Rufus and Grace

At the morning briefing Claire had mentioned that we were getting two new doggy visitors to stay for the day. Bluebell was a little concerned to have new visitors, her litter of pups were seven weeks old and at that playful age. She wasn’t convinced these Hungarian Vizsla’s would be up to the challenge. Claire said their humans were at their whit’s end. Rufus and Grace had begun to get destructive when left all day whilst their humans had to go to work.

Well they certainly won’t be bored here, thought Bluebell as she broke up a scuffle between her two babies for the umpteenth time that morning.

Today was going to be a long day, she sighed.

As rush hour was tapering off Claire left in her car to roundup the dog visitors for the day. Whilst she was gone Bluebell checked everything was ready for their arrival.

Some dogs require the initial meeting to be on neutral territory. Claire had mentioned to Bluebell that this was probably also a good approach to take with these guys because of her puppies. A few minutes before Claire was due back Jade, Claire’s daughter, got Bluebell, Sweetpea and Peaches ready with their leashes on. Jade patted her pocket to check she had remembered the treats. Claire planned a quick walk around the block as she didn’t want them going for a run in the park, they may unintentionally return home with germs and it would be a disaster if this was passed on to the puppies. Bluebell was disappointed but agreed with the sentiment. Jade opened the gate and off they set. Ahead of them Bluebell picked up a scent that she didn’t recognise. She lifted up her head and clocked two reddish brown dogs that looked like they needed a hearty meal, walking ahead of her on leashes, and there was Claire.

That must be them, Bluebell decided.

She strained on her leash to catch up. The larger of the dogs turned around, seemed to notice them, he dropped his tail and squished up close to Claire’s leg. Bluebell barely noticed Claire, her focus was fully on these potential new friends.

So this is what a Hungarinan Vizslar looks like she thought. What a huge size difference between the male and the female.

They walked separately for half the block, Jade was positioned a meter behind Rufus and Grace. After she observed Rufus’s tail was up and he looked relaxed, she caught up with Claire and they allowed the dogs to familiarise themselves with each other. Bluebell made sure she got a good sniff of them.

All good on that front, she decided.

By the time they arrived at the gate of Dogzcreche, the doggy day care, all five dogs were walking side by side with their tails up.

Prior to leaving, Bluebell had helped Jade put the puppies in their box, so that when the doggy day care new visitors arrived they wouldn’t be overwhelmed as soon as they placed their paws inside the gate. Bluebell observed Rufus walking around the garden with his snout pointing skywards most of the time.


Rufus has this regal air about him, thought Bluebell.

Grace was checking out all the scents and once she had completed a thorough check of the venue she approached Rufus and gave him a nudge as if to say all is safe here. Rufus seemed to relax instantly …. but this wasn’t to last long.

Claire had just lifted the door of the puppy box and out spilt eleven Labradoodle puppies, four fluffy white puppies and the rest glossy black. They spotted mom and bounded towards her for some milk. Bluebell didn’t feel in the mood for a lynching so she retreaded inside. She chose to watch the introductions from the lounge window. As soon as the pups had realised the boob bar was closed they looked around for some other entertainment and soon spotted Rufus who stood rooted in one spot in the centre of the grass. The pups sensing his unease made a beeline for him. Rufus looked, to Bluebell, like his legs had turned into cement. The pups swarmed him. Helplessly he swivelled his head following one pup as it ran circles around him. Bluebell saw Claire walk up to Rufus reassuring him and introducing him to the pups. Grace on the other hand no qualms she seemed to be enjoying the little rascals. Bluebell watched her lunging and retreating with two of them and then she rolled over whilst a group of them piled on top of her.

A natural Mom, she decided.

When Rufus and Grace’s humans arrived, late that afternoon, they found two very content yet exhausted dogs. As they were walking down the driveway to get into their car. Rufus mentioned to Bluebell that the best part of the day for him was Massage Time and he asked if that was a standard treatment here. Bluebell reassured him that it was a daily treat. Rufus went on to inquire when the pups would be leaving, adding that he thinks he would prefer to come back when there would be less little pests around. Grace nudged him to be quiet and told Bluebell that she on the other hand would love to come and play with the pups every day. Bluebell imparted a lick on her face as a thank you.