Bodhi is an old dog now...almost 13. He is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Fin rescued him in Texas as a puppy. He had been abused and abandoned and had no social skills. Gradually, he became civilised. He has now been diagnosed with senile dementia, and his behaviour is becoming challenging - sleeping all day, up all night and weeing all over the place.
He is a bit of a barker.
One of the first instances of his dementia was that when we were out, he literally chewed through half the bathroom door, leaving us £700 poorer after a visit to the vet and removal of 7 damaged teeth. On the plus side, it is easy to give him his arthritis medication - find a gap in the teeth and slip the pill in!
Atos has been with us for 5 months. Bodhi was quite depressed and we thought a companion would help. I spent hours surfing doggie sites on the internet and found this beautiful dog.
He is Romanian. He was a street dog living near a teaching hospital. When they needed to practice sewing up patients, or do experiments, he was pulled off the streets, experimented on and then thrown back out again. This picture from the rescue site shows how cowed and timid he was. Even after being there a while, his ribs were all
visible.
We fell in love with his photo. Phone calls, visits with Bodhi, home inspection...and then he came back with us.
Right from this first journey home in the car, the boys were bonding.
This is how they like to cuddle up in the evening.
Atos has now become relaxed. He lies in the most unusual position, with his frog like back legs:
He started off very timid and cowed, with his tail under his belly. He is rather less inhibited now!
Also in the house are our two cats. Whisper is the 11 year old mother of 10 year old Bradley. Here is Whisper:
On a cushion...
On a knee.
She is very cuddlesome, very dangerous to mice, birds and voles, and very happy to shed hair wherever she goes.
Bradley likes to sit on my feet in the evening, and cuddle up by me in bed. She has little to do with anyone else in the house. She is rather bold with the dogs, and will bat them with her paws if she feels they are out of line!
Also in the house are 4 Giant African Land Snails which
I inherited from my last teaching post because no one else wanted them. I don't mean to be rude, but they are less huggable and photogenic than our furry critters.
Our house has a fine layer of hairs over everything, but I would not be without my lovely critters.
Loved meeting your furry family, never a dull moment eh? Great photos!!
ReplyDeleteWith Bodhi, I am afraid there's never a dull moment during the night!
DeleteThey are all so charming. I'm a cat person and I love Bradley's sweet face. It's amazing to see how the dogs bonded so easily. Kind of brings a tear to my eye.
ReplyDeleteBradley only ever comes around me...she likes my feet!
DeleteWhisper is the least graceful cat you could ever meet. As she makes her way around the house, you can hear things crashing as she jumps and misjudged the distance! She's very cuddly though.
I must admit I never really 'got' the land snails. They don't strike me as cuddly, fun, intersting, companionable or any of the other factors that one usually looks for in a household pet. Ever thought about releasing them and giveing them the English land snail experience?
ReplyDeleteThey are actually quite interesting. At first, they made Fin gag, but now she is the official keeper of the GALS and talks to them as they are being fed. It is against the law to release them because they breed so prolifically. We have to collect the eggs (over 200 this year) and freeze them to destroy them.
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