Sunday, July 5, 2009

Introducing a Foxy Lady

I know I am full of surprises and little sense, but here I go again!! This lovely girl is Foxy. She is a Husky-cross, with the bluest of blue eyes and lovely markings on her face. We were first introduced to her some weeks ago, when an elderly English couple found her and her brother/sister abandonned at the edge of their property. The couple already had a dog and didn't feel that, at their age, they could take on new puppies, so they advertised for a home for them. While they waited for some response, they put food down for the pups each day, and they made their home in a foxhole. The other pup was dark and resembled a small alsatian and we decided to enquire about it. Unfortunately, around this time, the dark puppy died, blocking the entrance to the foxhole so the light one could not get out to feed. The couple's daughter, who happens to be an assistant at our vets, dug him out and buried him, and Foxy continued to live in the hole, just emerging each evening for food. She was lonely of course, but also very nervous and no-one could get near her to catch her. She just darted below ground again. Here she is just peeping out of the fox hole when we first went to see her. They decided to set a fox trap near the hole, but the man at the house did not want her to get hungry enough to scavange, so he continued to put food outside the trap, and it seemed unlikely that she would be caught. She grew accustomed to the sound of the lady's voice, but was still too timid to be approached. We felt that she was getting older and more used to her independence, wandering into the campo (open countryside) by day, and probably catching rabbits etc to eat, and she would be difficult to socialise, so when we saw Chico and Miki, also abandonned pups needing a home, we decided to take them instead. Then about a week after we had them, the lady phoned to say that the pup was in the trap and her daughter had taken her to the vet for a full medical, (she was thin and covered in ticks and fleas), plus all the necessary injections. The couple then took her home again and kept her tethered on their patio, unable to set her loose as their grounds are unfenced, plus their own dog might chase her. The next time we went to the vet with one of our animals, the daughter told us how well the little pup had settled down. Although she was very timid, she wagged her tail at the couple who were looking after her, and got on quite well with their dog, but he is old and did not always want to play, so they were still desperate to find her a home. Jonathan and I went to see her and fell in love with her. She sat on my lap and seemed happy to be near us. So we decided to 'foster' her for a couple of days to see how she got on with our two and the kittens, and more importantly, how they reacted to her. Well that was on Friday and she is still with us. I think she has adopted us as her new family. You would think she had always been here. She romps and plays rough and tumble with the dogs, and they just accept her as another play mate, and she shows little interest in the kittens. I think the feeling is mutual! She will never be as big as the other two though I think she will fill out when she eats better. She doesn't eat much yet but she walks on a lead. I take her and Chris takes the other two; we are becoming a familair sight going down the Calle; and at night she sleeps in the outside run with Chico and Miki. So our family has grown a little bigger than we intended, but we love them all. I have taken nice portraits of them all. They are growing fast, particularly Chico who will be a big dog. (He's also the most intelligent and trainable). The cats get on quite well with the dogs, and are learning to walk away when they have had enough attention form them. I love this picture of Miki who is a bit of a bumbling clown. It was taken just after I threw a bowl of water over her to cool her down! In case you are now totally confused, the new blue-eyed beauty is Foxy, the black dog is Miki (Michaela), the brown dog is Chico, the tabby/white cat is Paco and th little ball of grey fluff is Destino. Welcome to the new Perry clan!

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