. Most owners know that taking your dog home is one of those memories that you treasure, and while it may sound a bit daft - seeing the service station sign made me quiver with excitement. Something that I had dreamt about for a long time, was about to become a reality - it didn't matter that my memories would be connected with petrol pumps and McDonalds signs. When Lettie's car pulled up, and Lettie saw me and my sister, Lucy through the glass, her tailed started to wag. I think she remembered us. Once Lettie's breeder said goodbye, we put the dogs into a special car dog crate which we had driven miles to buy the previous day. Lettie was now all ours.

When I was trying to persuade my family to get Alfie, there was one obstacle I had to contend with : my dad. Although I love him dearly, dad can be a right grumpy git at times, and like me, very stubborn. It was a battle of wills, but after six months of coaxing, I wore dad down enough to get Alfie. (Mum reckons that as we had been to a party the previous night, dad was a little hung over, so couldn't think straight, lol)
Which is why I was so surprised when dad agreed to visit Lincolnshire to see some dogs who were looking for a home! This is where we met and fell in love with Lettie.
Lettie was only six weeks younger than Alfie, and had the sweetest temperament, and a cute little face. When her owner, introduced us she wasn't sure at first, but soon realised that we were an ok bunch. Suprisingly, Alfie wasn't really that interested, and took more notice of some beagle pups and a black cat that dared to stare through the gate.
She loved having a lot of attentions from us, and was in good condition. The only thing was that her owner had hand stripped her for two hours because she had some matts in her fur, and now there wasn't much hair left!

If I'm going to start from the very beginning (which like the song says, is "a very good place to start") my blog should really start with my first dog, Alfie (Moon). As you can guess, I am a bit of an Eastenders fan, and like the soap character, my Alfie is a cheeky little chappie who makes the world a brighter place by being in it. He bought a lot of joy into my family's life after a really tough time, which is why I love him all the more. Alfie is now 18 months old, and a bit of a pickle. He is a complete comedian, and has many hilarious habits which I will probably write about later. Alfie is also dog obsessive, or a dog addict as I like to call him. Which is why we thought (well, I thought) that having a dog would be a great idea.....

I'm not really quite sure why I've set this blog up - well actually yes I do. I had one pickle of a dog, and I thought it would be a great idea to have another. I thought I knew everything about having a second dog - afterall, I read all the books, spoke to the experts and even total strangers, purely because they had two dogs. The thing is that reality is very different to theory. So I thought I would write about introducing my new dog into the family, and all the ups and downs it may bring. Ok, it's probably not the world's most exciting idea for a blog, but I just wanted to share the experience....

Doggie dude xxx