Who Let The Dogs IN?

Tomorrow, Stella Bella, our Carnarvon Special, will have been part of our family for three weeks. She has brought unparalleled joy into Station House. We can now not imagine life without Stella.

Pip had been a sad-sack since the love of his life, Sascha, died during October 2017. Funny, I feel she was with us just the other day. Sascha had been mine, and then Michael's, since 2003 and was, in so many ways, I believed she was immortal. We were all devastated by her death and Pip, particularly so. Ruby, our quirky and exasperating Beagle, tried hard, but she was never a social being and was lacking in demonstrative love for Pip or us. In late June, we had to euthanase Ruby due to dementia and cancer. And so, Pip retreated into himself and rediscovered anxiety, was hampered by his arthritis and destined to be subdued for the rest of his life.

I knew he needed more. I knew we needed more. Which was why, when we unexpectedly found ourselves in Carnarvon, and I checked the Carnarvon SAFE site, we ended up adopting a black puppy named Melu. We felt her name didn't suit her, so we promptly changed her name to Stella. She was on the road with us for three days before we pulled into Station House in Heavenly Beverley.

Pip met Stella with a wagging tail just outside our front door. He has changed beyond expectation. He is bright and animated and agreeable and shows no discomfort and few signs of anxiety. He and his new love, Stella, play and sleep together every day and every night. At twelve years of age, he has had a blast of infectious energy injected into his previously also-ran existence.

We do confine them in the laundry at night, so we know Stella isn't eating anything she shouldn't. We are far more relaxed with her than we have been with puppies in the past. Toilet training is still a bit hit and miss and we are not overly upset by accidents. Having lino planks as our floor also helps as removing puddles is relatively painless. Today has seen a bit of an upsurge in "accidents" as Stella hates going outside in the rain. And Mister Pip is always delighted to cover Stella's widdles with his own to show he is The Man.

Stella is like an enthusiastic and endlessly cheerful flexible strand of spaghetti. She can leap onto our bed to annoy Madame Cat in a single bound. She loves nothing better than to cover us with doggy kisses. She is in our faces, up our noses, in our ears and up our armpits. The world is her oyster. She adores us, Pip, and Madame Cat, much to the cat's endless disdain.

This morning, I went to rouse Michael out of bed at nine o'clock. I had left him and Madame Cat to slumber behind the closed bedroom door. Michael was stirring anyway, but I suggested he leave the bed, otherwise, I'd "set the dogs on him". He agreed immediately, as he understood that opening the door would lead to a full-on frontal attack of happiness by Puppy Power.

Thank you, Stella, for adding so much to our family.

Together, on their dog bed... 

This morning's images -