Simone & Ziggy

Ziggy, in one of her rare, still moments.

Hi! I'm Simone. I'm a Psychology student, from Newcastle (Are you noticing a pattern here?). I normally do some blogging over at Lipstick and Long Hair, although I will admit to being a inconsistent blogger over there! I really look forward to blogging over here at Paws For Pups about my pride and joy, my dog.

Tongue out, one step away from post-walk flat out!

I'm the proud owner of a Labrador cross Golden Retriever, named Ziggy. She's 3 years old (Her Birthday is May 28th) and she's been mine since January of 2014. Ziggy was never intended to be a pet dog, she was actually born for a very specific purpose in life; She was born to be a guide dog. Ziggy was also a very special puppy who was named by a couple in Sunderland after their late son, who's nickname was Ziggy. Ziggy has lived her whole life here in the north east, she was puppy walked in Redcar, which is when it was discovered that Ziggy wasn't cut out to be a guide dog. While excellent at her job, when she was working other dogs made her very, very anxious. She started to lie down when she saw other dogs and when she saw her harness come out to wear to work, she would try and hide so she could stay at home. It was decided that Ziggy would be much happier as a pet dog than a working dog, so was withdrawn from guide dog training, and she was rehomed to the couple who had named her. Unfortunately, a few months after living with them, their young grandson developed an awful allergy to dogs, and she needed to find a new home once again. This was how Ziggy became ours, she was rehomed to us by Guide Dogs! it was for a one week trail, and honestly it was like she'd never been anywhere else in her life, she fitted in like she'd never been away from us. We adore her, and she adores us.

Wrapped up in her snake to sleep!

Ziggy is a very, very big dog! she's 36.5kg and pure muscle. She loves to swim, she loves to run and she loves to chase a ball! In fact, she's been known to steal balls from other dogs at the beach or in the park. She's a great lover of mud, anything mucky, and we think she thinks she was born in the wrong body, and that her destiny was actually to be a black labrador, as she's forever covering herself in mud. Her favourite toy (other than a ball!) is an old IKEA cuddly toy snake. She loves to play tug of war with other puppies with it, and wrap herself up in it to play by herself. Her favourite activity of all time though, is swimming. She loves chasing a ball into the water and going for a long swim, she also likes to just go for a dip sometimes, and adores swimming in the doggy pool!

Never have I known a dog to be quite as independent or moody as Ziggy! When she's had enough of the hustle and bustle of family life, she takes herself of to bed, not her bed though, my bed. She takes herself off and goes to lie on her own, she's comfortable in her own company but really loves to cuddle too. She really did complete our family when we got her, and means so much to all of my family.

Simone & Ziggy 

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Rebecca & Maisie

Maisie enjoying the nice weather

Hi, I’m Rebecca and I am a psychology student in Newcastle and I normally blog over on Beneath a Moonless Sky where I talk about everything beauty related and the occasional lifestyle post and I am also a dog owner who is now writing for Paws for Pups.

The day we brought Maisie home

I own a 4 year old West Highland Terrier called Maisie who is a very excitable little Westie, Maisie was born in December 2010 and we brought her home in the February just before my 17^th birthday. We have had Maisie for almost 3 years now and she hasn’t calmed down at all in that time, she is very excitable and she loves to play with her toys especially ones that squeak and she just loves to destroy them she also gets very annoyed when she can’t stop it squeaking.

Before her first hair cut

Maisie is quite a nervous dog though she can get scared by a lot of things mainly things that beep it first started with smoke alarms and now it really isn’t anything the makes a noise she doesn’t really like. She also doesn’t really like long walks we are not sure why but she prefers short walk to the point she will turn around and drag you home. 

Waiting for a walk in the caravan

Her favourite place is sitting in the top of the Sofa where she can look out of the window and watch the world go by which does mean that she does bark quite a lot when we have children playing outside the house. When she is in the caravan she loves lying on the front shelf where she can look out of the front windows.

Rebecca & Maisie

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Rebecca & Poppy

Poppy bounding around the garden at 8 or 9 weeks when
she was first allowed outside of the house

Hi, I'm Rebecca, a Psychology Student from Newcastle, a blogger and dog owner. I usually blog at Polkadot Notebook, a beauty and lifestyle blog that, under varying guises has been running for nearly 4 years. But, with the help of Simone and the other authors here I also write for Paws for Pets now too.

I own a 20 month old black Labrador called Poppy, we got her at the age of 7 weeks old and she has been a valued and loved part of our family ever since. Its hard to work out what I ever did with my time before there was a dog to walk and feed. She really has brightened up my life.

Poppy is far more of a tom boy puppy than she is a girly cuddles puppy, she loves nothing more than a stagnant mud puddle or diving face first into big waves and up extremely muddy banks. I'm honestly amazed she hasn't broken bones yet she dives down banks and jumps off things before we have a chance to stop her with no idea of where she's landing or what she's landing on. She really is full of beans!

She is from working stock, both her mum and her dad are working dogs that go off and retrieve things that their owners have shot on a weekend, and is quite short statured, while shes still a pup we cant see her getting much taller now. But really shes a wonderful height, and with her slim build she is beautifully proportioned, even with her massive Labrador feet. She is so unique in her appearance, while remaining typically Lab though. Her hair is quite curly, and she has been mistaken for poodles, doodles and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and everything in between. Especially on her back legs her fur is almost permed its so thick and curly, but I think she is absolutely stunning for it!

Love this photo of her from the seaside

Her favourite places in the world are the seaside and the fields at the top of the hill near my house. She would happily run around at the seaside climbing and jumping on things until her legs fell off. She isn't phased by anything at all, and is always willing to prove us when we say something is too steep or too high for her. She brightens up life so much with her big cheesy grin and the quirky things she does that makes her, her.

So, as it stands, poppy is 20 months old, about 22 kilo, convinced she is a lap dog so will climb up and sit on your knee if she thinks she can get away with it. She's developed an incredible personality and we have finally found a toy that is so robust that she cannot break it, more on this soon.

Rebecca & Poppy 

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