Update on Henry and a New Feature.

I blogged about Henry last week. He was a 'retired' stud dog who was handed over to a breed rescue and rehomed with some clients of mine.

You can read about our first meeting here.

Yesterday, I visited to give him his second vaccination and it was lovely to see how happy and settled he was. He barked and wagged his tail at me, then allowed me to give him a really good rub along his side. He evidently enjoys human contact now as he leaned right into me as I patted him. His older 'sister' has completely accepted him now and he ran around the garden and house and played a lively game of tug-o-war with her while I was there. He wasn't thrilled with the vaccination itself  and moved away from me for a while, but he forgave me quickly enough and let me give him an ear rub as an apology.

He does have a tendency to circle when he's nervous or unsure about something, but this habit will probably disappear gradually as he forgets about his old life.

It's a lovely happy-every-after ending for a sweet little dog and although I had no part in this tale, except to come along at the end and stick a needle in him, I feel stupidly self-satisfied with how life has turned out for Henry.

 His owners are pretty thrilled with the outcome as well.

From next week, one of my 3 blogs will take the form of 'The Vet is Listening'. This will be an advice column where the vet will have time to answer your questions. If you have a problem with your pet or just an animal-related question, then email it to jacq(AT)thevisitingvet(DOT)co(DOT)uk or leave it as a comment. 

Obviously if  you are seriously worried about the health of your pet, you need to see your own vet as soon possible.

New Arrival!

Today we get our new pup and I'm half excited, half terrified. She is currently somewhere on the road between Swansea and London and will be arriving in about 4 hours time.

I haven't had a new pup for over 8 years and I've never had one with small children in the house. We got our older dog when I was 6 months pregnant with our first, so when she was born he was already pretty well under control and babies really don't do that much that concerns a dog for the first 6 months.

Now, I have 4 kids; 2 are under 5 and one is suffering from an acute case of the terrible 2's and is non verbal to boot. *What* am I doing getting a new pup?

The new arrival is almost 9 weeks old and is the offspring of a sad old saluki X bitch who was found wandering, abandoned, in Wales. So we have no idea who ( or what) dad was. But the 4 pups have been well looked after and brilliantly socialised by their foster mum, so that's a point in their favour. One of the most important things, when getting a pup, is to make sure that the puppy is brought up in an environment as close to your household as possible. And these pups are used to children, lots of noise, different adults, other dogs but not cats, rats and guinea pigs (yet). So a pretty good match for us. She's eating the same sort of food we feed the old boy, has had her first vaccination, has been wormed and microchipped, is on her way to being toilet trained and seems to be fine in the car.

I found her on Lurcherlink, a website that is run by dedicated people who aim to re home luchers by liaising between rescues, stray pounds and the general public. In some areas of the country, these dogs are being put to sleep due to lack of demand and in other areas, people are actively looking to re home a lurcher as a pet. This site features forums listing dogs for rehoming, and it was on one of these forums that the story of Lyra and her pups came to my attention.

I really wanted to get a rescue dog but because of the kids, was wary about rehoming an adult. A puppy seemed a good solution.

Why a lurcher? Well, I couldn't make my mind up about which breed to go for and have since decided I don't really prefer any particular breed of dog. They all have their good points ( some more than others ;) ) so a crossbreed is a compromise. I did look at labradoodles and the like for a bit and while I'm sure one of these would have suited our family well; I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a dog.

Our old boy is part lurcher, but really more Golden Retriever and Collie, so I really don't know much about lurchers types. I'm willing to learn though and accept that the prey instinct could be a problem. I'm hoping by getting a young puppy, we can train her to look but not touch.

Wish me luck!