Guess what happened??

I have had the most exciting few days!!! The doorbell went yesterday and guess who was at the door? Auntie Fi! And she had Patch with her and a blue box thing and...................Orca!!! I was so pleased to see him that I took him straight out to the kitchen to wrestle  >:o)  

He has grown lots and is nearly as big as me now! 

We have had soooooooooo much fun chasing round the garden and playing tug and breaking all the mats and chewing up toys and teasing Flora and driving Mummy bonkers..........

But but but but..............MORE exciting things. The blue box thing that Auntie Fi had with her was actually Orca's old travelly house that he got too big for. In the travelly house was the tiniest little thing I've ever seen! Auntie Fi says he's a real dog and he's older than Orca, but I'm not so sure. He's so little!! 

I don't know how little he thinks he is though because he was joining in with mine and Orca's wrestling games!

His name is Hugo and he is actually quite good at Barking Competitions! Where I have big deep big boy barks, Hugo has teeny little baby barks but I think they're just as good at making Mummy's head hurt!

Anyway, Auntie Fi brought him here so that he could go and see my lovely vet because he has a poorly heart and that is why he is so small. Sadly, the vet said that Hugo's heart is much more poorly than anybody thought for and that he won't live to be a big growed up boy like me  :o(  Auntie Fi that he needs somebody special to look after him and pamper and fit 15 years of love into 6 months. I know somebody just like that. My Sophie Jayne  :o)

I have decided to let Hugo borrow my Sophie as long as he lets me play with her and cuddle her and lick her sometimes too.

So there we go. Who knew a few days ago that by today I'd have a little brother and have spent some great days playing with my best mate Orca again??

A Rather Serious Business :o(

I'm taking over from Bran just for the duration of this post to get across a rather serious message - sorry!

Bran's big "sister", Flora, has finally had what Bran likes to refer to as "her hopperayshun".

Flora was born at a puppy farm and sold, along with her brother, to a couple who knew nothing of American Bulldogs. As they grew older, they grew feistier and harder to control and so, at just 6 months of age, Flora and her brother were handed in to rescue. Their first stop was Trallwm Farm where they were handed into the care of Lady Lesley Cooper. Whilst being keen to lavish them with love, Trallwm Farm is actually a farm and has lots of horses and big dogs who wouldn't notice 2 pups under foot! And so lovely Lady Lesley secured places with them in the care of Lizzie's Barn Sanctuary and our wonderful friend Fionna. After a month of finding her feet at the Barn, we were lucky enough to meet young Flora Pandora and I was smitten within seconds.

Flora's time with us has not been easy: there have been a lot of changes for her to adjust to. On top of that, she has been "gifted" with far too many health issues that could all be pinned on her thoughtless breeding: epilepsy, hip dysplasia and a heart murmur. Despite all of this, Flora has brought sunshine and joy into our lives from the second we laid eyes on her. She is a wonderful companion and adores us all. Just before her hip replacement op, Flora's quality of life diminshed to such a degree that I questioned whether to proceed with the op or whether to set her free from the pain. 

Thankfully, we battled on through and the op has been more successful than I could ever have imagined! The pain is gone, Flora is healing amazingly well and all she has to worry about now are the next few weeks of enforced confinement  ;o)  She is trying hard to convince me that she is well enough to go on 2 mile hikes or to romp on the beach or even just to be allowed to play in the garden with Bran, but her new prostethic hip joint says "NO" for the time being!

I would again like to take this opportunity to thank all of our family and friends for supporting us through the last 6 months or so, which have been utterly hellish at times, as neither Flora nor I would have made it to this point without you xxx

Lady Lesley has very kindly put together Flora's story on her blog: Flora's Story

Included within Lesley's post is a very important link to a very important petition. It is a petition to plead with the Prime Minister to bring about an end to puppy farming. I have already told you Flora's story and what the trade of puppy farming has meant to her life. Now I follow up that info with why this has been posted on Bran's blog: we have recently discovered that Bran also has hip dysplasia  :o(

I was shocked enough to be having to put Flora through a hip replacement operation at 2 years of age, but Bran is still a baby. He is now 11 months old.

Fortunately, we hope that this diagnosis has been made early enough that diet management and supplements will be enough to control this godawful disease sufficiently without having to resort to surgery. This disease is all too common in labradors anyway, but, again, Bran was bred at a puppy farm so it was almost a given that it would rear it's ugly head within his beautiful bones.

Not for a second do I regret the fact that my dogs were born because then I would not have known the joy of having them in my life and I give unlimited thanks to both Lesley and Fionna for getting them to safety before they came home, but I wish with all my heart that no other dog be born into the circumstances/conditions that my babies arrived in or suffer the health concerns that we will have to deal with throughout Bran and Flora's lives.

So PLEASE sign the petition. Get the word out. And, above all else, DON'T BUY FROM PUPPY FARMS!!

The petition can be found HERE