First to arrive was an adorable puppy called Blue. He was a 13 week old Doberman all legs and large feet which gave an indication of how big he would eventually become. Blue was very cute and well behaved. He came for the day while his mum was moving house so he was not with me for very long, but he had a great time playing in the garden and loved sleeping on his blue mat. His mum ended up collecting him a bit earlier than originally planned, as her house move went smoother than she thought it would, so time flew by and all too soon I had to say goodbye to this delightful young chap.
Then there was Poppy rabbit who was bigger than Lucy Liu! In fact he was probably the biggest rabbit I had ever seen and his pretty grey fluffy coat made him a very huggable individual indeed. While some rabbits I have had to stay don’t like being picked up, Poppy positively delighted in being made a fuss of. He also enjoyed exploring the conservatory so I would leave him in there to stretch his legs and have a good nose around.
Last on the list was Henry, a 10 ½ year young golden retriever with oodles of personality who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get you to do it for him! If Henry had been a person he would have been a member of a London gentleman’s club and would have sat in his leather chair reading a newspaper and smoking his cigar while drinking a glass of whisky. Henry liked to keep me busy and expected his breakfast, lunch and dinner on time. If I was a bit late he would bark three times in succession and then repeat this barking pattern while panting loudly all the time until his meal was served. He also felt that if I was having something to eat or drink he should have some of it too and he would bark to attract my attention just in case I hadn’t noticed him standing right in front of me!
His mum supplied fresh carrots and broccoli for him to munch on as snacks so as to try to keep his weight down, however Henry preferred his milky biscuits and knew how to tell me that was what he was after and carrots and broccoli were simply not good enough! If I dared to give him carrots or broccoli in response to his barked demands, he would spit them out and bark again while panting loudly with his eyes open wide. When I reached for his milky biscuits he would look really pleased and would crunch on them with gusto.
After eating breakfast or lunch Henry liked to lie down on his mat in the sun. If it was a nice day he would go outside on the patio and sun himself for a while and if it was raining or chilly he would position himself in the conservatory and survey the garden from his vantage point. Then he would doze off waking up in time to remind me to hurry up and serve his next meal!