who let the dogs out woof woof woof

Well we didn't let them out per se...but we did take some walkies.

Random statement unless you follow me on twitter @ghostwalker0299 or on face book as Mark Peel.

Today has been a bit of a mish mash though.

My army list crumbled...not because of perceived flaws, but because i discovered the local meta game outside of my own 4 walls....runs at 2400 points and not 3000. That's 600 points to lose from an army list that i was already screaming 'there ain't enough points' at.
Ho hum back to the drawing board.

Then there is painting....
After lots of inactivity, there was the guardsmen and i was happy with them.
Now add to that there is the test mini hand gunner for my empire and i have started work on my witch hunter too. In real life he is a little less yellow...poor lighting.

Witch Hunter wip

Busy eh....but it all got rounded off nicely today.
We have been pondering getting a dog for a while. But we wanted to get a rescue dog that needed a loving home. With that thought in mind today we set off for the F.A.I.T.H Animal Rescue centre on hickling broad in Norfolk. We had an idea of what sort of dog we would like but wanted to be open minded. our only ifs and buts were our considerations of home size, children and what we wanted from the dog.

So first off we met samson..

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he all but threw himself through the pen gates to us. You cant argue with that and we took him for a walk. Here the highlight of the day was had, as carol knelt down to look samson in the face and he lunged up knocking her onto her backside in the mud and proceeded to wash her face with big wet doggy kisses.
A real live wire we thought lots about samson. But with children in and around 6 we felt he might be just a tad too lively for the kids.

Next up was Max.

Max was a bit older at 7 years old and slightly arthritic. But he was an absolutely lovely dog and sooo big. Despite his size he didn't once pull on the lead and he was very affectionate. Though he wouldn't let another dog named ellie, get anywhere near the gates to meet us (more on that in a mo). We both loved max and he is such a lovely dog. If we were older and wanted a less active dog, then this fella would have been the one for us. But we still have a lot of life and want to go for long walks with our pet pooch. Its a sad way to choose, but it wouldn't be fair on this lovely old boy as he struggled with the 600 metre walk we went on. He really deserves a loving home. I know if my step dad didn't already have a rescue dog from faith, then max would have been going home with him. Heartbreakingly hard decision to make.

Finally came Ellie.

Now people would say i was biased. I saw ellie on the centres website and loved her. After making some enquiries i felt she would be a good choice. But open mindedness was the order of the day. On seeing ellie she was being butt slammed by big ol max. Her response was to growl a bit and my initial reaction was to say..no.
However this was unfair as she was trying to get to the gates to see us and just frustrated and the man mountain of a dog hogging the attention.
So after walking max we asked to see ellie. I had no expectations at this point and genuinely thought we would end up with samson or max.
Ellie was having none of it. A complete joy to walk, affectionate and responsive she showed positive signs. As with the other dogs i fed her a few treats and fussed her whilst eating to see if she would react. Just like the other she showed no reaction.
As with the other we introduced her to our little 6 year old. Here Ellie scored her first check over the others. She wasn't so full on in her face and in turn this gave our little girl a little more confidence.
On return to the centre we stood talking with the centre staff and amongst ourselves trying to figure out which dog to go for. It was mentally and emotionally tiring and heartbreaking (i would have taken all 3 if i could have).
Eventually one of the centre staff brought out the info on the dogs. Samson was a rescue from Romania, with no known background. Max was rescued after his owner died, apparently the poor dog had nearly strangled himself after spending 2 days trying to get to his owners body. This made things harder.
But alas Ellie stepped in here for the Take me home moment. She was bought into the centre at 10 months old, had lived with children, dogs and had never shown any sign of aggression and had responded well to training. At 18 months old she was still young enough to train easily, sprightly enough to go for long walks and play. But unlike samson she wasn't quite so madly bouncy.

Decision made we have now reserved her. Pending a home visit and approval we should hopefully be giving this beautiful dog a loving forever home.

A long day, a tired hobbyist and blogger, but a happy one.

If you have the chance to give a dog a home, please do consider a rescue. The centres do fantastic work and every dog deserves a loving forever home.