Thought we'd you on our cheeky little Staffy Bruar, who we adopted from you at the beginning of August 2010. He is, as you quite rightly described, a "great all round dog".
 
The trip home was filled with his staffy gargles of excitement and his new daddy got plenty of staffy kisses all the way home to Gloucester! He started by making us smile and has continued to do so every day - what can we say, he is just a lovable clown. Most mornings start with him bringing us a present - this can be anything to hand from a shoe to his new favourite toy; the nylabone (don't worry he still loves balls, just the only one that has stood up to his level of "love" is the kong ball!). He rarely stops wagging his tail and has, what we call "happy feet" he can barely stay still for any time at all and dances around.
 
Bruar, true to his breed, is incredibly enthusiastic and willing to learn and nailed housetraining within days - we literally had two accidents in the house! OK so it was really hard work settling him in – the first two weeks I swear he must have thought we changed his name to “no”! He also wasn’t keen on letting us out of eyesight so we worked hard on leaving the house lots of times and ignoring him until he was calm which worked a treat. He has slowly mellowed and settled down into our routine and after two months he has become an amazing dog. On top of sit (which I assume the hardworking staff at gawa taught him) so far he has learned down, paw, leave it and we are working on recall, which is very good in the house and garden. He absolutely loves his cuddles and has learned to copy Voodoo (our other rescue staffy) by coming and resting his head on your leg whilst doing 'puppy eyes' in order to be invited up on the sofa.
 
Bruar loves running and makes a great running partner so we hope to bring both dogs along to the next gawa 'jogs for dogs' event. Within days he was walking beautifully on a collar and lead and we can walk both dogs in one hand easily and often get stopped by people to compliment us on beautifully behaved dogs (most are surprised when they hear they are both rescues). The kids on our street love him and he enjoys getting a fuss from them and is perfectly behaved in the company of children.
 
We just took a long weekend break in Devon and both dogs had a fantastic time starting with a bus ride along the Jurassic coast which Bruar loved (he dragged me onto the bus like he had done it a million times before gargling with excitement!) and an all day coast walk back to the cottage. Here are some pics of Bruar, the first few were taken the first day we got him after about 4 hours walking he finally settle down to destroy a ball. The rest are from the weekend holiday, enjoying holiday treats and getting his first glimpse of the sea (I’m sure you remember how much he loves water!) We are sad to see that so many of his staffy kennel partners are still looking for their forever homes. We hope our story will encourage more people looking to bring a new dog into their lives open their hearts to one of the many Staffies in need. They truly are the most loyal and trusting dogs, always ready to give humans a second chance however they’ve been treated.
 A big thank you for bringing Bruar into our lives, we know how hard everyone at the shelter works for the dogs and we wouldn’t have found our perfect bundle of slobbery kisses without you all.

My name's Poppy! Although I was a little timid to begin with, I am now brimming with confidence. I have cuddles and strokes on tap and I absolutely love meal times! Yum Yum! The neighbourhood cats aren't a problem, I just sway my bushy tail at them and they don't bother me at all! I haven't quite figured out how to use the hole in the door that daddy fitted, but mummy has cleverly propped the flap open for now, so that at least I can come and go as I please.

When I'm home alone I love to bounce around on the big bed and sink into the feather duvet. It's just divine! I didn't think anyone knew about this but then the other day I got caught, and on camera too! Check it out! LOL!! :) I enjoy a good chat with anything that moves and am currently trying to beat my record of how many times I can race up and down the stairs in one minute! This also acts as a great way of getting my mummy's attention for breakfast in the morning (nothing wakes daddy).

Thank you so much for letting my mummy and daddy adopt me. I'm having so much fun and can't imagine life without them.

Love from Poppy xxx

Sending you a brief update on Ollie and Tillie since offering them a new home during the summer (2010) - we've certainly got a pair of extremely loveable cats on our hands. The rules were laid down right from the off - we put them to bed in the utility after four hours of acclimatisation and awoke to find that they had bashed their way through the locked cat flap and were nowhere to be seen! After an extremely fraught day - visiting neighbours, getting the village to keep their eyes open - up they stroll, not a care in the world, at 10pm the following night - grrrrr. Great - we were not going to need to worry about them again.
 
Boy have they settled in - having eventually confirmed that they are brother and sister (their noses were giving it away) - they charge around scrapping in between sleeping and demanding their bowls be filled. Oh and watch out if your trying to do anything interesting like read a magazine or send a text as you're going to get sat on!
 
It's certainly been different since Ollie and Tillie arrived. We get greeted every evening by Ollie meowing loudly as he stands at the open car door and then proceeds to flop in front of you as you zig zag to the front door. Tillie on the other hand just enjoys purring lots and coming over for a gentle nuzzle and fuss - who are we to refuse.
 
They're certainly very happy and so are we - apart from when we send them off to the utility for the night - we have never seen a cat with such a grumpy face before.

My name is Woody and I thought I would let you know how I am getting on in my new home… I went to my new family in the village of Burford not knowing what to expect but very excited about my new life…. At first I was a bit of a handful, I didn’t like going near anybody who I had never seen before, but after a bit of reassurance that everyone in the human world is friendly I am okay… The first surprise for me when I arrived at my new home was a big white cockatoo parrot called Nismo. We took a few days to become acquainted but we are now the bestest friends in the world… I love my new daddy more than anything in the world and I get very sad when he leaves me so I go EVERYWHERE with him!! I have a lovely big garden to play and a bike trailer that my dad pimped for me to get towed around, I’m not quite used to that though. The love of my life is a wonder dog called Scruffy and my mission in is to play fetch with her. She lives in Carterton and so far I have managed to escape as far as the A40 but my dad and big sis are on to me and have started to reinforce my garden. I have secretly been watching Madagascar whilst they are at work to get some tips of the penguins. I think I have managed to fool them into thinking I am nothing more than a simple tail chasing, carpet chewing mutt, but I have to perform a few more silly stunts to convince my big sis as she has almost as many brains as me and might catch on to my plan…  For now, I bide my time, Scruffy is a play mate worth waiting for, until then, I can only dream of the day I see her…..

We thought it would be nice to give you a further update on Tia (previously known as Jazzy).
 
Tia, is without a doubt a character and a bundle of affection and joy.  Tia is really building up in confidence and with that, comes more surprises!.  Tia has a naturally playful temperament, she provides us with constant amusement.
Walk time is especially interesting, she is a very clever dog and a very quick learner, she appears to have a built in body clock.  Between 8.30 - 9.30pm, Tia speaks to us and taps us on the feet whil pointed her head to the door, as if to say..."come on, I'm ready, why aren't you!"  Last night Tia went to pick up a top and pass it to us, again to say..."can you please get ready so we can go out".
 
We were informed that Tia would run away if she was let off the lead.  Tia has learnt to trust us, with that she has rewarded us by returning upon command, she is very obedient in every way.  Tia loves the beach and is a great cricket fielder, she is brilliant at fetching back the balls.  Tia is also friendly with other dogs, she still barks at some dogs when on the lead, however as soon as she is let off the lead she bounds over and plays. 
 
As you can see from the pictures, Tia loves nothing more than to relax and stretch out.  Tia is a wonderful loyal companion and friend.  Tia snuggles up to us on the sofa and loves her fuss.  Tia's built in alarm also wakes us in the morning, she puts her front paws on the bed and gives us a gentle nudge, as soon as she wakes us she goes downstairs and falls asleep on the sofa...what a cheek!!
 
Tia does have her own individuality and with that comes her own interests and hobbies.  Tia particle likes gardening, her favourite kind of gardening is in the vegetable patch.  Tia loves nothing more than to dig up the potatoes and lettuce.  Tia eats the lettuce after all her hard work digging it out she feels it's such hard work, it has given her more of an appetite, as for the potatoes, they are kindly left on the top for easy location.  Like I said, Tia is very intelligent and realises that lettuce can count towards her 5 a day balanced diet.
 
Tia had a sad start in life with 5 previous homes, we've had her since the end of June 2010 and to this very day, we can't understand why no one wanted her.  Our home would be a loss without her, Tia makes our house a home.
 
We will keep you posted on Tia's progress.  There is so much more I could mention that causes us to laugh and smile. 
 
Ian and I would like to thank all those at the shelter who looked after Tia (Jazzy) while she was there waiting for someone to come along and love her.  We would like to say a special thank you to Debbie (who has her brother Toby), Debbie has looked after Tia and helped us when we needed it.

 Ian and Fiona, and our Tia

At first Peppy was proving the be a bit of a handful for us, he had a serious case of 'man ears' when it came to him listening to us when we had to tell him off! After some long discussions with the family we decided that we need to persevere with him and we are so glad we did. He loves going out to play in our garden, the hedgehogs are entertaining him! He loves to play ball in the local dog walking field and he has made alot of doggy friends large and small. Peppy may be a bit confused as every one that meets him calls him 'handsome'!! Peppy loves to sit out in the garden first thing on a morning with me,he waits until i have my coffee then lets me know its breakfast time with a big lick!! He has had a couple of 'accidents' in the house but other than that he is very good at doing his business out side. We took him to Leeds a week ago and he met my sisters dog and they played for hours, and now he thinks the van we drove up in is his kennel! he loves to sit in the back while Paul is working in the garage. We are all very happy to have Peppy as part of our family, Thankyou!!

Kerri & Paul

Just to drop a line to let you know how Bailey "the collie" is getting on. He has settled down really well and is now a member of our family. He has adapted really well to our home and follows me around everywhere I go! (can be a problem everytime I use the bathroom).
Last weekend we took him camping in north wales, which he loved! but for a sheep dog he is not a massive fan of sheep, as he decided to hide behind my legs! but he did seem to enjoy the welsh hills.
 
Anyways a big thank you from me and my family.
 
kind regards 
 
steve and bailey  "woof"

We adopted our cat DJ from the shelter about a year ago. At the time we chose DJ because we wanted to give an older cat a nice retirement home but we quickly realised that DJ still had all the spirit and character of a young cat! He’s extremely talkative and loyal and will sit in the window waiting for me to come home after work each day. This is the first time that we have adopted a pet from the shelter and I had assumed that a rescue pet would be timid and nervous, however we needn’t have worried as DJ settled into the family very quickly. He can be very particular and set in his ways, especially when it comes to food and places to sleep,  but DJ has without doubt helped to make our first house feel like a proper home.
Rachel & Simon