SHAK On The BBC

True Spirit.....

"I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Spirit after he arrived at SHAK, and he certainly lived up to his name.

Spirit was on the list to be destroyed in a pound before arriving here. He was very thin, wobbly on his hind legs, and kept one foot off the ground at every opportunity. Vets diagnosed his condition as chronic hip dysplasia, and plans were made to provide him with a hip replacement. It was after this initial vets visit, Spirit came home with me, he pretty much stayed there till the day he died.

On Tuesday 27th July 2010, we were hit with terrible news. During an x ray to reveal the extent of his hip problem, the vet discussed the leg that was so poorly was riddled with bone tumours. Worse was to follow, the disease had spread to his lungs. I had to let him go. I have never known a dog walk as deeply into my life in such a short time as Spirit did.

The 9 days we had him were filled with so much happiness. I used to watch him as he slept by the side of my bed, in his dreams he was running fast, I lay watching his legs go through the motions as he slept. I like to think he will be doing plenty of that now. Big fella, we shared so much in such a short time. You arrived with nothing, and left a family who loved you and miss you so much. Run free, true Spirit."

Stephen Wylie.

Song "True Spirit" written and performed by Lisa Clark.

A New Romance.....The Video

Here as promised is the video of the new romance blossoming at The Rescue Place. And yes that is MONA with Brodie! Mona has been a real handfull, she has obviously been well beaten at sometime in her life, and because of that she is very frightened (I have the scars to prove it) but on Tuesday she decided she wanted to make friends with Brodie, and well you can see for yourself the fun they had.

Other dogs on this video are the 4 boys (Laser, Murphy, Butch and Kane) all playing in a run together, Daisy and George with Bouncer in a run, and check out Scooby with his new girl, the newbie Nina.

Sorry again for the barking noise, it took me all my time to upload never mind edit, and please note that the video runs for 16 minutes, so grab a cuppa before you watch it.

"A Day At The Rescue Place....."

In the video above you can see Scooby and Storm making friends. After a week or so of gentle introductions, this was the first time they had been off lead together, and given the history and issues of both dogs, you can see it was a wonderful sight. Storm is a very hyperactive and nervous dog, who is constantly aroused and stressed by day to day situations. Scooby on the other hand is a very good stooge dog (hard to believe after being so badly abused by people) and the plan is his calming body language will rub off on his new play mate.


Also in this clip is the two newbies Butch and Kane. Kane is making full use of one of the activity runs, and as you can see is having so much fun doing so.


Then finally there is Brodie doing what he does the best..... (With Duke running Shotgun ha ha)

"Love Replaces Fear....."

A promotional video I made in January 2009, showing some of the dogs we have saved. I love the music, Weight of the World by Editors, the words just seemed right.

"Every little piece of your life will mean something to someone."