Mum & Dad…
Andy & Yuls. We live in South East England, we are both fortunate enough to work primarily from home so are able to dedicate a lot of time to our pet family.
Since the Covid lockdown in 2021 we have been working hard on our garden, recovering much of it lost to overgrown trees, shrubs & Ivy that have been left pretty much untouched for 20+ years making it a more useful space and even more dog friendly.
We have rebuilt a nature pond, originally built by my dad who is no longer with us, into a much bigger space which has become a bit of a focal point now, not just for us but the dogs too.
We have also planned for a fenced off area able to sustain a large variety of wild animals including a visiting Hedgehog, Lady Fox, field mice & birds.
Plain & Simple…
Our dogs are not just simply pets to us, they are a part of our family, we understand that some may think this absurd, frankly we don’t care what anyone else thinks, we don’t comment on other peoples lives, not even our kids, or how they live it because that is how they choose to live, this is our life, our choice…
We don’t make excuses for the dog hair on our sofa, nor when Bear won’t stop barking at a visitor even an hour after arriving, yes we let our dogs sleep on our bed if they want too and yes, before all else, our dogs are a priority when we plan to travel, even if only going out for an hour or two… and holidays are a nightmare to arrange!
The history…
Our love of Chihuahuas started 14 years ago…
Having mobility issues I realised that I would never be able to manage a bigger dog, I had in the past had Rottweilers & Boxers, both breeds needed a lot of walks & exercise which at the time was easy for me to do…
When my kids, the youngest at home was 8 years old then, started on at me about getting a dog I jokingly said only if it’s a Chihuahua because they are small and as I would probably end up looking after it I would be able to manage !
The joke backfired, the kids & even my wife, who incedently had never had a pet other than a Rat when she was younger, were all in for a new family addition.
So our story begins back in 2008 when we found Chico, a fawn pup at just 8 weeks old, who at the time of writing this in April 2022 is now nearly 14 years old, blind and deaf, he is in his ‘twilight’ years as the breed have a life expectancy of 14 to 16 years.
A few years after getting Chico we adopted Evie, a little black bundle of joy who’s character has made her the Queen of our household.
In 2013 Evie gave birth to a litter of pups, in this litter came our next addition to the family, Bella (The one & only) who is sadly no longer with us.
In 2014 we had an unexpected pregnancy with Evie, to this day we never knew how as we kept her away from Chico while she was in season, we have our suspicions that our furbie sitter at the time was not so cautious, we would never have considered termination of the pregnancy and having a vet check Evie over to ensure she was in the best of health so as not to endanger her we set about preparing for more furbies.
And so… another pup we kept 🙂 Bear joined the family from the ensuing litter, not that we couldn’t find a home for him because he was wanted by many as he was just so damn cute… You can read more about Bear on his page.
Our World Changed…
Fast forward to November 5th 2021, our world was about to change…
Bella (The one & only) was visiting the vets, Companion Care Vets in Pets At Home Broadstairs, for a dental procedure, we had a call to say all was well after the operation, 45 minutes later we got another call, she had died of heart failure while in recovery, she was just 8 years old…
Only those who have loved and lost a dog know that feeling, and to loose a dog at such an age and so unexpectedly left a hole in our lives that is only understandable by others who have been in the same position.
Realisation…
The void left in our lives after the loss of Bella made us realise just how important a part our dogs played in our lives.
Despite them being so important we soon realised that over the years we had very few photos of our dogs, so few in fact it was hard to admit to ourselves we had neglected to document their lives, should we have done better ?
What Of The Future ?
Since the untimely death of Bella we decided we could and should do more, we now support ‘non kill’ dog shelters, we have adopted Minnie, and added 3 more furbies to the family, Yuki, Tsuki & Bella.
Our plan is to document their integration to our existing family, catching their development & lives in pictures, videos & word.