Pawprints of Happiness

I have found that nothing cheers me up more than being around animals - especially dogs.  So I have tried to do what I can to be around dogs more often, learn more about dogs and prepare for one day owning my own!

This weekend was particularly dog-filled.  On Saturday night at a friends house I met my first ever Basset Hound.

She is the dog of my friend's sister and her name is Heidi.  She is a 3 year old purebred Basset Hound and having seen many photos of her I was dying to met her.  I thought she would be laid back and docile - but she was the complete opposite.  Despite having sad eyes she was so energetic, running about greeting everybody and was just delighted for all the attention. She ended up sitting beside me and letting me pamper her and shower her with affection.  Later that night when going home she sat at my feet while I stroked her (she doesn't like cars and was moaning).  Her owner said when I leave she will howl for me as she will miss me.  Couldn't cope.

The next dog is the only boy dog I met this weekend.  His name is Alfie (named after Alfie Moon from EastEnders).

This is my cousin Lauren's dog.  Alfie is very hyper and can be a little mad when you are with him!  When we take him out on walks he does explore but stays very close walking beside us off the leash.  He also travels very well, absolutely LOVES affection and is never aggressive (unless his friend Lucy tries to steal his food!)  He is a rescue dog and is either mostly or purebred Yorkshire Terrier, he is about 7 years old.

Onto the oldest in the bunch we have Lucy, at 12 years old.  She is a crossbreed rescue dog which we think could be a crossbreed between a Labrador and a Pointer.  She is very very laid back, docile and calm.  She will sit beside you and be happy being stroked all day long.  

She and Alfie are like a married couple and can't be without each other.  She is very good with travelling and walks very close.  Neither her or Alfie bark at other dogs and are good with cats also. :)

The next one is one I met of a website called BorrowMyDoggy.  It is for people who own dogs, but are willing to let non dog owners take their dog out for day trips, walks and even stay with them for some weekends.  Through this website I met a beautiful 3 year old Belgian Malanois, and her owner Pia who is a very active German marine scientist.

On meeting Rua (meaning Red in Irish) she was quite shy but warmed quickly to me.  She let me cuddle up to her and stroke her, but did not move a lot.  Pia suggested that we play in the garden and as soon as my hand hit the doorknob her excitement immediately went up. Her ears perked up and she was running about wildly excited.  I played fetch with her, and did some light training with her and she was very good.  She LOVES to play,  She also has a tug rope which is her absolute favourite and she loves pulling it wildly.

After she became more used to me we took her on a walk where we just kept her on her lead until we reached the forest walk.  She was so full of energy!  She ran on ahead but kept in our sight and picked up every branch she seen...  she LOVES branches, especially big ones.  Many times she would try to pull trees and roots from the ground.  Rua is a very happy active dog who would walk and play all day.  I look forward to seeing her again and watching our relationship grow. :)

Lovelove.

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