It is with a huge pleasure in this post that I introduce Ziggy to you!

Ziggy joined Dream Catcher’s boat crew (i.e. myself and Peter) a month ago after a stint in confinement at the dog home. She’s been taking a little while to settle in (hence wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to commit to being introduced to you) but now says ‘yes’ she feels ready for this next big step in getting to know her new world.

Here is a very sad photos of her at the dog home – you can see how much happier she is now.

And here is a photo of me checking out that I could lift her, as we knew  that with Dream Catcher’s near vertical steps out of the saloon, we needed to be able to lift her into the cockpit.

It’s so sad to think that someone could surrender such a beautiful dog.  She has a lovely, sweet nature and loves all people and other dogs too.

She’s 20 months old, but hasn’t been trained before, so last Monday I’ve been working with a professional trainer (as I’ve never had a dog before and hadn’t a clue where to start!) on the doggie basic – walking to heel, loose lead walking, coming to call, stay etc .

All of these are important for us because Peter wants to be able to take her to work with him, and with his reduced mobility (following his paragliding accident) he needs to be assured that she is not going to run off (as he won’t be able to run and catch her) and that she will walk with him at his slower pace.

Our one major challenge at the moment is that car journeys freak her out (even though we always go to fun places) – maybe in the past she’s had a bad experience or only ever been taken to the vet – who knows.  Once again we’re working with the trainer on this, trying to make the car a fun place to be around, with lots of games – of course involving food treats 🙂

The other thing we haven’t covered yet is learning to play the guitar, so we’ll have to get onto that soon too ?!

Until next time, take care

Laini xx