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Higgins With wonderful news from Carol after her recent sad loss of Stan the Man from cancer 
Higgins Well, I've found another dog! I know it's only 10days since Stan crossed the bridge but I don't think I can be dogless for long! Also as it was definitely the right time for Stan to cross the bridge, I think it is easier to remember him happy rather than dwell on the "sadness" of him being put to sleep with a tummy full of food. I know that when my parents came down with Lucky (rescue GSDx) 48hrs after Stan went to the vets, it was nice having a dog in the house again. 
Lucky I went to the Cardiff dog pound yesterday and then a place in the Rhondda Valleys and one of the charities - Four Paws has 12 kennels that it uses from a boarding kennel to rehome dogs transferred from the pound. The lady Kirsty then tries to foster the "kennel dogs" out to homes so the dogs can be assessed in a home environment for easier adoption. I met Higgins yesterday! He's about 18m old and a Staffie cross. He's been in the kennels for a year and is about 18mo. He's been such a long stay that he ends up going into the boarding kennel owner's house and is part of the furniture. He's a lovely chap though I'm not sure he's the smartest cookie in the jar at the moment. He's got a lovely temperament and I think the reason he's not been snapped up is because he's a Staffie and not many people are keen on Staffies unless they've had them before. Stan was a Staffie and converted me to the breed! I went to 2 more dog centres today but think had decided on Higgins quite soon. When I met Higs yesterday the boarding kennel lady said he'd gone into Cardiff on the bus. I think my jaw dropped as I had images of this chap going on the bus by himself! He certainly looks like he could! They both laughed and reassured me that he didn't go alone! I went back to see Higgins today and met him in more detail. I think he's very trainable but needs the chance. I did play with him and his rubber dog bone and then hid it between my legs to see if he was good at "find it" (Stan was brilliant at it and persistent). Higgins looked around a bit then decided it was missing, so jumped on his sofa and peered down the back of the sofa. He then decided it wasnt there so then looked in the gap between the back of the sofa and the sofa bit that you sit on. He looked like he had got his head stuck in the sofa at one point! The plan is for me to initially "foster" him with a view to adoption. If it wasn't for work commitments I'd be taking him home full stop now but I need to assess what he's like in my house first and how he is by himself before I can commit to him 100% . I don't work Tue arternoons or Wed so I'm going to pick him up on Tues and have him till Wed and drop him back Wed. Then I'll have him at the weekend. I'll do this for a few wks to see how he is then gradually can have him longer. I'll need to introduce him to my neighbour Brenda who's already very excited about him as she use to pop in daily for Stan. Little signs tell me that he's the right dog. In the kitchen area where I saw Higgins yesterday and 2 of the other staffie crosses, there was a DIY tool made by the brand Stanley on the wall. The lady mentioned that Phelan (another staffie x ) had funny duck webbed type feet (Stan had bizarre feet!). I woke up this morning and picked up a book called "Walking with Ollie" about a rescue dog which I had started reading about 9months ago. I opened it up to where I last read it and the chapter was talking about home checks that the new owners of Ollie had to have done before they could collect Ollie and went on to talk about collecting Ollie from the pound. I really can't believe that such a lovely dog with a soft gentle nature hasn't been snapped up. Apparently they've taken him to meet and greets shows, dog shows to "advertise" him but no one wants to know once he's a Staffie. I on the other hand was looking for a Staffie./Staffie cross. 
New Boy, Higgins For Stans's Tribute Page on Endlesslove Angels http://endlessloveangels.com/Stan3.htm *Next Friend* Friends' Gallery * Page 1 * Page 2 * Page 3 * Page 4 * * The Dirty Dogs File * *Samson's Story *My Gang *Sunny,Simmy,Barney,Pixie *Friend's Gallery *In Loving Memory *Histio Roll Call *Bernese Art *Berner Fun Stuff *Berner Articles & Info *Berner Shop *Longlease Links. *Humour. *Guestbook. *Berner Fundraisers *Recent Updates * *Longlease Bernese Mountain Dogs Home Page* |
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