New home, new name.

Paul met the van from Many Tears Rescue at Bristol to collect Whistle the mini Schnauzer we are adopting. We decided as a family to rename her in honour of a brand new start as a loved family pet. We were deciding between Phoebe and Lulu as names. I was leaning more towards Phoebe, even telling a couple of my friends that Paul had gone to collect Phoebe. when I arrived home from church, Paul was already home with Phoebe, and I heard him calling, "Lulu. Lulu, here Lulu." So that is her new name then, I thought, as I walked in to the dining room to see this little scrap of a thing with a wagging tail (remarkably!) and an inquisitive but nervous little face. Oh my word she absolutely stinks and we can't bath her until her stitches are removed in 6 days time. In an effort to minimise the impact of that dirty dog kennel smell, I have my DoTerra vapouriser going with the lovely Holiday Joy essential oils making a much nicer fragrance. I was fully expecting a lot of accidents in the house while we toilet train Lulu, after all, she has only known a crate and shed type of existence. Apart from three little mishaps in the first two days, she has picked this outdoor toileting thing up really quickly. I encourage her out into the garden with tiny tidbits of cooked sausage and she joyfully followed, tail wagging and trots around the lawn until she finds the perfect spot to 'go' on. Afterwards there is much praise and some more sausage as a reward. Within four days she will take herself out to toilet and seems to have just understood that this is how it is done. Yesterday our dear friend Richard came over for a meal, checking out the cataracts in Lulu's eyes (he's an optician) and said he felt that the right eye is worse than the left, but he thinks she is not missing much in terms of reduced sight, as it is not advanced yet.  I have researched whether there is anything natural that can help regarding cataracts. My research showed a few things and two of them I was already aware of, so I am going to experiment based on a testimonial I read about plant based minerals from Simply Naturals. I already had a bag of the pet life minerals from them, and her dose age is half a scoop each day. I shall be monitoring her health carefully and will photograph her eyes as best I can to show what, if any improvement there is. I have been taking the mineral capsules (human version) for several months myself and have noticed a dramatic difference in a health issue which I was struggling with but which is ok now. I signed up as an affiliate and you can order anything from here.... Www.simplyfizzin.com Today the stitches were removed and our vet checked her over. She was very nervous but a brave little girl. I was so happy when the vet said it's ok to bath her, so that is exactly what I did as we returned home. I used Aleppo soap to wash her because it is exceptionally mild and it makes wiry fur like silk. She wasn't too happy about being bathed but because she is so small, she's easy to manage.  Now she and Poppy are sleeping on freshly laundered blankets and I am happy that my home smells clean again. In just seven short days Lulu has won a big place in our hearts with her plucky but sweet nature.  

We rescue little Whistle.

Today we drove the 3 hours to Many Tears Rescue Centre to meet Whistle the 6 year old ex breeding bitch who has never had a real home, or much kindness or comfort in her life. We were excited to meet her and a little apprehensive as to how we would cope with a very nervous dog.

 

These pictures are of Whistle as she was at the rescue centre. She looks so vulnerable, sad and sweet and I just want to shower her with love and protect her and help her to have a happy life. The centre is very busy and full of rescue dogs. There is a lot of noise and I wondered how our precious little Poppy would cope in a place like this. Thankfully she will never know, but what about the dear little ones for whom this is home? How do they cope?  We had a meet and greet with Whistle in an enclosed yard. Poppy who is normally bouncy and playful with all dogs, was happy but quiet and she seemed to understand that this new 'friend' needed to be treated gently.  whistle seemed a perky, fairly happy little dog and she trotted around the yard sniffing at stuff and coming to us for a quick sniff and off again. The poor little girl has quite the saggy mummy tummy and enlarged, saggy boobs. she is much smaller than a normal, healthy, well fed mini Schnauzer would be because she has had a terrible diet and has been malnourished. Her ears have had infections which have been treated at the rescue centre but left her with some lumpy scarring. The irony hit me, if these selfish, greedy, cruel, neglectful breeders actually bothered to properly feed and care for their dogs, they would have better animals all ways round. I want to say at this point that I struggle to have Christian charity toward these breeders and I feel a great deal of contempt for them. that will be an ongoing struggle for me. Whistle is 6years old and has likely had 5 to 7 litters! She has never worn a collar or been house trained or gone for a walk. Ever.  During our time with her, both Paul and I felt a bond and affection for this dear little girl. Whilst we were doing the paperwork to adopt her, the staff found that she had a large lump in her belly. The vet checked her out and confirmed she has a hernia which will require surgery at the centre. The vet also confirmed the start of cataracts in her eyes.  It was a huge disappointment to us. We took some time out and walked and talked and shed a few tears. The centre apologised for not noticing this sooner, which we appreciated them saying, and they offered for us to take a look at the other Schnauzers there. We felt disloyal looking at the other dogs, it was an emotionally challenging thing for us. We met another of the dogs, another sweet little girl who was very nervous. Her cataracts were easily visible, poor thing. We decided to come home and not make any decision in the emotional state we were in. During the next few days we talked and pondered, and came to the decision that we shall home Whistle as soon as the centre can do the operation and we can meet them to collect her.