Finding the positive in the heartbreak.

September 11th 2014.
7:30pm GMP time.
One youth almost destroyed one of the most amazing charities in the world.

I'm so heartbroken to hear about Manchester Dogs Home getting burnt to the ground, somewhere between 43 - 60 dogs have died. I'm not sure of the exact amount as the carnage is still on going, different reports have different numbers. One thing is a definite though, one teenager did a stupid act that murdered at least 43 beautiful dogs.

I'm so upset about this because Manchester Dogs Home was where I found my gorgeous, Jess!

She was in the second kennel as you first walk in, it's the second kennel however it's directly in front of you as you walk through the door.

I can't stop thinking whether that cage was one where dogs would have died.

I pray to God they died through the smoke... before the fire got near them.

I refuse to watch any videos that have been floating about the Internet, I've read it none stop for the past 24 hours and one thing that sticks in my head is that residents who live near the dogs home said once they spotted the smoke, they heard all those dogs yelping like crazy. Desperate screams. I cannot bear to hear that.

I remember so vividly seeing my Jess in that exact dogs home, the one that is now burnt so badly that the roof fell in.

Jess was there... and so many dogs just like her died in the most devastating way.

My girls mean the world to me. They make me smile on the days I am at my lowest, they push me to get out of my house and off my bed when all I've wanted to do was curl in to a ball and sleep my life away. They made me better in so many ways. They are my best friends and I love them, more than I will ever love most humans. They have never been 'dogs' to me, but friends... part of my family just as much as my parents, brothers, sister in laws and niece. We are a pack!

Having said that, I know that when the day comes and I lose my precious girls, through the heartbreak I know I will feel, the one thing that will soothe me will be knowing that my girls have had an amazing, happy life which was full of love. They have climbed mountains, ran in the lake district, climbed the sand dunes on Welsh beaches, go for a run every day, get birthday and Christmas celebrations..... most of all, they are loved more than some people ever experience.

Those poor dogs that died yesterday. That died in the most horrific way... had a life like I remember Jess had when I first brought her home.

They are scared, alone, neglected....... they never got there happy ending and I find that truly soul destroying. Every dog deserves what my Jess and Molly have. A home with a warm bed, a loving family and a good meal every day.

On to the positives......

In 24 hours from the arson, I have seen how amazing people really are.

24 Hours it took for people to raise over £1million for Manchester Dogs Home. I donated money soon as I could and will be giving in some of the girls leads/collars/coats that they don't need anymore.

The current Just Giving website is HERE. Please please donate. £1. $1. Anything to help.

More on the amazing man power that has tried to help those poor dogs is HERE. This is an article from the Daily Mail Online. It shows the rescued dogs now settling in the sister charity Cheshire Dogs Home. It shows the volunteers and it shows the amazing amounts of what people have donated.

Truly amazing work done by animal and dog lovers.

To the teenager who signed the death warrant to those poor innocent dogs... you are a disgusting 'human'. I can't hate him too much though as most of my amazing City are calling for his name. He will be hated to the extreme where I am assuming he will need protection from the police. I have never seen people rally together like I have over the last 24 hours, the love they have to help those animals and they hate they feel toward a boy who caused it all.

I had to write about this as I can't stop thinking about it. What those dogs went through. So for any dog owners that may read this.... hug your puppies tight and give them an extra treat. They are precious, each and every one of them!

Below is some pictures I have found, I will only post a couple as I'm sure they're easy to find online, but think of those gorgeous dogs who have left us too soon, before being given there chance to grow!

This is a survivor who went to Cheshire Dogs Home for safety. Beautiful Pup who has seen too much. 

A dumped dogs prayer

I found this online and thought it was so sad... but so true! 

Our pups see themselves as one of the family, they respect us, love us unconditionally, regardless of who we are, what we are like, what we look like (which let's face it, in this day and age, looks mean everything!), our dogs will love us every minute of every day and they deserve the same in return. 

This poem really touched me, so I thought I'd share 

a beautiful story

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2595887/Terminally-ill-boxer-dog-ticks-22-bucket-list-wishes-dying-steak-dinner-ride-police-car-favourite.html

I saw this article whist reading the daily mail. Everything about it was perfect, and such a good idea to really treasure and make the most out of borrowed time. 

It is about Romeo the boxer dog who, when his owners were told he would not be on this earth much longer, they created a bucket list. Just like a human one where we do all our favourite things, this was all of Romeo's favourite things :)

I remember being told that I was losing my Rocky, I had not enough time with him but I made sure to buy his favourite food (salmon). He was far too ill for me to do a bucket list with him but oh how I would have loved it. I will not forget about this!

This was Romeo's bucket list - 

THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE: ROMEO THE BOXER'S BUCKET LIST

1. Trip to the first park where he had walkies 

2. Have breakfast in bed with dad

3. Have his first beer with dad at the pub

4. Meet a celebrity

5. Watch a sunset

6. Candle lit massage from mum

7. Have a ride a fire engine

8. Have a ride a police car

9. Spend lots quality time with my family

10. Have a great birthday party

11. Help out at an animal shelter

12. Eat a McDonald's cheese burger

13. Celebrate New Year in style

14. Enjoy a doggy ice cream

15. Have a steak dinner

16. Enjoy a full body massage

17. Get a pawicure

18. Go on a blind date

19. Eat some sushi

20. Find myself a Valentines

21. Have lots of doggy treats

22. Visit the USA

Knowing how difficult it is to lose a best friend... what a beautiful way for them to do all their favourite before leaving this earth and heading to rainbow bridge. 

Our Holiday Adventure | Part 1

Wales | Family Holiday from stacey on Vimeo.

Here's a quick video on our recent holiday to wales, as you can tell.... It was basically a doggie holiday :) 

my girls are my happy place.

Let me just have a few glorious moments to talk about how much I adore my dogs. No exaggerating, not trying to find anything interesting to write about and not saying anything untrue.

My girls are not the most well behaved dogs in the world. They bark like crazy when someone knocks at the door, they're so over sensitive that if anyone raises their voice they run out the room, Molly barks at other dogs, Jess chases small animals, they both pull on the lead and therefore need to wear halti's to stop me ending up on the floor....... but they're perfect to me!
I wouldn't be without them, I wouldn't want to be without them. As selfish as it can sound, it makes me so happy that they are truly the only things in the world that love me for me. I mean... I have family, a boyfriend and friends, but we can argue if I don't clean up, don't make the next cup of tea etc, petty arguments in every day life that everyone goes through and then it hits me that my dogs will love me even if I lose my temper or I'm unhappy with something... they never take their bad mood out on me. They always, without fail, greet me at my front door like I have made their day. They will pick up the energy to play games because I'm excited and when I'm sad they will sit there with me, doing nothing at all, just being there for me.

Dogs are the most beautiful creatures on this earth and if I'm being completely honest, I kind of think they're far more perfect than humans can ever hope to be. They never hold grudges or hate with the people they love.

I love my perfect, imperfect pups. 

introducing the baby

Baby Scarlet, my new and adorable little niece has officially arrived! This little 5lb bundle has the whole family wrapped around her little finger, however, I was always slightly worried how J&M would react... they had never seen a baby or heard one cry!

Scarlet has now been to our house a couple of times, I have to say Molly has surprised me by being a lot better than I expected. Not to say, Jess has been bad, she's just a lot more nosy! So when we try and give the baby some space, when she's sleeping for example, Jess will whine so loud if she's not close to Scarlet. It's not a protective thing at the moment, I think it's purely curiosity that both girls have! Like I said, they've never seen one so I'm guessing it could be quite confusing to see such a tiny human being and everyone fuss over them. 

J&M are getting a lot of praise for being good, Molly went in to a lie command as Scarlet lay in her car seat ready to leave, she was a very good girl :) We're also making sure the girls aren't kept away from the baby and that they're allowed to sniff her, but once they've had their time they then need to give her space! It's definitely a work in progress but I'd say by the time she's crawling they girls should be pretty used to what a baby is :)

As we was in training mode, I took no pictures of Scarlet, Jess & Molly so here's some of Molly (and a couple with Jess) in the garden - 

a little poem...

10 Things Your Dog Would Tell You.... 

1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be painful: remember that before you get me.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me. 
3. Place your trust in me- it is crucial to my well being.
4. Do not be angry at me for long, and do not lock me up as punishment.
5. You have your work, your entertainment,and your friends. I only have you.
6. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understands your words, I understand your voice when it is speaking to me. 
7. Be aware that how ever you treat me, I will never forget. 
8. Remember before you hit me that I have teeth that could easily hurt you, but I choose not to bite you because I love you. 
9. Before you scold me for being uncooperative,obstinate,or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I might not be getting the right food, or I have been out too long, or my heart is getting to old and weak.
10. Take care of me when I get old; you too will grow old. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say: "I cannot bear to watch" or "Let it happen in my absence." Everything is easier for me if you are there, even my death. Remember that I love you....

• Please note, this is not a poem I made up, I found it on a Staffordshire Bull Terrier fan page on Facebook and I just thought it was beautiful. There was no credit to who actually did it though!

THUNDERSHIRT

I have recently been tagged by the wonderful Raelyn & Alison (I will be doing that tag on the weekend  with full links so please bare with me, I did want to do it tonight but I've just got home from the gym and my arms will hardly type).

We have now tried & tested the famous Thundershirt. 

It hasn't completely cured my girls reactiveness & anxiety however I definitely think it has helped them improve. We have been doing plenty of outdoor training on the road where I pick there weak spots and try to work on them with the coat on. 

Jess is mainly sat in the car... It's hard to know whether she has hugely improved as we are still stationary in our training sessions but this is because I don't want to push her before she's ready. 

Weekends are our big walks/runs, and we make do with screaming on them days to get them out, so Mon- Fri are complete training. 

She's doing quite good though, she lies down and rolls on her back asking for belly rubs which I will take as a good sign considering a few months back she was just constantly on edge!

Molly well.... a lovely little cat popped up on our training sessions and since Molly can be quite reactive I used it as our model (the cat didn't mind and there was a good amount of space to keep the cat comfortable) Molly at first sight went straight to OMG mode, but the ham came out and I got her to lie down with the cat in view with no growling... that did take a few times though. 

I'm hoping the shirt will eventually completely help the problems they have. so I'll keep you updated :-)

the perfect day -

I've just seen a post from a pet photographer who does 'joy sessions' (photographing a dying/ill pet)

In the post it mentions giving your dog a perfect day before they pass away. 

Obviously I'm hoping my pups don't have to have their perfect day for many many years but it certainly got me thinking what I would want to include in their final fun off life, happy day. 

I think I may start (or try) to do this for their birthdays!

For Molly I think the following would have to be included in her perfect ideal day - 

• Lots and lots and lots of Fetch
• Lots of kisses and cuddles
• a place she can run free off leash
• a snuggle in front of the fire
• Treats, food and all things yummy (meat, cheese, ice cream)
• More fetch
• a game of hide and seek (Find Me) 
• a paddle in a pond
• catch the treats 

For Jess, she's much more simpler - 

• Kisses, cuddles and snuggles
• Run, run, run off leash 
• Explore the woods
• Eat lots of human food
• Have a go at playing fetch
• go to sleep under the covers in my bed :-)
• Agility!

Gosh I love them pups! 

Here's a small collage of the girls before bed time - Again, Molly playing and again, Jessie wanting bed time. 

spring is ahead

Just a small post today - both my pups are sleeping next to me, one on the coach and one on the dog bed. They're gently snoozing and I feel awful there has been no walkies. It's miserably raining and way below freezing at the moment. Although I know that's no excuse I just can't bear let my fingers and nose freeze to the point I can no longer feel them!

Spring is soon ahead though and we'll be able to get to the park most days which will be great. We'll also get to pick up Agility again (Jess was the better one at it last year but maybe now I know Molly is toy motivated that might change) 

Not long to go :-)

The DNA test

I took the almighty plunge and have done a DNA test on Molly. 

It's not something I've done on a whim. I've been thinking about this for well over 6 months. Last week, I finally bought it and on Saturday the swabs and directions arrived at my house. I had to wait a few hours after she had eaten as we didn't want food on the swabs rather than cells so for that reason I did it just before bed. 

I did two swabs, one on each cheek and then placed them back in the pre-paid envelope so they could get the results at the lab. I posted them on Sunday and at the very latest they should receive them tomorrow. Then within 3 weeks, I'll know what my unique little mixed breed is. 

The good thing is that, by testing Molly, I'll be finding out what Jess is too! The test will come back in a family tree like format and I'm so excited for the results. 

I predict the following breeds make my Molly up from mum and dad - 

* Staffordshire Bull Terrier

* Labrador

*Kelpie

*Whippet like breed

They're the one's I'm thinking could be high possibilities... knowing me though, the results will return back to me with none of the above on it ha ha. 

An encounter

So today, I was walking home from work on my usual route when I saw a man walking his two dogs.

He was obviously training them which is fantastic and made me smile. But then mid-way the dog pulled him, I have to admit when my dogs pull me it's frustrating and can hurt but when the man turned round yelling and then kicked his dog full power in its stomach I stood there shocked!

It made me think if someone can treat there dog with such anger and aggression in broad daylight and in full view of people, how are they treating them in the privacy of their own home.

The dogs seemed so well behaved too, a little happy and hyper but nothing worth a yelling - never mind a kicking!

But what is one to do when they spot something like this, something they feel so strongly about yet are too scared to say it to the person doing something so disgusting. It's definitely a touchy subject, I would be forcing myself to have a bust up with a stranger in the street.. one with two dogs who although weren't being shown any respect did love there owner. I didn't even have a phone on me, so against everything going on in my head I carried on walking with only a dirty glare headed in the mans direction.

I'm not one for confrontation (at all). I'm one of those people who say "yes" so much there screaming "no, no, NO"... I'm too nice, I never want to hurt any one's feelings and although I have no idea what I could have done, I feel I should have done something!

So to end this somewhat depressing post I'm going to show a grubby iPhone picture that I just love.
The dog on the left shows one of the few lucky one's that took there first breath surrounded by a family that will love, respect & appreciate them until they take their last.

And the dog on the right shows one that eventually found the kind of home all dogs should be given...
a happy one.