Well thought it was about time I gave you an update on how this “old hound” is getting along, for those of you who don’t remember Pluto, a little bit of his history.  Pluto as far as we know he had been kept on a remote property in Ireland on a chain, before he was rescued and brought over to live at Poplar Farm, so not a town dog at all.

 first saw him on a visit down to Poplar Farm to meet Dave and Rachel. As I don’t do Christmas too well a friend suggested that I spend the Christmas holidays helping Dave and Rachel with the many dogs at Poplar Farm.  Well I don’t believe in love at first sight, that was until I met Pluto.

Christmas was a very rewarding time, and as much as I met lots of dogs and loved them all, one chap just took my heart.  I suppose I fought this feeling for a while as I was not looking to have a dog in my life.

Life was not being that kind to me and after a really bad time and feeling very low, I went down to see Dave and Rachel, in the hope that the Poplar Farm magic would rub off  on me and things would get better.   Well life got a lot better, with the help of a few of Pluto’s friends, I changed my mind about not wanting a dog in my life and he got a new home, yep I am sure that he put them up to it.

At Easter I went down to see Dave and Rachel  and as my current job had just ended I thought this was a good time to bring Pluto to Rugby as I would have a bit of time to get him settled before I went back to work.

Here started Pluto’s new life, not being used to cars, he was bundled into the back of the Astra (heavy dog) and away we went.  The A14 was an experience for both of us, Pluto didn’t like the big nasty lorries and I was worried about the future.  Living in Rugby, quite close to the cement works, big lorries were something that Pluto was going to have to get used to and he didn’t seem to be coping very well at the moment.

We arrived safely in Rugby, and  I took him for a stroll down the road to stretch his legs and do what all dogs have to do after a journey, well he spotted a cat and went mad, barking and trying to chase it.  Not a good start, as I have an elderly cat called Moggs who has lived with me for the last 12 years and has been more than a little spoilt. 

Now I was a little concerned that the cat may not be dog trained but if I could get the dog to ignore the cat, there was possibly hope, but Pluto was not ignoring this cat and if he could he would have been off in a flash. Although he had learnt to ignore Sherlock (the stunt cat at Poplar Farm) he was not ignoring this one!

Well the first few weeks were an education for us both, I had fallen head over heels in love and the thought of not being able to keep Plu was not something that I didn’t want to think about. 

Pluto is one smart dog, like Moggs many years ago he could see the words “big soft mug” written on my forehead and if he had to live with this cat and put up with these big terrible orange monsters every morning and evening, well so be it, he was enjoying the walks that followed once we got over the main road.

He soon got used to his car, but on the first trip out he did wonder where he was going and was a little suspicious.  Well we went for a nice walk around Ryton Pools then it was back in the car and another journey, now where were we going?  Arriving home he went in the house still wondering where he was, he had a good look around and he went mad, barking and running around wagging his tail, and eventually collapsed in his bed for a well earned snooze.  Perhaps he likes it here after all.

Well he has been learning lots since he has come to Rugby, we enrolled in a doggy training class. He was green and didn’t understand what I was saying to him and I was rusty, as it has been quite a few years since I have had a dog to take care of.

We have both been learning lots. He has been learning what “sit” and “down” mean, and what pig’s ears and chews are all about, big lorries he doesn’t even turn a hair now, and Moggs is his best mate. As for the cats next door well they are fair game, at least they can run fast. I have been learning what my life has been missing for a long time.  I can’t imagine my life without him now, and although he has only been with me about 12 weeks it feels like he has been here forever, I think I may have just found my forever friend.