Alls good in the Bulldog Hood

Depite it being another roasting hot day, I did actually manage to spend the entire day where I should be. No word from my beloved daughter as to the outcome of yesterdays debarcle and I'm sure she won't appreciate the fact that I had to work late last night and start extra early this morning to make up the time spent yesterday trying to sort out her love life. I've actually got a weekend away coming up though which I'm starting to get quite excited about. If you remember the fun my friend Debbie and I had at Camber Sands scooter rally last year, well we're doing it again and this time I get to stay out overnight. Debbie lands on me tomorrow afternoon and she's already warned me that she has 10 pairs of shoes in her suitcase - my goodness, I don't even OWN 10 pairs of shoes. It means, however, that I miss the breed council meeting - the first time in three years, do you think I'll be in trouble?

can I come out now?

Excuse the blank post, I was trying to be clever and write this post via the blackberry but it didn't work LOL. The intention for today was to get the adoption packs out and up to date but my daughters "domestic" issue came to head this morning so I was taken out the office for the rest of the day. I've sat in the kitchen working through the paperwork for the past few hours trying to make up for lost time but I really need to go to bed now and abandon the paperwork and trade it in for some sleep - night all

The Wicked Witch of the West is Meeeeelllllllllltttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg

The office thermometer is registering 35 degrees! It's cooler outside than it is in here and it's the usual Monday morning mayhem. It's not uncommon for me to continue to process orders whilst talking on the phone, but a call this morning stopped me dead in my tracks - someones bulldog died suddenly on Saturday and she just didn't know how to cope, we offer bereavement counselling because we understand what it's like when everyone around you is trying to convince you it was "just a dog". The sudden death wasn't even anything to do with the heat, he was just sick but the poor little mite choked, you can imagine how much they are beating themselves up - what if we'd done this, what if we'd done that but at the end of the day when it's time it's time. The best piece of advice I was ever given is one that I regularly pass on - and that is to remember that there was entire lifetime ahead of that last awful day - try not to dwell on the end but celebrate the life, remember all the things that made you laugh - there's plenty of them and I bet that every now and again, you'll hear the tippy tap of the toe nails on the laminate or catch a glimpse of him sneaking onto the sofa out the corner of your eye - they never really leave us but it is so so hard to let go and accept what happened without the awful need to put the clock back just to that moment and try and do things differently. Just for those few minutes it didn't matter how uncomfortable I was as I really do feel like I'm melting and sometimes I wonder how I manage to come off the phone and carry on processing the orders like it never happened knowing that they put the phone down and the awful pain is still there. Hug your bulldog ....

Top of the morning to you

According to the Pedigree Adoption Drive, 107000 dogs are abandoned each year, here at Bulldog Rescue we see approximately 150 a year, in reality that's only 0.14% of the total number but it's still an awful lot. As the Summer holidays approach we can start to think about things slowing down a little for us, we seem to see a pattern come the beginning of the Summer holidays - an inital rush of people who give up their dogs because they are going on holiday and now can't get them into boarding kennels, then it slows down. We guess because the kids are home and the weather is nice so looking after a dog becomes easier. However, come September things will rise quickly again - the kids are back at school and it's not so easy to keep the dog outside. It'll be October before many of these dogs start to arrive with skin conditions and neglect issues so we really do make the most of our Summer!!! and as I love my garden it works well - for me anyway.
As promised, Reggie's Den has had it's stock take and we have lots of offers - go to the web site at www.reggies-den.co.uk and see if there's anything on offer that you could make use of - we've also now got a face book page so join up to that for exclusive offers, discounts and news!
Enjoy the day, many of the dogs in the kennels are shortlisted for homes so lets hope they have a great Summer too!

Hold on to your sun hats

If the weather forcast is right for a change it's set to get much hotter. I'm sure I was a bulldog in a past life because I really suffer in this heat. This morning I was up bright and early collecting the Reggies Den delivery, at last I hear you all say as I know there are a handful of customers still waiting for stuff that we hadn't realised we sold out of, but as a reward for your patience I've listed a number of things on Special Offer, these are mainly overstocks so it's first come first served, but feel free to browse the den and see if there's anything you usually buy that's cheaper!

AS THE SUN WOULD SAY ... WHAT A SCORCHER

I'm sure there's no need to remind you about the dangers of bulldogs and heat, but just in case here's a reminder - be sure to read it, print it off and stick it to the front of your fridge.
I've spent the last 2 days sweating my bits off stock taking in Reggie's Den - after sending stock out for the Bulldog Day it's put the figures in the computer into chaos - instead of the computer saying no, it's Jason who goes to fill an order only to find there's none left. It's all up todate now so if you've been waiting an unusually long time for something theres new stock expected at the end of this week. Theres even a few overstocks so watch the web site for some special offers!!!
The sad news came in yesterday that the epileptic bulldog abanonded in the vets in Lancashire, who Georgia's spent all weekend trying to railroad down to our epilepsy expert in Newhaven has had to be put to sleep as the vet felt he had a brain tumour. I'm sure it's for the best and the long journey would have been very hard for him, but sad all the same that he had no one for him at the end except the vet who's been looking after him for the past 2 weeks who I know had become very attached to him.

Soltice Blessings

Well the intention this morning was to watch the sun rise. Usually I go to St Annes Hill which is local to me but I did intend to spend this mornings sunrise in the garden. Thanks to Dawn, Luci, Peter and Beverly I managed to get the whole week end gardening which was very gradifying, but meant that I slept straight through the 4.30am alarm!!! Today is the longest day so make the most of it, from now on the nights start drawing in again - how depressing!

I'll leave you with some pics of the garden

Helllloooooooooooooooooooo is there anybody there?

Just realised that's it's been a few months since the last Blog entry - do you know I actually get complaints when it's not updated LOL. The scooter ride out went really well - over 100 scooters parked on my front grass, thankfully not a single complaint and we had plenty of donated food, nappy sacks, washing powder and of course money - a big thank you to all that took part
Both bulldog days went well too, although these events are independant of Bulldog Rescue we get the profit so it goes without saying that our thanks goes out to Vicky and her team for two very successful educational days.
We are now gearing up to launch the 2011 calendar competition so be sure to keep an eye on the web site for details.
Oh and of course the 4th September - keep that day free as it's the annual picnic on that day and we all know how much you love that.
I'll be back soon (I promise)