Wiggle - Day 212

Wiggle was a little naughty yesterday - he stole a sock! I'd been painting and managed to stand in a blob of paint on the floor. As I only had socks on my feet, I took the paint splodged sock off and finished off the painting. A little later, while I was tidying up, Wiggle noticed the stock and ran off with it.

Why he decided to steal the sock I have no idea, but Wiggle thought it was very funny and kept on dodging and turning away from me when I tried to extract it from his mouth. I couldn't help but laugh at him - Wiggle has a basket full of toys but for some reason decided that a sock was the best thing ever! After a little wrestling, I retrieved the sock and Wiggle turned his attention to one of his tennis balls.

In other news, I'm having a little fundraiser on the rescue forums - The Refuge and Woof Beginnings - auctioning two very limited edition Wiggle calendars. They are a limited edition as there have only been 3 made; one for me and two calendars to try and raise a few pounds towards Wiggle's ongoing vet bills.













Wiggle is having the Atopica every other day now and despite looking as good as he does, he will need to continue on the drugs for a while yet, so any funds I can raise with these calendar's will be a help.

If any of Wiggle's blog readers would like to place a bid, please email us at wiggle.the.dog@gmail.com

Barney - Another LRSE&C Boy

Meet Barney!













Barney is a wonderful dog and was rehomed through Labrador Rescue South East and Central (LRSEC). Unfortunately, when he moved to his new home it was discovered that he had a problem with his front left leg and needed an operation. LRSEC is trying to raise funds to help pay for this very costly operation


You can read about Barney and his operation:

http://www.loveyourlabrador.co.uk/news_Barney.html

To make a donation to the costs of Barney's veterinary care, please visit his Just Giving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/waynepalmer2

Wiggle - Day 210

Revenge was mine!

This morning I was home from work early so I crept into the house and surprised both Wiggle and Sir H who were fast asleep. They did seem happier to be woken up by me than I was at being woken by them yesterday, but we now seem to have reached a truce and both boys let me sleep earlier. Wiggle did wake me but that was to let me know there was a TNT delivery man at the door with a parcel, which of course is a perfectly valid and acceptable reason to wake me.

Sir H doesn't seem to want to walk far at the moment so we've been across to the green and while he pottered about, Wiggle and I played ball. Wiggle ran and ran until he was slowing down while Sir H watched.

This afternoon I've been doing a spot of decorating but fortunately, both the boys stayed out of the way so they are still black and not covered in paint!

Wiggle - Day 209

There seems to be a conspiracy The ring leader is definitely Wiggle, with Sir H as his second in command. Their goal is to wake me when I am sleeping after nights. I suspect their tactics have been well planned....

Wiggle stands next to one side of the bed; Sir H is on the other side. He who can reach me the easiest then shoves a cold, wet nose in my face while the other one finds this all terribly amusing and wags their tail, bashing the wall or wardrobe door, therefore making sufficient noise to wake me.

This plan was put into action yesterday but unfortunately for the boys, I was far too tired to wake properly and after several failed attempts, they left me to sleep.

Today, after no doubt spending yesterday evening fine tuning their mission, they succeeded in waking me 3 times - approximately 8am, then again at 10am and lastly at about 2pm at which point, I gave up on sleep and succumbed to their demands and got up.

However, much to their disappointment, they failed to convince me that as I was up it must be dinner time. Instead, we've been for a nice walk and Wiggle has done lots of tennis ball chasing.

This handsome, innocent face in fact is masking the mind of a cunning, devious sleep interrupting hound.....

Wiggle - Day 207

It's a milder day here today, but a bit damp! Wiggle has been helping me with the housework - this mostly involves being ready to pounce on the hoover. It's not that he's scared of it, but he runs away and then comes back, ready to jump on it! Strange boy....

After a bit of grooming this morning and their usual post-breakfast sleep, I took the boys up to Maude Heath for a lovely long walk.
























When Wiggle wasn't searching out interesting smells, he was as usual, waiting for me to throw the ball



























Wiggle did the most running about, chasing after his ball and pouncing on it as he deemed necessary.
















































Typically, Sir H took the walk at his usual slower pace.
























Although in a rare, uncharacteristic moment, Sir H did have a short burst of energy! And I managed to get a little video clip of Sir H running

Wiggle - Day 206

Another quiet day for the boys while I've been working. Wiggle doesn't care about the cold and was happily chasing around after a tennis ball this morning when we went out before I had to leave for work.

Since coming home and having his dinner, Wiggle is relaxing for a while. He's been playing with one of his toys but decided he needed cuddles so sat on me for a while before making himself more comfortable.












Sir H is definitely not liking the current cold weather and protests by dragging his feet grudgingly along while we're out! Being a dog of advancing years, he prefers to stay in the warm, tucked up in bed.











As it's another cold night, I shall put Sir H's jumper on him when we go out soon, just to keep the old chap snug and warm.

Wiggle - Day 205

The boys are having a quiet couple of days as I went back to work yesterday. They've both been fine though and no doubt sleeping or in Sir H's case, sulking as he's not impressed at being dragged out into the cold, icey weather first thing before I leave the house!

I know I've mentioned previous foster dogs, but the other day I had a sort through old photo's and after a count up, realised that Wiggle was Foster Dog Number 11.

Some fosters have been very short term, others months, but here's who has stayed here over the years:

First, foster was Darcey puppy - back in September 2005, 11 weeks old when she arrived and here for nearly 4 weeks until her new home was ready for her to begin her new life. Her and her sister had been bought from the free-ads but the lady decided a week later they were hard work and gave up both!










Although a 'stayer', Bumpy was officially a Long Term Foster. He was 9 when he arrived, afte 3 months in kennels as no-one wanted a blind dog. As most of you will know, very sadly Bumpy died in April 2008 after losing his battle with cancer.













Then came Honey in April 2006. She only stayed a week as she had severe separation anxiety but went on to find her perfect home:











Next up was Susie - not a Labrador!!! She stayed for a couple of weeks in 2006 as she'd been shut in a shed and needed feeding up but wasn't doing well in kennels. A fortnight of two Labrador's waiting for her to leave her dinner encouraged her to eat!











After Susie left, Tess arrived in May 2006. Like Wiggle, she had a skin condition and stayed for 5 months, got all the veterinary care she needed and went on to a fantastic home. Sadly, she died last summer, aged only 6 years












A week later, the largest Lab I've ever met arrived - Moog, weighing in at 46kgs!! He was originally called Prince but I decided he had a likeness to Moog from Willo The Wisp:











I had a break from fostering for a few months until Poppy2 arrived in February 2007. She was a 'larger lady' and became Poppy2 as I already had my own Poppy!













Only a one night 'foster' but next up was Meg, 5 month old puppy who needed out quickly. She gave us a fun filled night until I could move her onto her new home.












In May 2007, Molly arrived. She was a gorgeous girl, like a minature Lab. Molly had very bad SA but found a wonderful home as a pub dog so has people with her all the time.













While Molly was still here, Connie came into care as she needed a retirement home. Like Bumpy, she only had one eye and knowing we wouldn't have a queue of homes wanting a batty, wobbly 14.5 year old girl, she moved in and spent the last few months of her life here












While Connie was here, Molly went to her new home, Dolly arrived and Poppy sadly passed away so I didn't foster for a while. Connie passed away in September, then Bumpy was diagnosed with cancer late in 2007, Sir H arrived in April 2008 and a few days later Bumpy passed away. Dolly became ill but in June of 2008, I read about a certain baldy, skinny dog and Wiggle arrived:














So, as you can see, we've had a fair variety of dogs staying here!

Some of the fosters were harder to part with than others, I have to say, but being able to offer them a bed when they needed it has been very worthwhile. Of course some of the dogs had their problems, but finding out more about them enabled LRSE&C to find them their perfect new homes.

I know that Wiggle's blog gets many regular readers and maybe some of you have thought you'd like to foster. We always need good foster homes, even if it's just for a night or two when a dog urgently needs a safe place and other times, it can be longer term if a dog needs special care or isn't coping in a kennel environment.

As a foster home, the charity will cover the costs incurred for vet bills etc and provide full support. And best of all, you get to be involved in finding out so much more to enable that dog to find it's perfect forever home!

If you would be interested in finding out more about becoming a foster carer, please contact your local co-ordinator. Contact details are on our website here:

http://www.loveyourlabrador.co.uk/contacts.html