Celebrating our first 6 months
It’s been 6 months since Susie-Belle joined our home and a year since she was rescued from the hell-hole puppyfarm that she’d spent her life in. We are going to be celebrating all week with lots of exciting tid-bits for her to try and plenty of robust walking to walk off the celebratory excesses.
A look back on the past six months shows how brilliantly Susie-Belle is doing these days, she’s truly the gentlest most loving girl we could hope for and we’re so proud of her for letting go of all the nastiness of her previous life and embracing her new one with such trust and gusto.
A few of the highlights from the past six months
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| The parade of ex-puppy farm breeders was very moving |
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| Susie-Belle chilling on celebrity watch at PupAid |
Devon & Dorset weekend
The first time we let Susie-Belle off lead was on Weymouth beach, on our Devon-Dorset weekend trip. The beach is long and perfectly safe and although I was slightly anxious, she was a doll and never showed any signs of wandering or bolting off in panic. We hadn’t quite discovered her sheer open enjoyment of food at this stage as we were all still quietly getting to know each other but she was dropping us plenty of hints, quickly snaffling up the biscuit treats I sat on the beach feeding her and Renae.
Day trip to London
Susie-Belle’s first group schnauzer walk with us was before we officially adopted her, when I took her out for the day, but our first proper one was a couple of weeks after she’d joined us and we met up with around 15 schnauzers at Norbury Park. Since then she’s come along to several others and it’s wonderful to hear people who’ve known her now for 6 months or more say how much more confident and at ease she seems on every gathering.
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| Yes Renae, we really, really are in London, honestly we are |
I was perhaps most proud of her the day in November that we took her to London for a walk in Hyde Park. Before we decided to go, we really thought long and hard about whether it would be a paw-step too far for her, but we were so glad we did it. She had an absolute ball of a day and coped confidently with the excitement of visiting the capital.
As is always the case with the group walks I think the camaraderie and comfort that Susie-Belle gets from being amongst so many dogs helps her to let go of any fears that may lurk below the surface, allowing her to flourish and enjoy the moment. Being surrounded by her own kind, schnauzers, makes this an even more potent healing vibe for her in my belief.
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| Renae posing with the Royal Albert Hall in the background |
Reunion walk with her foster buddies and mummy
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| Janet and Susie-Belle meet again |
Susie-Belle’s first taste of France
Her foodie experiences are well documented here on the blog, we had such fun spoiling her taste buds rotten every evening and walking it all off the next day in the beautiful, tranquil French countryside. We’ll be back in April for more of the same and hope to hike longer distances as both girls are increasingly fit and active.
So that’s a little round-up of our Susie-Belle’s highlights from the past six months with us. Later in the week I’ll pop up some of her foodie highlights, there have been so many it may take me a while to edit them down to a digestible post!
Amazing record of Susie-Belle’s journey. It brought tears to my eyes reading it and those wonderful photos 🙂 It always inspires me to see how forgiving and resilient abused dogs can be in putting behind them terrible trauma and embracing the good things of life when they are given the chance. You’ve done a brilliant job – as have all those other foster carers – Leigh (Magic’s Mum)xx
Hi, this is B from Swimtaxi234.
I loved hearing about all your adventures! Of course, I turned a nasty shade of jealous green… 🙂
Susie-Belle, looked so happy in all the pictures. It was wonderful to read about the positive changes happening in her life. To echo Magic’s Mum, you have done a great job as foster parents.
~B~