Carbón's Big Adventure (aka Labratour Part IV)

@Aitch I didn't think for one moment anyone was trying to push me into getting another dog My life would be very poor without my present Lab, he is the only thing that keeps me going and happy, life would be such a boor (bore!) without him.

 

Ok, after nearly a week of feeling pants (thank you UK people for this amazing and useful expression), I'm going to try to catch up with this thread. I'm back at Kate's at Beanwood and Carbon and I are enjoying the comfy sofas together, so as the wind whistles outside, I'll read through all the comments.



A short (ha ha) aside on the current events. Kate generously offered me lodging at Beanwood while she is having a hopefully wonderful doggie weekend break. While I offered to take care of her birds, I have no idea what I'm doing, so Kate and Marcus set it up that essentially I have to do practically nothing with the birds and they will be safe.

Yesterday afternoon I made the rounds and noticed that one of the pens was open, when I thought they were all meant to be closed. I waited until dusk when the chickens put themselves to bed. Did you know chickens put themselves to bed? They are very practical! Once I saw them in their enclosure and set for the evening, I shut down the electric fence as Kate had shown me and walked through the gate and closed it behind me as I didn't want Carbon following me into the birds' area. I checked to make sure no birds were still out and latched their enclosure door. "Easy peasy! I'm good at this farmy thing!", I thought to myself.

As I made my way back to the main gate, Remy and Carbon were waiting together just outside. Yes, in the absence of Benson, Bramble and Casper, Remy has become Carbon's new best friend. Weird, but who am I to question these things. Anyway, as I opened the electric fence to get out of the birds' area, Remy dashed past me. Oh no! I certainly can't leave him in there and activate the electric fencing. But if I don't activate the fencing, the birds aren't safe.

First, I put Carbon back in the house, as I didn't need the two of them running around the birds' area. Then I gently tried to herd Remy out of the gate. No dice. He'd go sideways, backwards, but no way was he going towards the gate. Yes, I could have picked him up, but I've been told - and seen evidence of - him biting enough times that there was NO WAY I was picking him up. So I walked back to the house and - apologies to Kate and to Remy's dignity - got a broom. Back into the enclosure and I gently 'swept' him out. I think the only reason he complied was that he was so shocked that I would dare herd him about with a lowly broom. The look on his face was sheer haughty indignation!

But he moseyed his way out of the birds' area and I was able to close the gate and switch on the electrification. Safe birdies again! Whew!

And since I'm on the subject of the electric fence (yes, I know that this is NOT a short aside anymore), @Naya and Harley came for a lovely visit yesterday (photos and more on that later) and while Naya did most of the ball throwing, I demonstrated why I really should't be allowed to throw anything, least of all a ball. I'd been throwing the ball for Carbon and Harley in the same boring direction, so to switch it up, I chucked it in another direction. Yay!

Then with absolute horror, I watched as the ball rolled right to the base of the electric fence with Carbon bounding enthusiastically after it. Luckily Harley was well behind him, but poor Carbon skidded to a stop, scooped up the ball and promptly got whacked by the fence on his nose. It all kind of happened in slow motion...nothing to do against it but watch it unfold and feel like the worst human on earth.

A loud yelp and running like the wind followed. Carbon was shaken up and didn't want to touch the ball again at first, but Naya was great in helping gently reintroduce the ball positively and within minutes he and Harley were at it once again. But poor baby!



OK, that was my short aside, on with reading the comments I've missed the last week...

Thanks, this was really interesting! It is a shame they no longer exist in NZ. It's really amazing what they use the structures for in northern Spain. I've even seen them offered as Airbnb accommodations, though I imagine getting up into one after an evening out may be a bit challenging.

 

Thought I'd pop this into a separate post. It's VERY late notice at this point and I really apologize, but I'm around tomorrow (Bristol area) if anyone wants to do a pack walk. I know @Rosie and Pongo and the @Beanwood crew can't make it - and the weather may not be amenable - but just throwing the idea out there if anyone else would like to meet up.

 

You’re back! Thank you for yet another laugh-a-minute post. Oh that poor Carbon, but glad he got over the ball shock.

 

Can you believe I didn't get a Carrefour until the very last night in France, in Calais? But I did have a hot meal in Angers at the retirement home...that was divine. I may have already said, but I was absolutely enamoured of that retirement home as a hotel stop. They even had an underground parking garage which meant I could take Paul and Carbon straight up the lift to our room without having to stop in the lobby. THAT was important as Paul had taken to weeing in the hallways of hotels, so I had to carry him the whole time from the car to the room, just in case he got any funny ideas.

The only awkward moment in Angers was taking them out for their last wee. I thought the lobby would be quiet at 10:30pm and it was the easiest way out to the lawn area, so I took them down that way. In fact, they were having some sort of social gathering with a massive table of food laid out. I had to walk Carbon right past it and his nose was practically in the canapés! But they were so nice about it when I asked if there wasn't another door I could use. "Just go on through, it doesn't matter if he gets one". Now THAT'S dog friendly.

For me, if I never ever see another packet of crisps again, it will be too soon. I'm planning my trip back today and am actually thinking of stretching out the trip simply so I can rent little places with kitchens so that I can have a hot meal at the end of each day.

On the bright side, I've been 100% cured of my salt and vinegar crisp addiction. Berk.

 

Going back in time to last Saturday, can you believe they stopped us at the Eurotunnel for three hours because the shelter vet didn't have his phone number included on his official stamp for the rabies vaccination? Ugh. So we arrived at the check in centre at 6:30am for our 7:50am crossing time. But then we had to wait until the vet in Calais opened at 8am, then get both dogs checked over and their passports re-stamped, then back tot he check in centre, then another check and wait while our crossing was re-scheduled. Then another wait until a supervisor arrived to waive the additional EUR170 for the increased crossing cost. By the time we boarded the train we were three hours late, then hit London traffic in full bloom, so nearly five hours late rolling into Beanwood.

However, we were the lucky ones as they turned away SO many people with pets with Spanish and Italian passport while we were sitting there. I really think my ability to sweet talk the lady in French and look suitably desperate was the only thing that got us the workaround that was offered. Because the solution itself - having a French vet stamp his phone number over the Spanish vet's name to verify it - made no logical sense whatsoever. And honestly I didn't mind the delay so much as long as I knew we'd get across SOMETIME that day.

But yeesh...so much for a 'simple' crossing.

Once in the actual train, Paul thought it was rather cool that he could finally sit on my lap and hang his head out the window while we were 'driving'. The people who got out of their cars and walked by our car kept laughing at him, because he really looked like he thought he was helping drive. Carbon, being Carbon, just grunted and then slept through the whole thing.

 

Actually Paul ended up doing better than Carbon, who felt the need to baptise Kate's lovely curtains and her leather couch. Paul had one little wee but otherwise caught on very quickly that Beanwood has a gigantic garden that is perfect for weeing. And for hunting chickens!

Paul (Vizzy)'s new family haven't told me anything about his weeing, but I'm going to assume no news is good news. By the second day at Kate's he's completely gotten over his 'wee anywhere' habit from the road trip, so let's hope he's 'cured'.

Oh, and apparently Vizzy has even been down to the pub with now doggie sister Polly and was (and I quote) "very well behaved". Happy news!

 

Oh yes, I need to do this, thank you for reminding me. I don't think they are very 'online-y' types, but you never know. I would love to see some updates here, too. They posted a video on FB which I shared on my own page, but Kate and I were trying to figure out how to get it to the Forum. She may have already posted it further down on the thread (I'm going through everything chronologically) but if not, you can see it on my page here:

https://www.facebook.com/emily.horch.98

It's a clip of Vizzy and Polly playing together.

 

Erm I’m sorry to break it to you, but there’s no cure. You only *think* you’ve been cured.

 

Anyone had these? Best crisps ever. I eat the share bag every time

 

Thank you again to everyone for your kind words and encouragement - it really has meant so much to me to have such a supportive group to share this whole experience with. It's been a rough few months for me and while the rough bit isn't over yet, Paul's adoption coming on the heels of what turned out to be a rather epic car trip and some other personal things that came up during the trip all kind of threw me for a loop even more than I had expected it would.

And at the risk of getting TOO mushy, may I say again how grateful I am in general to the Forum. This is pretty much my only social media (I use FB sparingly and begrudgingly) but I really don't feel anymore that there is 'cyber anything' about the Forum. Point in fact, during the last week where I've been laying low on the Forum, I've actually gotten to visit with someone from the Forum nearly every day, which has been both a pleasure and a huge help to my morale.

So pat yourselves on the back, because you all are the best!

 

I would love that!

OK, yeah, you're probably right about that! But it's gonna be a while, let's just put it that way.

Nope, not even tempted at this moment. Just the sound of a crisp bag makes me go a little wonky in the tummy area.

 

We've got a family christening Sunday, but I'm around on Monday if you're still here.

 

I just got a PM from Kate asking if we wanted to meet up at Beacon View on Monday around lunchtime. I started a separate thread as I thought it might be easier to organise that way: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/sw-walkies-this-monday-18th.24187/

So if Monday would work for you, that would be great.

 

Truer words... Paul's adoption definitely took a village.

This is a good opportunity to explain "Paulgate" as well, for those who haven't heard it.

From the first day I met Carbon, I contacted Kate @Beanwood and we started hatching his liberation plan. It took a lot of effort all around - especially on Kate's side here in the UK - and I jumped the gun a little in getting Carbon out of the shelter, but after about six weeks we had a pretty solid plan.

And then there was Paul.

I never really had a plan for Paul, but at the same time I couldn't imagine driving away to the UK with Carbon and leaving Paul in the shelter. I thought that once I had a couple weeks with only Carbon and got him housetrained and some basic house-living manners taught, I could take Paul for a few days here and there. My friend Miracle Miry the rescue expert helped by posting info on Paul along with my photos and videos to every Bodeguero rescue in Europe that she knew. I ran across a new rescue on FB called Bodeguero UK and told them about Paul as well.

Meanwhile the very first day that I brought Carbon home for good, there was a huge thunderstorm. Even though Paul and Carbon had been in the outdoor kennels for their whole lives, I just couldn't stand the thought of Paul's first night without Carbon being so miserable weather-wise. So I took both of them home. Paul stayed for three days, then I brought him back to the shelter. It was hard. He loved all the toys that I had bought for Carbon and was SO happy playing with them and sleeping on the sofa. Though it is a good shelter, it is still 20 hours a day in a concrete block with food, water, a plastic bed and a couple pieces of donated old clothing for bedding. It is functional and clean, but sad nonetheless.

The next time I came to the shelter a few days later, it was for a medical scare with Carbon. The vet called Paul into the examining room and he went wild. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that," I said, "Now he knows we're here and will be sad when we leave." "Are you kidding?" said the vet. "We know five minutes before you get here because Power (Paul) knows the sound of your car from 2 kms away."

That day I couldn't take him home because I had another vet appointment for Carbon that night and knew I couldn't take Paul with us or leave him alone in the house. But I promised them I'd come the next day and pick him up for a few days. He never went back to the shelter again.

But what was I going to do with him? That was the big question. All those FB contacts and yet nothing had happened. The following weekend, Miry came over to my place to visit Garfield, my foster cat that she'd placed with me. While there, she got a call from her contact at a German Bodeguero rescue group: Paul had been picked for foster in the Munich area. Could we transport him there? I was in tears with relief and happiness, giving Miry a huge hug. She had told me that this rescue had a great reputation and I could bring him straight to his new foster and he'd be only an hour's drive away from home in Regensburg...perfect!

However, over the next few weeks, we learned it was anything but perfect from my own point of view. First I learned that I was not allowed to know who or where the fosterer was. We asked for an exception as I'd been fostering Paul, waited a week for the answer, but in the end it wasn't granted. If I drove him, I'd need to leave him with an unknown person at a stop along the motorway. Then we were told that he would be flown instead and asked me to bring him to the airport.

The representative of the German group came to my house to drop off the crate for the air transport. She was loud and brusk with both Paul and Carbon and scared Paul, then criticised him for being too shy. She told me that she'd not even put through the request that I could share my contact info with the new foster home in Germany because 'that's not the way we do it and I control all contact." When I asked to know whom I was meeting at the airport for his transport, I was told I was not allowed the person's name or contact info, but was simply to stand at the airline counter with Paul and wait.

Finally, when I asked how they manage the dog's transport into the plane as the takeoff was scheduled for the hottest point of the day, she told me, "It's better that he dies in the transport than in the shelter, isn't it?".

I was gobsmacked... and wanted to murder her on the spot despite Miry telling me afterwards that she must have just been making a bad joke. Despite this very unpleasant encounter, I'd been told this was the very best opportunity for Paul and wanted to do what was being asked of me. I recruited a friend to come with me to the airport for moral support, but I simply couldn't imagine leaving Paul there. I didn't know how I'd manage it.

Four days before Paul was meant to travel, I got a message from the UK organization that someone had posted interest via his advert on Dogsblog. "I think it's too late," I told them, "Even though I'm sick about it".

Well, never say never. Through a flurry of FB messages, phone calls and face-to-face meetings between 4pm (when the Dogsblog notice had come in and 2am, a lot of tears were shed, voices were raised and hair was pulled.

The end result? Germany was cancelled and I'd agreed to drive Paul to his new home in the UK. Talk about fate turning on a dime.

My friend Miry was, with every right, very very upset. The German woman who'd come to my house was angry. I didn't give a flying fig about the German woman, but making Miry so upset broke my heart. On the other hand, I finally could breathe a sigh of relief about Paul.

The next morning, I had to face the music at the shelter. I fully expected them to be angry as well and maybe even try to take Paul away from me. However, they couldn't have been nicer and more delighted with the way it all came out. That day I formally adopted both Paul and Carbon...and you know the rest of the story. Oh, except the fact that I wrangled Kate into doing the home check for the UK Bod rescue...thank you again Kate!

After giving it a lot of thought, I don't think I could have let him go at the airport. I think I would have tried my best, but then bolted and ran with him. So at the end of the day, it all worked out the way it was meant to do...and without me having to resort to dognapping!

 

Playing catch up today and onwards - I've got so many photos! I'll share them in bits and bobs.

 

No, I was running around Bristol and Cornwall like a chicken with no head (apologies to Kate's lovely chickens).

In the words of @snowbunny , if there are no photos, it didn't happen...so I need to catch you all up on the Labratour. Good use of this blustery day in Bristol!

 

@Emily_BabbelHund, I have so enjoyed reading your long post and can so understand how you must have felt at the thought of leaving Paul at the airport.

I think we are now one big family on the Labrador Forum

 

I've been posting videos like mad this afternoon, so here are the first few of Paul/Vizzy's first meeting with doggie sibling Polly. As Kate mentioned in an earlier post, the two didn't show much interest in each other at first and I, for one, was kind of holding my breath and wondering if this was all going to work.

It was Kate's Bramble to the rescue, however, as she handled the role of doggie therapist to perfection. Soon Polly was herding the two, then outright romping along with them. It was particularly touching as Polly's humans told us that this was the first time Polly had played since their older dog had passed away a month prior.

I was feeling a bit dodgy about the whole thing before this play session happened, then it all clicked into place and I stopped worrying...Paul was now Vizzy and it was going to be alright.







And then a last video of Vizzy playing with Polly when I brought him to his new family later that evening.

 

Wow! Wonderful videos. Happy tears here. Vizzy is such a live wire, full of joy to be home. Well done again.