Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting ...

I’m so excited about this post!! I’m afraid that Keith and I have been keeping a little secret of late and the time has now come to introduce you to the newest member of the family. A while ago we decided that once we were settled in FTC that we would look at extending the family. After a lot of finger crossing and frantic work around the garden, the time finally came to welcome that new addition this weekend. So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I would like to present Harry.

Harry is a 10 month old Basset x Beagle who has been a complete joy since he arrived on Saturday. Kat, who has had him since a puppy, has done the most amazing job of him and he is affectionate, placid, completely bomb proof (except for cows but we’ll get to that in a second) and a total lummox when it comes to coordinating his back legs and front legs.
Anyway, he arrived with us on Saturday and after chatting to Kat for a while we were left to get to know the little fella. We took him for a walk along the river and soon learned a few things about young Harry:

1. He loves eating cow pats (bleugh)
2. He loves water, especially muddy, smelly water
3. He loves children, even if they’re not too sure of him
4. He is ultimately bribable with a stick
5. He loves to chew anything knitted

He also has a whole range of gorgeous mannerisms which I am trying very hard not to go on about for fear of being a bore. I will say that I am constantly amused by his facial expressions (very basset), mannerisms (very chilled as long as he gets to lie over/in the middle of/ behind anyone on the sofa and drape his head over your nearest body part), his run (I can’t describe it, you’ll just have to see it for yourself), his big ole dinner plate feet and his sighs (I have never known an animal with such a wide range of them!!!)

Anyway, yesterday was the real challenge and I have to say I was SO proud of Harry. We went on a really, really long walk during which we managed to meet several other dogs without a second of fuss (the other owners commented on how good he was!!), meet herds of cows (actually the same 2 herds many times) and go from “no change guv!!” to “hmmm, I still think you’re funny looking but I’m going to ignore you just this once” and best of all, we discovered the river. As you can see Harry is not entirely active when it comes to rivers, preferring to sit and contemplate life. I was happy to sit on the bank and do the same.

Harry has had a few moments since coming to us, most notably his sudden “modus ballisticus” each evening after dinner when he either decides human squeak much better than chew toys (cue time out in the garden), or else does a very cool four legged dig in my herb bed covering everything in a 4m radius in soil (result of time out in the garden). The digging would have been fine except for the fact that when he did it last night, he was still wet from the river *sigh* … and he likes fighting towels. In the end I let him do the work for me, threw the towel over him and let him fight his way out, thereby cleaning himself in the process – genius!!

So, this blog will now include regular updates on the life and times of Harry as well as news of FTC and I would like to say a massive, enormous thank you to Kat, you did a fantastic job with him and he’s an absolute joy, thank you a million times for letting Keith and I take him :-D