Frankie and Bug - More Foster Fun!

The adventure of fostering has continued with Frankie and Bug.

Frankie

Frankie is a wire haired dachshund with a bilateral cleft lip but otherwise very fit and healthy. He was tiny when her first arrived with us and really struggled to settle down, until I swaddled him in my jacket and that was it, he was raring to go from that point on.

Over the weeks we had him he grew from the shy pup in to a really confident dog that loved to play, cuddle with you and was ready for the adventure of his forever home. We loved him dearly but we are so happy he has settled in with his new family that love him so much!

Bug

Bug was a tiny little pug with a small cleft in his palate and so required a little extra care when he first arrived. He quickly settled in and showed his two sides, a really cuddly sleepy pup that loved a shoulder massage and a utter terror who would run around the house screaming while chasing every other pup in the house!

He grew up in to a very gentle dog who was very ready to move on to his new home and has been thriving since!

Diamonds n' Pearls Pet Services Puppy Shoot

What a fun photoshoot!

One of the baby pugs!

While at a gathering at Midlands Cleft Rescue I bumped in to Nikkie, who runs Diamonds n' Pearls Pet Services. She had loved the photos I had been taking of the foster pups for the rescue and asked if I could take some of some of her pups that needed homes. Of course I said yes and then a week later I was taking pictures of their beautiful French bulldogs, their pugs and some of their senior dogs too!

It was so much fun and really pushed me out of my comfort zone, working to calm pups who are unfamiliar with you and then working out their characters and how to show them was brilliant.

I cannot wait for the next shoot!

Midlands Cleft Rescue Support

Strangely, this has come about in a similar way to the calendar for the Next Chapter Rescue. Sadly our pug Lola died in August 2024 and our other dog Pepper really struggled with the loss. We decided to get another dog to keep her company and found Midlands Cleft Rescue, set up by Becci List to take on and help puppies from breeders who don't want or struggle with the cleft lip or palate.

Bella, she has a double cleft lip and is mostly blind in her right eye but is so full of love and life.

These puppies are usually put forward by breeders who don't know how to properly care for them or are unwilling to try and care for them as they would be harder to sell. the rescue then takes the puppies on, providing around the clock care, specialised feeding and any vet visits or treatments required.

We ended up adopting a puppy that no one had applied for and found our Pudding, but this encouraged us to foster other puppies and help them find homes.

First there was Nora (originally Nova). She was an odd pup as she had been given up by an owner who felt they couldn't care for her properly and as such Nora had very little training and had never been on a walk.

The work we did training her and the pictures taken of her made her a very popular dog and she has since found her forever home

Thea came to us to foster just as Nora was ready to leave. Thea had a relatively large cleft palate meaning she needed to be regularly checked for anything that might be stuck in there as it could cause an infection.

She had very little experience of play and had never been on a walk before coming to us but we quickly solved that. She has now found her new family and is happily playing with them and going on loads of adventures!

Through all of this I was regularly photographing these dogs are providing the images to Midlands Cleft Rescue to help advertise them for adoption and it has been agreed that I will work with the rescue as a photographer and I cannot wait to help find more homes for these amazing dogs!