26 January 2016

Another New Canine Family Member

Before readers start to think we have lost our minds and added a third dog to our family the dog in question is not ours - or at least - not quite.  We love our expat pets but appreciate that following our adoption of Kismet the kitten our family is at capacity right now, particularly given that we are in the middle of a lengthy relocation and our pets are living in another country to us for the next few months.
We are missing our own girls very badly.
No the dog in question is not quite ours but a member of the extended family.  We met Archie (my sister's dog) a few weeks ago and now we have the opportunity to get to know another family pet.   My father and step mother's dog died a few months ago.  I was sorry not to have a chance to say goodbye as I had known him from the day he joined the family (indeed I saw the advert that prompted my mother to go and rescue him) and he was a good friend to Abbess before she left the UK for Kazakhstan. Still, Lewis had reached 15 or more which ranks as a spectacular age for a lurcher and he lived in the lap of luxury for the last 9 years of his life.

Lewis 
Adamant that they would rescue another lurcher my step mother searched the dog rescue websites and listings.  Rescuing a dog is quite hard in the UK and requires extensive home checks and questionnaires.  It was worth it, however, as the end result was that they brought another dog home.

Rufus
Rufus is a young lurcher.  Nobody knows where he comes from or what his life was like before he went to the rescue centre.  He has not lived in a house before but is slowly adapting - fascinated by every little mundanity of human life (and bemused by the television).

Rufus wants to run but has to learn to walk on a lead
Of course when you have children you always wonder about how a new dog will behave with them.  We met Rufus and my father in a local woodland and took him for his first ever walk.  The children are very used to dogs and the older two remembered the instructions we had given them on meeting Perdita for the first time.  We may be a family of pet lovers but the children have always been taught to recognise a dogs 'signs' and of course the baby is never ever alone with them.  He took to them like a duck to water and sniffed their hands politely with a wagging tail.  By the end of the walk he was interacting with them like a dog who had grown up with children from puppyhood.

Everything is new!
One of the bright sides about being stuck in the UK on this extended visa wait (Mr EE is now in the new posting thank goodness) is that we get this opportunity to spend time with family both two and four legged.




ANIMALTALES

12 comments:

  1. I'm happy for you that you're able to spend time with your family's dogs while apart from your own. I have a nephew called Rufus! (Just thought I'd throw that in!) #animaltales

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  2. aww bless him! Rufus will make a great addition and i'm sure you will visit him lots :p hope it's not too long before your furry family is re-united and your living together again :) #AnimalTales

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    1. Thanks, we can't wait to see our own girls again.

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  3. Aw, what a handsome chap he is too! It's great that he's settling in so well. x #animaltales

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  4. It's always sad when to lose a pet, no matter how old they are. Rufus has landed on his feet by the sounds of it, getting to live in a house for the first time. Teaching children how to be around dogs is so important and could save a lot of heart ache when a dog snaps because a child mishandles it.

    Hopefully Rufus will live a long and happy life with your dad and step Mum.

    xx

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    1. Thanks Debbie, fingers crossed he will.

      One of my bugbears are parents who do not teach their children to be calm and ask permission to speak to a dog. My girls are very gentle with children and extremely calm but if a child comes up I always warn them that not all dogs are like that and they must ask permission to say hello.

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  5. Replies
    1. We are over the moon, he is such a lovely chap.

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  6. it is amazing what just a small amount of love shown to animal can achieve

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  7. Rufus is lovely and we had lurchers when I was growing up, although shaggier than Rufus. They are such wonderful dogs and in a away Saari is like them in character - runs like the wind when some prey is daft enough to pop up in front of her but be as lazy as anything at all other times!
    Many thanks for adding a new breed of dog to #AnimalTales

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