Claire's Dog Walks

23/08/2024

Have a great bank holiday weekend! 😃

22/08/2024

Thursday's tail waggers! 🐕

20/08/2024

Tuesdays adventurers! 😊

15/08/2024

Thursday's little stars! 🤩

15/08/2024

He entered the world, and they took his tail.

He then spent his life protecting the wound.

He was tense, wound tight like a spring, worried, anxious. He shouted loud at anyone who came too close, not quite so loud if he loved them, but still.

The physical wound healed for him, but not the mental one. The mental damage stayed, maybe alongside the physiological one.

Early trauma is still trauma, and it doesn’t get any less when the traumatised one can’t fight or defend themselves.

He had landed in the world an innocent, a precious whole, a life as vulnerable as life could be, and they cut off his tail.

Nobody has been able to ask a dog what it feels like to have their tail cut off. We couldn’t ask him in words how it felt, and he couldn’t tell us.

And like all crimes against the voiceless, humans made an ‘educated’ guess and did it anyway.

When we met, he was still such a baby. A curved spine tucked in the hind and a swollen face. He was coughing, spluttering, barking, infectious and messy.

His legs were thick, and his paws huge. His face back then was chocolatey brown.

In his younger years, he would race when his lead came off. His little body would shoot like it had been released from a cannon. Straight ahead, then about turn and straight back.

The first time he was let off the lead, we thought he was never coming back, stopping or slowing down. He threatened to break the sound barrier that day as he shot along at the speed of light. Then we got used to it.

He always came back.

Over the years, he created memories for everyone around him. That time, he chased sheep on a snowy hillside. That time, he bit the postman’s shorts.

The time he hollered and threatened the policeman’s wife. The day a visitor returned with a companion and pointed to him, saying, ‘That one bites’.

Then, there was the day we found him sitting on the little boy’s lap. The child who was scared of dogs and the dog who was scared of kids. Together, seemingly random, an intuitive connection.

A hearty sight.

He likes to be around a group of dogs but is awkward. He’s sometimes growling, sometimes hu***ng.

But still, he gravitates towards a group of dogs as often as he can. He loves groups of people too, but only when they're his group.

He’s had years, beaches, holidays, runs and games. He’s always been ready to race, to jump into the sea, to swim in the lakes and threaten passing strangers, just in case.

He’s barked a million times this week. He barks at the wind; even if the wind simply threatens to blow, he barks just in case.

His bark is big, huge, and it’s everywhere. Yet while he’s been scared of sounds for most of his life, he couldn’t hear himself, even before he went deaf.

Everyone else could hear him though, long after he stopped.

The years have gone by, and he’s an old man now.

The chocolate face has gone, and he is covered in white.

He’s deaf, and he’s stiff. He snores like he never has before. His spine is taut, and his body is tense. He sleeps most of the day away, and sometimes, I see him standing staring at the wall or the floor.

He’s needed anxiety help all his life, but that’s OK.

They did, after all, take his tail.

Chips - Sally Gutteridge.

14/08/2024

Hump day fun! 🤗

13/08/2024

Tuesday dogs are happy dogs! 😊

10/08/2024

Puppy Care, Play & Walk Visits now available! 🤗

08/08/2024

We beat the rain! 👏

06/08/2024

Tuesday's little stars! ⭐

02/08/2024

We're all looking forward to the weekend 🤗

01/08/2024

Thursday's tail waggers! 😍

31/07/2024

Puppy care, play & walk visits now available 🤗

30/07/2024

Tuesdays little stars who were all staying safe from the ☀️, with early walks and afternoon comfort breaks

29/07/2024

An early walk with lots of energy 😊

26/07/2024

Ivy loves having fun with her friends! ❤️

25/07/2024

Thursday fun with friends!🥰

24/07/2024

Both groups made new friends today! ❤️

23/07/2024

It's ! 😋

22/07/2024

📢 I have a few group walking spaces available most days this week, due to customer holidays.
Contact me in the usual way to treat your dog to an extra hour of fun ! 📢

16/07/2024

Nala doesn't really like the rain, but she absolutely loves puddles and she never fails to brighten everyone's day! ☀️

16/07/2024

Update - Sadly this poor little boy didn't make it, despite everyone's best efforts it was too late.
Please don't be a bystander or think of an animal as just a stray, be the one to help or get help.
There are several local rescues available to help, all you need to do is ask.
😢

I picked this poor little soul up today from Raymede Drive, Bestwood.
They are extremely poorly and were covered in flies.
I knocked on doors and no one knew whose cat it was and luckily a very kind man helped me to get the cat to safety, I doubt I could of got them without his help.
I've taken the cat to the Animal Doctor in Ravenshead.
If this is your cat they are safe now and will be taken very good care of.
The amazing Roxie's Rescue Nottingham has offered to take this cat on.
Roxie’s Rescue
Account Number: 04068009
Sort Code: 40-28-20

15/07/2024

Monday ☀️day!

13/07/2024

12/07/2024

It's Friday!! 😁

10/07/2024

Hump day with friends! 🤗

09/07/2024

Everyone was happy to be back out with their friends!! 🤗