Dusty's 2 Years Old Today!!

Wow, I can't believe we've had Dusty almost two years now! It's amazing. And today he was probably the most well behaved he has ever been, for some reason. Maybe he knows he's meant to act like an adult now that he's had his 2nd birthday :P
Anyway, to celebrate his birthday, we took him for a walk to a local park with my friend's dog, Kip.

Kip is an 8 year old black lab... So healthy for a lab at that age!

 Dusty and Kip hadn't met before, and with Dusty's dog issue, we thought there could be trouble... But...

After an initial sniff and a little growl from Dusty, they got on just fine and had a ball together!

I also took a big step with my trust in Dusty today... I let him off lead in a large public open space!

Just let him off, I was so scared about what might happen!

And they're off!

Behaving himself, what a good boy!

He responded to his name! (that's an achievement in itself..)

Having fun and all worn out.

Just trotting along.

I love this photo, such a shame its a bit blurry, but it's so nice :)

  I was so pleased with him. My initial plan was to put him back on the lead when we got back into the forest part, but because he was so good, I didn't, and let him roam free.

However not much 'roaming' was going on. At least not yet...

My thoughts were, hey, why not, what's the worst that can happen? Him suddenly sprint off into the woods never to be seen again?
  Well, that's almost exactly what happened. Except luckily we got him back. My shoes and socks became quite attracted to a big muddy area and decided to stick together. Here's the result.

So thank you Dusty for giving me an excuse to have a good day with a friend, and I hope you had a good, partially leash-free, birthday! Happy birthday my Dusty boy!! :)

P.S. The auction for the Galgos del Sol dog rescue group has begun! If you would like to see the awesome items they have on offer, please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.190736607758344&type=1
And 100% of the money raised is given DIRECTLY to the dogs in need to help with vet bills, housing, etc. Please help this rescue group save more lives of stray and homeless dogs in Spain! :)

I Must Be the Worst Blogger Ever...

  But here I am again for my very rare posting. We have all settled down in England very well and the dogs are loving having nice long walks to the park. We couldn't do that on our farm because we were in the middle of nowhere!

Stairs! For the first time!

 

His own little window-sill 

When the dogs got off the plane, I don't think they recognized us at first, but once we spoke to them they went absolutely crazy with excitement. When we got them out of their crates they didn't know what to do with themselves, and they were shaking of hunger and exhaustion. I can't imagine being stuck in a cage not knowing when it would end..

Happy Jock, not phased by the move at all

Moving is so exhausting..

  When we got them to their new home, they sniffed around, did doggie stuff, and whatever. But they would NEVER leave our sides. They followed us around everywhere because they didn't know what to do with themselves. The first few times we left them outside on their own without us, they stared at the door, waiting for us to come out, until we went outside and comforted them again.

More stairs! And half stripped 

Their own special sofa

  Dusty has a problem with other dogs, where he gets a little too excitable (and a bit snappy sometimes...) when he sees or goes anywhere near another dog. But since he's been around strange dogs on his regular walks, he has had quite an improvement.

Investigating

Play time!

  So, in general, it's been very successful. The dogs weren't sick from the flight, though when Lucy arrived she had sticky eyes. She then gave it to Jock, who had it quite badly (red, droopy eyes and gunk), and then Dusty caught it and his eyes are still a bit red and are continuously gunky. Hopefully that'll pass soon. Thankfully, no serious sicknesses :)

Also, I have been to Spain to see a friend who has 16 dogs. She is part of a rescue group called Galgos del Sol. She fosters dogs until they can go to their forever homes (but sometimes she gets too attached and just has to keep them. 8 of the dogs are her own). Check out the Galgos del Sol website to see just how much these people do for the dogs in Spain: http://galgosdelsol.org/

Little B is top dog

Bracken and Bart, the two troublemaker foster puppies

Jack only has three legs, but that doesn't stop him from having fun!

Canelo, a gorgeous foster Galgo, still needs a home

  Galgos del Sol is running an auction to raise money for the dogs, too. To check it out, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.190736607758344&type=1
  There are loads of cool things there, like dog toys, collars, jewelry (for humans), artwork, etc. I have also donated an item for the auction of a custom drawing to the highest bidder. This auction is perfect for dog lovers, so check it out, and ALL money raised is spent on the rescue dogs in need.
  Here is the link to the Galgos del Sol facebook page, so you can keep up to date on everything: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Galgos-del-Sol/175718192447988

So sorry for not posting in a long time, but I really hope I can get back into blogging again soon!