WAGS on WATER

08/03/2025

Someone was a tad smelly, so he had a bath. I'm not sure he was willing, but at least the rest of the crew can now breathe!

08/03/2025

I'm in a really strange place right now.

I've been a vegan for the last 3 years and vegetarian 44 years before that. The idea of eating anything with feet, feathers, fur or fins makes me feel ill. And yet I feed the crew meat. I feel like a hypocrite right now. I try to justify it because they are carnivores, so need to eat meat to stay well. I reasure myself that we have some of the highest welfare standards in the world and continue to feed high grade British meat to the crew. Slaughter houses have strict rules, but Halal and Kosher slaughterhouses can ignore them and carry out the most hideous acts. When our goverment allows this to happen on UK soil, it makes me so angry.

As a human, I'm an omnivore and physically have had no repercussions due to not eating meat since I was 16. I stopped eating meat after starting to work on a pig farm. What I saw and experienced had a profound affect on me. I went with a consignment of pigs to a slaughter house and saw what happened to them. It left me emotionally seared because I can't disconnect from reality. I can never unsee what I saw, I can never unsmell what I smelt, I can never unhear what I heard and most of all, I can never forget the appsolute terror those poor pigs felt.

As some of you know, I am passionate about animal welfare. I go out of my way to treat all living beings with care and compassion. I occasionally post from other pages and this is what I'm doing now. I haven't watched the video. I don't need to, I've seen, heard, smelt and felt it before, but I'm asking you to go to the video link, turn it on and then put your phone down. Walk away like I did. Let it play, so the algorithm picks up on it. Make a comment will push it even more. The more people who visit the link, will push this into the media arena.

These places need exposing. I'm realistic in knowing that the UK population won't go vegan, but let's respect the end of life for millions of animals in the UK by making everyone follow the same rules. Compassion costs nothing.

Watch here:

This investigation took place in Coventry England, Over around 10 days of filming in July 2024. Find the non-graphic version here: https://youtu.be/H0AvSe2pq...

08/03/2025

Freedom is two wheels!

08/03/2025

PLEASE SHARE.

Lovely Harley is still looking for his forever home. A very special person is out there and we need to find them. He is easy to care for and even easier to love ❤️

08/03/2025

Huxlee is spending the weekend onboard and Harley is super happy to have his playmate back!

05/03/2025

It's been a long day for me. And now sat with the crew, I love seeing how Ember and Bob look after each other. This is why I always have two dogs or more. They are pack animals and need the company of their own kind. Just like people need friendships and the support that brings to be happy, so do dogs.

02/03/2025

I think the crew have the right idea. It's time for bed 💤

02/03/2025

We had a lovely walk today and Harley finally took his wheels into the water. I'm putting this confidence down to his recent hydrotherapy sessions. Won't it be lovely if he goes swimming this summer. He would be truly free in the water.

On our way back to the car, a lady (who follows the page) handed me a tiny bird she had found on the path. I carefully carried it back to the waggwaggon and put it in a small box I had. I rang Gill from WeCare-wildlife rescue for advice and drove home. Once back at Barge Yaffle, I found the little one had died en-route. It was an adult long tailed tit. I'm guessing it had succumbed to an Avian virus. But whatever the reason it died, it has made me sad after what had been a lovely walk in the sunshine.

01/03/2025

The sun is out and so is Harley...on swan watch! 🌞

28/02/2025

Ruben update: He was introduced to two other JRT's that Steven occasionally looks after. It went well. Once the initial grumbles and sniffing was out of the way, they went to a secure field where they all ran round like puppies .
Ruben has settled on the boat well and has adapted to the new routine. He is a happy little chap.

28/02/2025

A little bit of play with Bob this morning. Bob then says No and Harley responds first time! Up to this point, Bob has had to give Harley several warnings. In the past I've had to intervene, if Harley is getting carried away. But today another little milestone has been reached for Harley. This pup is learning manners from the master!

26/02/2025

This is Mr Blue 💙

He was my heart dog, my best friend and the inspiration for Wags on Water. He is also featured as our logo. Some of our long term followers will remember his posts well, and will remember how devastated I was when he died.

Back in 2008 I had a working cocker spaniel called Scooby (who I had rescued from a garden shed where she had raised 7 puppies) and she was starting to slow down, so I started looking for a young dog to help her. I registered with all the rescues and waited. Then I got the call from Springer Spaniel Rescue to say they had a dog that needed help. He was 10 months old, in Nottingham and due for euthanasia the next day. The reason given was that he had repeatably bitten his owner. Was I interested? I wasn't sent a photo, but I just knew I had to help this young dog.

I drove to Nottingham the next day and met the owners son in a Morrisons car park. He opened the car door and out jumped the most beautiful dog I had ever seen. He was tall, had a black head and a speckled black and white body. His tail was going wild and his eyes locked onto me. He came straight up to me. I didn't hesitate, I put my hands on him and just knew that he was special. On the journey home he sat in the back and licked my left ear all the way home. He continued this throughout his life. All my car seats had slobber stains on the left side.

Once home he bought Scooby back to life. He helped give her 4 very happy years. When I looked at his breed papers I realised he even shared a grandparent with Scooby! He helped my next rescue, (Flo) recover from neglect. Then came Betty (saved from gypsies) and after her we got Molly, a stray from Ireland. My dogs were a distraction from my chronic spinal issues, as well as the abusive relationship I found myself in. In 2012, three defining things happened. First Scooby died of splenectic cancer and then I ended my relationship. Unfortunately my ex wouldnt accept I had escaped from him. Months of stalking and harrassment followed, until he was arrested and warned that if he came near me again, he would go to prison. Through it all my dogs kept me sane. But even after the threat of prison, I didn't feel safe in my house, so I sold up and the third thing happened. I bought Yaffle on 28th November 2012.

I couldn't take all four dogs with me, as Yaffle needed a lot of work. My three girls went to live with friends and Mr Blue endured the first winter onboard Yaffle with me. We had no heating and had to keep each other warm. I did my 9 to 5 job, as well as spending all my spare time renovating my 30 tonnes of rusting steel. I had further spinal procedures and Mr Blue looked after me. Years went by and as the barge took shape, we started fostering dogs. Sn**ch and Minka came first. Then people asked for me to care for their dogs, and we dipped our toes into boarding. Amba and Baily were our first paying guests.

By 2016, Yaffle was looking good and was dog safe. We got busier and busier with fosters and guests. I adopted Lexi (ex puppy farm breeding bitch) and Jerry joined the crew. We gave ourselves the name of Wags on Water and life was good. In 2018 we got our licence and things got serious. Sadly that was the year Lexi died of renal failure. She left such a gap and I knew a new permanent crew mate was needed. Mr Blue was really feeling sad, so along came Sir Bob, who Mr Blue adored.

Then on 8th November 2019, Mr Blue went to bed and never woke up. It was totally unexpected and a bit of me died with him that night. The whole situation really affected me, and I grieved for years. Then in 2023 Jerry and I seperated. To distract myself I started to foster more and more dogs. I took on the old, sick and challenging cases. I felt I needed to give other dogs the safe haven I'd given Mr Blue all those years before.

Since Mr Blue died, I have rescued/fostered/rehabilitated and rehomed 23 dogs and 2 cats. There are many more dogs that I have helped to find their people. Always at the forefront of my mind, is that no dog is a bad dog. Some dogs just end up with bad people, or in difficult situations they didnt deserve.

Mr Blue didn't get to die at 10 months old as was planned, because I was the person who was prepared for the hard work of training him. It was no picnic and he was a real challenge for the first couple of years. He was constantly getting injured and my bank account really took a bashing. He nearly died of Leptospirosis and then got a cancerous tumor in his mouth, but he never stopped wagging his tail and being happy. And in all our 12 years together, he never once growled, lifted his lip or attempted to bite me. Mr Blue kept everyone (dogs) in thier place, not through aggression, but by his sheer presence. He was the calm soul onboard and my First Mate.

He was the perfect dog and when I rescued him, he rescued me in return. He gave me purpose and inspiration every day. Wags on Water is my tribute to him, and I will keep on rescuing and helping difficult dogs as long as I can. There will never be another Mr Blue, and I'm so glad I gave him a chance at life. Fate stepped in on that day, all those years ago. We were meant for each other, because we had a job to do. 💙

26/02/2025

All is good with our latest ex foster crew mate Ruben.

26/02/2025

Fantastic news from Camp Beagle. The case against them (by MBR Acres) was lost in the High Court, costing MBR £4million in costs. Add to that, the petition has now gone over 200,000 meaning the goverment have to debate a total ban on the use of dogs in laboratory testing in the UK.

What a fantastic week for animal welfare, but it's not over until the puppy farm in Huntington is shut down and laboratories across the UK are empty of dogs. After that we need a total ban on animal testing in the UK. Its not science, it's violence.

25/02/2025

Harleys hydrotherapy and physio at home is starting to improve the use of his back legs. They will never be perfect, but any improvement is a win as far as I'm concerned!

Tonight he swam a short distance without support. His back legs stayed in a good position and Daisy said he is very balanced in the water. And to think the vets in Turkey wanted to amputate his back legs. I'm so glad Isabel said no. This is one little warrior we have onboard Barge Yaffle. ❤️

25/02/2025

It's rabbit ear time and Harley gets so excited about them, he dances with his front feet!

24/02/2025

The most handsome of our ex foster crew is on his way to East Anglia from Wales. And being the superb boy that he is, Spot got to go into the services en route. I do hope his mum got him a sausage roll from Greggs as a reward. 💖