Easter = Guests

Easter seems to bring out the desire to travel for many of us - as a result Dogs to Stay is fully booked - we have Kiva's brother, Kanto, with us today, tomorrow their nephew; 5 month old Wheeto comes to stay for a fortnight, and on Good Friday one of Kiva's other brothers, Zack, joins us for the weekend. Lots of pictures will be taken and they will be published both here.

The only cloud on our horizon is Sam, our 9 year old black tom cat - last week he was diagnosed with cancer and rather than have him go through umpteen medical procedures we have decided to make his last days with us as comfortable and as pleasurable as possible - he seems to be thriving, maybe it's all the fresh ham and sardines he's being fed - if you can spare a moment to pray for him please do.

Just checking in

Not a lot to report - Elliot's day has become quite routine. We get up, Elliot greets us with a wagging tail - he has breakfast, sometimes standing, sometimes whilst lying down - we go for walks, sometimes with Fat Sal, sometimes just with Kiva and Mylo, sometimes he pulls, more often than not he doesn't - he plays with Kiva (and Mylo sometimes), his tail wags - he has dinner, normally prone (probably tired after the playing, walking and tail wagging) - he settles down for the evening, sometimes with his head on my lap, sometimes whilst lying on my feet (note; toe protectors needed) - he goes to bed.

Suffice to say; all his well.

Sunday means breakfast, papers, crosswords, walk, pub and roast dinner

Well - that's what I normally get up to - with guest dogs the routine is pretty similar except that the dogs don't get to read the papers or do the crosswords.

An overnight frost meant that the fields were nice and dry to walk across so that's what we did - the dogs got 2 good walks across the frost covered fields, the first seeing a quick visit to the pub - well, it is Sunday after all.

Sunday being Sunday a roast dinner was in order - roast chicken today with roast potatoes, parsnips, seasonal vegetables and broccoli cheese (think cauliflower cheese) - well that's what we had, the dogs had theirs with a little added kibble).



Food + walks + good company = after dinner nap.

To be honest I didn't expect to be able to get pictures like these, though Elliot and Mylo get on I couldn't believe it when I saw them snuggled up together.

Wondering what the dark spots on the carpet are? They're the remains of Elliot's slobber - all quite endearing really.

Lappy days.

"You Can Keep the Caribbean" says Elliot

It's much better at Dogs to Stay.

The food's great - so great I take time to savour every mouthful ...

I eat at the same time as Kiva and Mylo - though they have to stand ...

The company is great - I like Kiva ....

In fact I like Kiva a lot ...

It's like a holiday here - really chilled ...

In fact it's a dog's life ...

Elliot seems to be enjoying himself, quickly becoming part of the pack. He enjoys his walks, normally 3 a day, one of which is with Fat Sal. He is eating well, still drinking loads, is quieter that the resident dogs and didn't make a sound this morning when the papers were delivered.

Any downsides? Well, his farts have a distinctive bouquet and our carpet is continually spattered with slobber - would we have him any other way? Not a chance. We kind of like having Elliot at Dogs to Stay.

Elliot Comes to Stay

Dogs to Stay was recommended to Elliot's owners by Jill and Phil, Fat Sal's (one of our regular guests) owners and as a result nine year old Elliot arrived this morning and soon made himself at home.

Watching how new arrivals affect the dynamics of the pack is always an interesting spectacle and one would have thought that Elliot would have decided to assert himself as top dog. However it has been Kiva who has been calling the tune with Elliot more than happy to follow her round with his tail wagging.

He has just had his tea (and it did include his meds btw) after enjoying his second walk around the village. His first saw us meet up with Phil and Fat Sal - 2 labs and 2 lappies walking across the fields in glorious sunshine - lappy days indeed.

First impressions of Elliot - he slobbers, a lot - he wags his tail, a lot, he gets on with the rest of the pack - he doesn't bolt his food - he drinks, a lot (probably to replace the slobber) - he has a lovely disposition and character.

Watch this space for more updates.