Well Hello to you all and welcome back. I am so very excited for this blog. May is my favourite time of year and so much has happened already. The gardens are in full bloom, Shady Rest Lounge is developing nicely and we have 2 new joiners. We are loving 2023 already and cannot wait to see what the remaining year has to bring.
Let me tell you more about our 2 new joiners as I am so excited. As you will all know Darren and I are suckers for adopting animals however when we lost Alfie last August at the age of 19 we both said no more. It broke our hearts when we had to say goodbye and we miss him every single day. However, on the 9 April we were made aware of a little black Chihauhua needing a home ASAP. His name is Lewis and he is 5 years old and absolutely adorable. We have never had such a little dog before so Darren went to meet him to see if they 'got along'. Before I knew it, they were both in the car and on their way back home. Both insperable. They literally go everywhere together. Infact Nigel has cost us €500 so far just on new beds, car seats, carry bag, pampering kit, leads, and clothes to keep him warm. He is the most expensive small item we have purchased in a while, but well worth it. He has settled into Finders Keepers almost immediately and is definitely in charge. His hobbies are sleeping whilst snoring very loudly, and eating. We love him so much already and he is looking forward to meeting all of our future guests.
Nigel:
Nigel loves other dogs so we decided to volunteer to become a dog fosterer. This meant opening our doors to dogs who need support and training ready for adoption. So. our second new joiner is Loustic. Loustic is 7, 8 in October. He was listed as a Schweenie, a Shitz shu x Teckel (wire haired Dachshund), however he is much larger than we thought and definitely has some terrier in him, due to his hatred of cats (more on this to follow). 5 days ago we received a call to say there was a little dog that needed a foster home, so off went Darren on a 2 hour journey to collect him. I had everything crossed that the meeting between Nigel and Loustic would be a success, afterall, Nigels safety always comes first. Thankfully it was and they all came back together for the start of a new adventure.
Loustic:
Why foster? Well, Fostering is definately the hardest job we have had to do to date. However we think it will be the most rewarding and will allow us the chance to help more dogs in the adoption process by opening our doors for some rehab. Finders Keepers France is the perfect setting to come and relax and off load all your issues and stresses. Everyone can walk the grounds, relax and heal. People come to meditate, recharge and find themselves, looking to the future and forgetting the past. We want the dogs to have that same opportunity. Loustic has so many hurdels to overcome and so much baggage to off load. His anxiety issues cause him to bark throughout the night, much to Darrens and Nigels delight. He is also not house trained so has overnight acidents. He has had previous trauma to his face resulting in the loss of part of his nose and top lip. However; his main issue which we are having a job to correct is cats. Loustic hates cats so much and would do anything to get to one, which has been rather stressful due to four rescues also living with us. Sadly, due to this we will not be able to keep Loustic longer than we have to as it is certainly not fair for Dumpy, Sunflower, Ginger and Frank, plus we have to think of his safety. We have lots of work to do with this little one to get him ready to be adopted by his forever family.
Despite all of his little quirks Loustic remains such a loving little chap. He enjoys cuddles on the sofa and lots of strokes. He enjoys just sitting at your feet and watching. It is only week 1 and this morning we woke up to a dry floor and there was no attempt to try to escape the house. His overnight anxiety remains however I am sure over the next 4 weeks this will reduce as he settles. I will keep you updated of his developments and hopefully adoption over the next few weeks. Wish him and us luck.
Well this was just a quick one to introduce you to Nigel and Loustic.
Enjoy the heat wave everyone and stay safe
A bientôt
Paula, Darren, Nigel and Loustic