THE CANINES 🐾

The original main man of the house, Calvin came to us after effectively making the biggest case for himself when we were looking through Dogs Trust. While still relatively young and played like a puppy when he first arrived, Calvin very quickly became the wise old man, bestowing his presence and knowledge onto all the other dogs that visited.

Calvin's escapades formed the basis for a Facebook page, which garnered a small and loyal following. Calvin particularly enjoyed reading comments from other pet owners regarding similarities between himself and their own pets.

He had a particular enjoyment of pig's ears (or "pigglies" as he called them), casual plods around the local area saying hello to the wild squirrels and rabbits in the surrounding forests, and doggy swims which aided against his arthritis in later years.

The longest canine tenant and a certified purebreed, Misti came as a young dog from a rescue in the south of Ireland; given up by a family who had bought her for their two young boys who were eager for a dog, but weren't too impressed by a dainty, laid-back little princess.

Misti always paraded around the house, considering it her domain to observe. You would often find her on the windowsill in the front room, watching the public go by; or out in the back garden, performing guard duty against the birds and neighbourhood cats that would attempt to invade it.

Duck and salmon were her favourite meals. Getting her fur, and especially her ears, wet was an absolute bugbear, and she would go berserk attempting to dry herself off.

Found as a stray, Jasper was incredibly scared at first, not knowing really how to share food or to be a home dog. However, once he settled down under the tutelage of Calvin and Misti, he became the biggest comfort dog ever loving nothing more than a nice rest in his favourite beanbag.

Jasper was the first dog to have been considered "my" dog, in the sense that he preferred to be in the same room as me, would often sleep on the end of my bed nestled around my legs, and generally would go looking for me for attention.

Another rescue from the south of Ireland, Charlie had an eclectic personality mix; being incredibly laid-back in the downtime, but also very eager and hyper when out and about, or especially around feeding time. Attempting to brush his ears was done at your peril.

At first he attempted to assert his dominance in the household, but was fairly quickly put in his place by Misti, and in time understood that she was the head of the household. When he became the head, though, he didn't really believe in any form of hierarchy.

A complete omnivore, Charlie ate absolutely anything and everything you chose to feed him — even his medication went straight down the hatch, the first dog we had who did that!

He utterly despised trips in the car; which definitely did not help for his arrival journey.

Toby is the first non-Blenheim Cavalier we've had. Initially very shy and reserved, he would rarely venture out from the kitchen for a fair while after arriving. Despite that, he hated being alone, and would always pine for someone (human or canine) to be in the same room as him.

Nowadays, he goes around the house with confidence; but more often than not you will find him lying about, in a bizarre and almost awkward position, on a sofa or floor mat.

Rescued from the south-west of Ireland, having been dumped after spending six years at a puppy farm.