Dogs Less Fortunate Than Ourselves

For once a serious post.Earlier this week while I was travelling I met a young woman sitting quietly crying in the corner of a pretty deserted park hugging her small terrier dog. I stopped to talk to her to see if she was ok and it transpired she and her dog were living rough as she had recently escaped an abusive relationship and had hoped to find work and a new life in the city far from her ex partner. She had no family or friends to turn too and most refuges will not accept dogs. They both looked as frightened as one another and were clearly the most important and loved thing in each others lives.While some might say she should give up her dog for the chance of somewhere safe to sleep I can understand hearing her relate her story exactly why she hadn't, the dog being the only security and comfort she had in a time where she had made a difficult decision to run away and for the dog she  was the only stability in an unfamiliar and frightening world. She was not on drugs, drinking and was pretty well educated.
There are always two sides to any story but from what she said I believe her and cant imagine how difficult life must be. She wasn't begging or asking for anything yet most people walked by without a second glance. Particularly in the economic times we live in now many people will be in similar situations very often through just making misjudgements of situations or people. I haven't forgotten her and her story and it made me look at what support is available closer to home.
In the UK some hostels will accept dogs but only a very few and space is limited.The Dogs Trust Hope Fund works to educate hostels/shelters on the importance of the human canine bond for vulnerable people and encourage them to allow dogs in. It also offers advice for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in that situation plus subsided veterinary care and advice for their canine companions.Next time you see a collection tin for them or in other countries those providing similar services please spare a thought for people like her. I've found many things to complain about recently but this really puts it into perspective.

Marley & Lola's Border Terrier Life: Outrage

Marley & Lola's Border Terrier Life: Outrage

The Biggest Doggie Show on Earth

Once more brought to you by the furry paws of Hetty the Bear (now slightly less furry thanks to the grooming parlour)

Some of you know I like to do my running, running and Terriers go together so I will be honest it comes naturally, although more naturally if squirrel's or bunnies are involved..... Anyway, as the culmination of my running year so far I went running at Crufts last week. Running and Birmingham I hear also go together as I am told some parts are a bit rough and you best be running if you want to escape but I didn't see any of that luckily.

As Crufts is on the television I had to be looking my best, this meant a trip down to the grooming parlour,  somewhere I am not a great fan off not least because its run by poodles and painted pink but apparently it was an important part of the preparations what with HD filming and the fact the camera puts pounds on you if you have not had your hair stripped recently.

More sensitive dogs than me might have taken offense at being bought this

Then we were off to Birmingham. Birmingham is quite a long way from where I am living and even for a travelling dog like me I get a bit bored. On the way we developed a puncture on the car, due to the cost cuttings where the staff is working there was no spare tyre and just a can of foam which to me didn't look quite up to the job and also like it might be a bit messy for those of us who have just had their fur done. This meant we had to go to a tyre repairer. Luckily being near to the big doggie show they were very kind to me and gave me crisps and a nice warm place to sit.

Waiting for the puncture to be mended, bit dull....

Then it was time to go to the hotel, I have never seen so many furry friends in a hotel before (apart from the places people call "hotels" but are actually kennels, don't be thanking I am so stupid as to fall for that). There were little furry dogs, huge great dogs and more Red Setters than I thought there were anywhere. The nice people at the hotel were well prepared though, there were 3 bowls of water in reception ( tried them all because you cant be too sure) and they gave me a dental chew when I checked in. After all that excitement I needed a little snooze.

I am liking the Holiday Inn thank you

Next morning I had to get up early which is not one of my strong points but I was smuggled some bacon from the breakfast buffet and sat under the table so things could have been worse and I was excited to be going to see my running friends, particuarly Mitch, he is a Border Terrier too and he has to drive all the way from Scotland which I hear is a very long way.

I am open to royalty payments for allowing myself to be have my picture taken next to the controversial Crufts logo

So then it was time for getting ready for the running...After I had collected my race number there was lots of time to look for things I never knew I needed. Everyone was very keen to get me to try their treats and sell me dogs beds. I don't think I have been fussed so much in one morning.

I was very excited!

I had to be very quite backstage, it was very difficult because all I wanted to do was run and everyone was barking but I tried my best.

See, trying best not to bark, honest

Then it was finally time for my running!! I ran around the arena and More 4 did film me because apparently I was quite amusing being quite little.

Then I was running outdoors... For those that have time on their paws you can see me running about 5.5 minutes into this clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYO-SRoF0k

I was running quite fast as I have heard there be gangs and such around Birmingham so I was taking no chances ...

After all the running I was tired again, even after my bacon breakfast and lots of free dog treats so it was time for a bit of a swim in the lake.

We are all having a drink and a swim in the lake after our sprinting



After all that excitement there was time for a bit more doggie retail therapy, although I wasn't too sure about some of the things on sale..



Not sure there would ever be a time or a place for a cowgirl outfit thank you


Finally it was time to head home but not before I claimed my free picture from the nice people at Venture Photography, not sure they captured my best angle but I can safely say its different to my other pictures!



Thanks for reading, signing off now for a snooze,
Hetty

Hetty Goes to Holland

This blog is brought to you by the furry paws of Hetty...

The more observant amongst you may have noticed I have been a little quiet lately. This is because I have been busy. I have been out and about testing my Pet Passport and I can report back that it worked well which is a good thing or I would have been stuck abroad with dogs who carry baguettes and wear berets or other unsuitable dog wear (you would never catch me sporting such fashion faux pas). My paws are not so good at typing so I have included lots of pictures for those of you have the time to peruse them.

So what have I been up to, well, a few weeks ago I moved house, this was on a Friday, people always seem to move on Fridays.Silly day to move. There were many many boxes, I looked in lots of them,there wasn't much of interest for a small terrier.Anyway, all the boxes moved and so did I, although apparently I'm not staying long as my owner is deciding where to live so the boxes are all packed away somewhere.We might be moving abroad so it was decided I needed to go and try being a jet set pup to see if it suits me or not. So this brings me to my travels. I like travelling, I don't like the car very much, I pant all the time and look even more sad than usual but I like it when I get there as mostly I get to go running or go to a nice hotel where people fuss me and feed me bad things. So on the Saturday morning I was made to get up very early (I'm not a fan of early mornings, in fact not a fan of getting up before around 12:00), we drove a long way to a place where I had a boring walk in between lots of lines of cars, the nice people who worked there patted me and waved at me through the window and other people in the cars talked to me and said I was a brave dog and had I been abroad before. This made me a bit worried... Then we drove on a train, I don't like cars but I like even less cars inside trains, its unnatural.

Here I am in a train under the sea

Then we got out again, someone had forgotten to get Diesel so we had a walk by a garage (it was dull, we could do that at home surely?) and I had some nice French mineral water (they had forgotten my water too - sigh-). Next stop was Bruges, I liked it there very much, everything smelt of sausages and the forbidden chocolate.

Wheres the sausages?

Its a canal, am I meant to be impressed

I read about some cafes, it made me very calm and sleepy

Then off we went again, next stop Amsterdam. If it wasn't bad enough to have to go in car then inside a train I then had to go on a tram. I don't like trams. We walked for what seemed likes miles,  lots of people talked to me, I didn't always understand them but I think they said kind things. I didn't see any other Border Terriers, I don't think there are many in Amsterdam, there were lots of other dogs though, I barked at them just so they knew I was in town. Next we went to the park, I was disappointed I couldn't join in with the running people and there were no squirrels, I only give in 2/10 on the park scoring board for this reason.What is a park without squirrels I ask you.

So where are the Squirrels?

It was then time for some city dog activities, I was very excited to be allowed in a big department store. I was a bit scared and the perfume department made me sneeze but I was on very best behaviour (apart from a near International Incident involving a chihuahua..). There were lots of things to look at but I was a bit too nervous to have a close look or sniff anything so I tried to blend in and look like I went shopping everyday in a continental dog sort of way.



A matching lead set would match my fur nicely thankyou



We went for some more walking, it was better than the tram though so I didn't complain. Then things started to look up, I like cheese, what dog doesn't? But I never knew there was so much cheese to be found in the whole world, it was just like one of my favourite films where my hero Gromit goes to the moon and its made of cheese, only a bit better as this cheese was real.

That is a lot of cheese

Not so interesting as the cheese



I was a bit tired after all the excitement



Then it was time to go to a nice hotel. Everyone was very kind although I did get some strange looks, I made lots of new friends and was passed around everyone in the bar. Someone said I wasn't really meant to be there but that I was very sweet so I could stay. I ate lots of of snacks then felt a bit sick.



Sleeping off the snacks, I could get used to this



Next day we did more walking, I was getting a bit over the whole city lifestyle so I was treated to a Starbucks. Ive only ever been to the drive through Starbucks so I was excited to go inside one. They even gave me free water and I had leftover Chai Tea Latte.

I like Starbucks

All too soon it was time to go home. I crossed my paws that my microchip was ok and passport in order. In the end no one really looked at me but they gave me copy of Your Dog Magazine and I got to play in the dog exercise area so it wasnt all bad.

I was expecting more than this



Back in Blighty