Settling In

 

Think Milo was feeling a bit cold this morning

Oh, there he is!

Millie fancied having a go at taking a selfie!

She's beautiful and knows it!

Saturday morning lie in - Milo draped across Martin!

I took Milo and Millie for a walk for the first time on my own. All went very well until we got back to the car...........!

.......put them in the car and locked it whilst disposing of poo bags when suddenly the car alarm went off. I never knew this car had one!!

Milo was not very helpful whilst I was trying to do some embroidery!

Introducing Misty

My younger son, Toby, and his wife Steph have a four year old Miniature Schnauzer called Misty so on Saturday we felt we should start to introduce Milo and Millie to her. We started slowly by meeting up on Minchinhampton Common and, after a few play bows and spins, we managed a very successful walk.

Today was a slightly different matter as we decided to bring Misty into our house. Bear in mind that Misty lived here for a few months whilst Toby and Steph were between houses and we have doggy-sat for them on several occasions so she thinks this is her home too. We started in the garden and it was not easy! Milo in particular was very shouty and he and Millie rather ganged up on Misty. It was all a bit tense and rather noisy although no teeth made contact - goodness knows what the neighbours thought. To calm things down we put Milo and Millie back in the house and, after a while, reintroduced Millie to Misty. They seemed to hit it off straight away and spent a happy half hour chasing each other round and round the garden until they gradually settled down and sat next to each other on Toby. Round two with Milo was not so good and the whole barking scenario was revisited until Daniel hit on an idea and pulled out the hose pipe. One quick blast was enough to calm the situation and was threat enough to stop the barking although they were all wary of each other.

As it was getting rather chill we all went back inside and Milo finally came close to Misty. Almost instantly he seemed to register 'it's a girl!' and his whole attitude changed. Peace and calm reigned and, although not best buddies yet, we are hopeful that after a few more meetings they can at least tolerate each other. 

New Beginnings

   

Just over a week ago Milo and Millie came into our lives.  For those of you that already know us, we have had big Akitas for the last 24 years and, as much as we love them still, it would not be sensible to have such a strong breed as we get older. My oldest son, Daniel, has always wanted Jack Russell and we have been looking for a good match for us for a few months. A dog rescue that I have know for many years posted Milo and Millie's story on Facebook and I knew the moment I saw them that they were the ones. They are 2 year old Jack Russell's and are brother and sister. They needed to find a new home after their owner had a life changing injury and it was a very difficult decision for their loving family to part with them although it was the right thing to do. We have promised to take good care of them and are looking forward to many adventures together.

As soon as we got home Milo and Millie decided that Daniel was 'their person' and follow him everywhere, sleeping in his room, usually in his bed with him. He has taken over the majority of the day to day care for them and walks them miles each day. They are quite strong on the lead but it is too early to consider off leading them yet so we have started a bit of training with them to try and curb this habit.

                      

Milo and Millie are both extremely affectionate and love nothing more than sitting on your lap for a cuddle. They are also very partial to licking any bit of skin they can find, including toes! They do tend to bark at anything they hear outside so we have found an old fashioned bell is a good deterrent when they start and we can't get their attention to stop.

 

In particular, anything animal related that comes on the television is very attractive to them and they lunge at the screen barking, especially if sea gulls or other dogs are involved! On Sunday morning Daniel was still in bed watching an old episode of Planet Earth. Millie was sitting up on her back legs watching the screen but as soon as Milo saw the snakes chasing the iguanas he launched himself on the bed and hid under the duvet!