Barty

This is our new charge Barty.  He is about seven, a lurcher/whippet cross and the most adorable little dog.  He arrived from Ireland recently and the Dogs Trust contacted us to see if we'd like to look after him over Christmas.  How could we refuse?!

He is terribly underweight so the first thing we need to do other than bathe and care for a couple of cuts which he obviously got whilst being used as a working dog (hare coursing?) is to feed him up.  He has now been with us for 24 hours and has already calmed down a lot.  He had to have his twice weekly shampoo today and was so patient because we had to leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes before rinsing, and he just stood there in the bath so calmly.  Like our last foster dog he hasn't spent much time (if any) in a house before!  However, no accidents to date! 

In the new year, when he has gained sufficient weight, he will have "the snip" and be put up for re-homing.  Of course we are tempted to keep him (we always are) but that defeats the object of what we are trying to do to help all these poor lost souls.  He is going to see the Dogs Trust vet tomorrow so we will just make sure that the cut on his right cheek is doing OK.  Barty is a really sweet dog, very gentle, highly intelligent, eats for England and never complains.

In the extra, taken on his walk this afternoon (wearing Holly's coat!) you can see all the little "battle scars" on his face.