And here's the next unwanted dog I have to save from the pound...

[Vallhala]

Frankie is a 5 year old male. He's brindle with a splash of white, knows basic commands and calmly ignores other dogs when out on a long leash. He's energetic and affectionate and all of the things you could want in a family pet.

He probably WAS someone's family pet once.

But now he's in the pound and will be killed in there unless he's taken out to the safety of a rescue. He's got until Friday. :(

Pictures of this latest dog which I've been asked to... no, I WILL find a rescue place for, are on my profile.

Frankie's one crime?

He's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Thinking now, IIRC Charlie came in from home after some years there, where he was a concern for being boisterous and an escape artist. It was discovered that he was entire and so was neutered upon arriving at rescue and has AFAIK been as good as gold there, very much loved by all.

I do worry that Dave may be concerned about him reverting to his old ways when in a home, particularly one with young DC who might open doors etc, unless you can somehow convince him otherwise. Dave can be hard to convince like that... it took me months of hard work, both persuasion and actually staying down at the rescue for weeks and weekends here and there, before I could convince him that I could win Fish round. Fish was petrified of everyone and would come no-where near any of us for a long, long time. I had to prove that I had the ability to change that and that Fish trusted me enough to not want to run off and to come back when called.

Am not suggesting that you're going to stay in PFKs caravan for weekends but that you might like to look at the whole situation and formulate what you're going to say and what you can do to reassure the Boss-Man. :)

Val, your help is needed over here too www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1218876-FAO-Vallaha just incase you hadn't already spotted it.

Hmm...thats a kind of different picture...kids don't open front door, but re boisterous my 4 yr old wouldn't mix too well. tbh, that worries me a tad? She got nipped by a pup off the lead, not being looked after by his teenage owner, on the way to nursery once, and has never forgotten it - she's much less nervous of adult/bigger dogs (she associates nip with small/young dogs) but is going to take some time to get used to a dog at all.
I know being neutered makes a huge difference - although IIRC it takes a while for the hormones to die down?? - so maybe that side of things has calmed down with Charlie? Maybe I should just email Dave and ask him what he thinks - I'm not going to try and persuade him if he thinks its a bad idea, I'll just trust his judgement from all you've said!
Thanks for the heads-up

...mind you, my last dog was supposedly a 'bolter' and wouldn't leave my side

Though that was based on his history of having shown up in Battersea Dogs Home twice, nothing more concrete.

Hmmm... got to say I'd be doubtful wrt Charlie in that case, Elibean. I found him very steady with DD2, to the point of dull extremely so :o , but he may not be so with young, somewhat nervous DC.

I'm not Mum and I'm not the Boss-Man, so whaddo I know?! It's still worth dropping him an email I think, although when I spoke with him and ventured one dog's name he didn't think that dog suitable and believed he had no alternatives at the time. However, he might feel differently when he reads about you so give it a try!

I've emailed Dave, and sent in a form, on the basis that he then has all the info about us - so if a dog comes in and he thinks 'aha, that would suit them!' all is in place
tbh, I think most people will worry about a rescue and a nervous four year old, but there's no way around that other than best possible dog for the job and lots of strategies with nervous one. She's old enough to have conversations with beforehand, understand about rules re touching dog when he's eating/sleeping etc, but not old enough to stop herself from squealing/running away if she's really scared.
I quite like the sound of dull

Didn't Charlie come from a family with young children? Did I get that wrong?

He did Elibean, if I'm not mistaken, but I believe that it was his enthusiasm at the time which was a factor in their decision to let him go.

I confess that Charlie is one of the few PFK dogs who I've had limited contact with and little conversation with the boss and partner about so am not the best person to ask. I'm keeping fingers crossed for you though and am happy to fight your corner if you feel that Charlie or another dog is for you.

On another note, I'm really upset about the two I got into GSD rescue today. The rescue owner has mailed me to say that the 10 year old GSD boy, Clyde, is a gentle lad who is very thin and has the worst dental decay the rescue boss has ever seen. Clyde's buddy, Bonnie, is overweight and clearly Clyde hasn't been eating because he's in pain and so Bonnie's been eating his dinners too. :( I'm mortified that I've caused this dedicated and caring rescue owner distress and expense albeit unwittingly and feel so sorry for poor Clyde. Thank god he's in good hands now.

They arrived at Lancashire GSD Rescue this afternoon and were whisked straight to their vets. Bonnie is in good condition although she weighs in at 48kg when she should be nearer 32. Poor Clyde is only the weight of a small bitch, at 33kg and is in pain, the vet has advised. To give you an idea, my own (4 year old) shorthaired Shep is in excellent shape and weighs in at around 40kg I'd guess.

The rescue owner is very concerned about having to put a dog of Clyde's age under anaesthetic but has no choice. Clyde will need at least four complex extractions and a scale and polish and his vet care plan for this starts Monday, at a cost so far of a few pennies short of £300. I've promised to raise what I can to help pay for that (ebay here I come!) and am thankful that the rescue owner believed me when I said that I had no idea of Clyde's dental problems. Still feel bloody guilty and SO sorry for the poor little boy though. :(

On top of this I have another three dogs to find rescue for and had a kick up the ass reminder from DD2's school founder that I'd promised to write a statement with my experiences wrt DD2 landing up in the founder's school for severely bullied children and of the need for support for such children, for submission to a government minister ahead of a Green Paper. She needs it like yesterday and I haven't started to write it yet!

Where's my "Oh Feck Rucksack"?! I think I might be needing it!

Valhalla... someone wants you here!

Thanks Thisisyesterday, have pmed my phone number to the Op but will later write up what I have to say to her so others might know what to do if they find themselves in a similar situation. Is quicker and easier to talk to Op at the mo though.

Goodness, you have your hands full Val. Enough corners to fight, methinks! I'm not going to fight for a dog, because I trust Dave's judgement on this - we wouldn't be re-homing until September (it helped to put it down in black and white here, I'm clear about that now!) so there's plenty of time to find our boy. Or girl
Wishing you luck with the tasks in hand, and hats off to you for the school report thingy you have to write - sounds hugely important, and I'm all for fighting for kids as well as dogs!

And, thanks - again. How did I forget that the first time?!

"I trust Dave's judgement on this "

So do I. Wholeheartedly. If anything he's TOO cautious but understandably would rather say no than make a wrong decision.

Love the man, but I do WISH he'd stop being stubborn and see the doc when he's ill and stop trying to be superman!

That's so, so kind of you. You've ALL been so very kind, thank you.

I'm really glad to hear that Frank's doing well and hope so much that it works out for you all.

val - as you dont want to accept money personally (understandable) and as there has been an unexpected dental bill shall i send it to lancs gsd? i feel so sorry for poor clyde. its not a huge amount but added to oldbagwantsnewbag's cheque it will help towards the unexpected £300 bill

if so can you send me their address? i will add a note its for clyde. you tried your very best - more than most people can or are able to - and I'm sure the rescue know that and that you will be doing everything possible to help raise the money

i have a soft spot for gds too. i used to be scared/wary of them until i moved here and met my neighbour's two. complete softies who would sleep with teddy bears. they helped my son (asd) overcome his fear of large dogs

Chick, thank you. The info from Lancashire GSD Rescue website says this, so I'm presuming that a cheque qould go in Ted's name rather than that of the rescue as it's a small, independent one:

DONATIONS ARE MOST WELCOME TO HELP US CONTINUE OUR WORK
PLEASE SEND CHEQUES TO:

Ted Kewley
4 Harbour Lane
Warton
Preston
Lancashire
PR4 1YA

I hope the hospital visit went okay and wasn't too horrid for you. I have a confession - I missed my follow-up mammogram appointment on Thursday in favour of staying at my pc and finding transport for Bonnie and Clyde. I guess I'd better re-book... I'll be no use to rescue or my own dogs if I'm not here any more, will I.

thanks for address. will post it today. will only be £20 but will help towards the bill

i am the worlds worst person for keeping medical appointments. i did go yesterday but i had already cancelled the previous two. when i did a pain management course at the hospital they said that people who work/worked in a caring profession were the worst at looking after themselves. so thats my excuse sorted!

val - will you have to wait long for another appointment? you should re-book asap

Glad I'm not the only hospital-phobe! Don't know if I'll have to wait long for another appointment but I will re-book... next week sometime...

OK, OK, I appreciate that this ain't a hairdressing appointment (got to book one of those too come to think of it!) but is for something which damn nearly cost me my life. I'll do it Monday.

Promise. :)

i will be checking

btw for someone who was supposed to be putting people off the doghouse you seem to be very popular lately

"btw for someone who was supposed to be putting people off the doghouse you seem to be very popular lately"

I couldn't possibly comment. :o :o :o

Dave is ill? Sorry to hear that
He sent me a nice email, Charlie is spoken for - but he has our details, so I'm sure if the perfect pup comes in he'll think of us (though he's worried about us being far away, understandably).
At least I'm clear about having to wait till September - so will try not to fall in love with anyone else on rescue sites

Charlie's spoken for? I missed that! The bugger, he didn;t tell me (or did he and did it go over my air head/did I forget it? ).

Sorry about that Elibean. :(

As for Dave, apart from the hernia which he refuses to have surgery upon because of being out of action wrt his beloved dogs, he got hit with a suspected UTI a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't move, slept in his chair for nearly 2 days solid, incoherent and rambling that he'd exercised/fed/medicated dogs which he couldn't possibly have even crawled to. Dosed himself up with spare ABs from the dogs medicine cabinet and eventually, after about 4 days, managed to put dogs into the paddock to play. He told his partner, Rachel, that he'd done this and this time she suspected that he might have managed it so went and checked.

When she saw that he'd managed to put (just two, but it was a start!) dogs out, she came back indoors and burst into tears. Poor love was and is exhausted, was dealing with the 30 or so dogs which Dave exclusively feeds/exercises/cleans/medicates etc single-handedly except when volunteers were able to get in to help. I couldn't help as having no transport it's normally Dave who drives the 40 or so miles to me to collect me, my 2 DDs and my 3 dogs and take us to PFK, where we often stay for weekends or weeks in the hols.

So yes, the bugger is a real bugger for not seeing a doc and for worrying the life out of us all! Have threatened him with all manner of nasties if he does that to us again!