Tibur 2001 - 2012

Just before we were due to sit for a family in Normandy we had the sad news that one of our charges had died.

Tibur had been suffering from fits which gradually got worse and it was the kindest decision to have him put to sleep.

He had had a good walk, his breakfast and was having a snooze in his favorite place in front of the fire just before he departed from us.

He enjoyed his walks taking his time to investigate everything in his path, like a true hound. He was very shy with new people to start with, but after a little while he became your best friend and followed you everywhere.

He will be sadly missed.

Dogs in the Dordogne

Bordeaux

For the second half of January we re-visited another existing client, this time in the Pretty
Dordogne region of France.

We had a brief visit to Bordeaux en-route to see a potential client. Although we have been flying into the Bordeaux area for many years, this was the first visit to the city itself. We were pleasantly surprised at the lovely buildings there. It was bitterly cold, but we had a good look around for a morning before we set out to travel south to Le Bugue.

Spot the Cat.

Here we look after 6 lovely dogs, a Black lab and her pups and a golden cocker spaniel and her two pups. They are all girls and a real delight to look after, although you have to be pretty nifty to get a place on the sofa of an evening! There are three cats and a horse to complete the family. The girls have plenty of land to run in, so we had plenty of exercise on a daily basis.

Tracy and Zola

The weather was cold but dry most days.

We spotted deer frequently, trying hard to avoid us. Le Bugue is a small town very picturesque on the side of the Vezere river which snakes its way past picture postcard villages and gorges.


There are plenty of Neolithic remains in this area, caves with paintings and archaeological sites. This was Della's second visit here so it was great to be able to introduce Tracy to the family.

New Year in East Sussex

We saw Christmas and the New Year in familiar surroundings, looking after various animals. We had sheep, chickens, ducks and ponies outside, and three dogs and a cat inside the house.

We arrived to a lovely message from the owners' children.

Having sat for this family in the summer months, we were familiar with the area and the surrounding countryside. We had a trip to Hastings to meet up with some friends who stayed at the campsite during the summer, and they showed us around their town.

On New Years day we went to a local pub for Tracy's birthday, and met up with friends who live in Edenbridge.

We got into a routine with the animals very quickly, having a lovely walk around the land with the dogs, who chased about with boundless amounts of energy. We had a daily puzzle to solve of how one chicken kept escaping from the chicken pen. We finally saw it in the act of escaping one day, putting an end to the mystery. We counted the sheep daily to make sure they were all present and correct. The ponies needed their 'electric tape' re-erecting most days, as they had a habit of pushing it until it broke, to get to better grass.

We were helped in all these duties daily by our very loyal friends. Fergus the greyhound, Marble the Jack Russell, and Noko the very springy, Springer Spaniel.

For most of the sit we had mild, dry weather, with occasional rain and some rather windy days which brought a tree down. Some days the ground was very wet which made things difficult, especially in the ponies' field where we were in danger of losing a welly. On the whole though we had a good month.

We said goodbye to our furry helpers, and we will look forward to seeing them again later on in the year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone, we hope that you all have a good time, with your loved ones.

We know that all of your pets are muched loved and will enjoy a fab Christmas with you, as they do for the rest of the year.

We spare a thought for people and pets out there who are less fortunate and hope that 2012 proves to be their year, and say a big "thank you" to the people who work tirelessly all year to make their lives better.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Dog Links : http://doglinks.wordpress.com

Dog Rescue Carcassonne: http://www.dogrescuecarcassonne.co.uk

November in Normandy

Our first time to Normandy was a pleasant surprise. We have always landed in Calais and driven, via the auto route, focusing on getting past Paris before looking for somewhere to stop on our drive south.

We had a sit near Le Havre, on the banks of the River Seine, in a small hamlet which used to be the main port for the area in Roman times.

The houses in this part of France are very unique. A typical house of the region is thatched with Iris growing out of the top. This method is used to help hold the thatch, as the roots grow
down and help bind the materials together.

When taking a walk through this region you feel as if you have walked back in time, it is very much like an Anglo Saxon theme park. The villages are breathtakingly pretty, and the towns are medieval wood and winding streets.

We were looking after two very sweet dogs, and had plenty of walks through woods and along the banks of the Seine right on our doorstep.

One of the dogs is a white alsation which is a first for us. He was so well behaved and such a sweet dog. His coat was soft and thick. We were worried he would need a lot of cleaning, but miraculously, he stayed clean even after a long walk through muddy woods. Amazing.

The basset hound was a lovely character, who took a couple of days to get used to us, he was very shy to start with, but once he felt safe, he was glued to our side. He suffered from fits, which he had a couple of whilst we were looking after him. We had been pre-warned about this and were well prepared when it happened. It was just a case of being with him whilst he was fitting, and then comforting him afterwards whilst he was a bit disorientated.

We are pleased to have another opportunity early in the new year to sit for these lovely dogs again.

Jemima 2000 - 2011

It was with great sadness to learn that Jemima passed away this week. We had the pleasure of looking after her for two weeks in May this year, at her home in Goring-by-Sea.

Although she had breathing problems and had to take things slowly, she still had plenty of life in her, and we soon found her 'puppy button'. She liked to chase the pigeons on the lawn and play with her rope toy.

She was very affectionate and loved to give us kisses by snuggling up under our chins, and kissing our ears.

We are due to sit for the family again soon, and she will be missed, but we were grateful that she was with her family, who had a chance to say goodbye to her.

Autumn in France

As the leaves started to eventually turn brown and fall from the trees after an exceptionally hot September, we arrived in South West France to sit for a new client.

We looked after a Doberman, female and a Greyhound male. Both are rescue dogs and in their middle years. The Greyhound used to make us laugh as he would suddenly gallop around the field for a couple of laps and then, with legs all of a quiver, would go back to his sniffing and mooching around. It was a very funny sight.

The Doberman was good at demanding our attention to give her constant smooths. She was very obedient, making sure we saw her lifting her paw and sitting whilst we were preparing her meals.

We have lived in this part of France before, so we were able to catch up with friends on this visit. We had a trip to the Pyrenees on one sunny, clear day, and as there had been a bit of rain the day before, the tops of the highest peaks were dusted in snow. The towns in the Pyrenees were very quiet at this time of year, the summer tourists had departed, and the winter skiers were yet to appear. Locals were taking the opportunity to tidy up their properties and maintain the roads, etc, before the next influx. The area we know is the Aure Valley it is a very pretty time of year to see the foot of the mountains covered in golden foliage.