Visiting Santa without the kids. Christmas with Pets in Dubai.

When in Dubai.........

And why not? I say.

Since leaving school I've made friends via the work place and through having kids. But when you relocate from one country to another and your kids are all grown up and you don't work, then how do you make friends?

Well you join clubs/groups/attend coffee mornings. But that's not my style. In South Africa I did volunteer work and met the most amazing people and made life long friends. In Dubai, I took my dog out and about and met people. I even spent a year teaching in FS1 in an Arabic school after meeting a woman out walking her dog in the desert.

As my husband works away a lot and spends the days in the office talking to people he likes to come home in the evenings and switch off, me? I like to quite literally chew his ear off out of boredom, so Bob and I go out and join Dog groups, meet people, explore new places and generally have fun.

This is our 4th Christmas in Dubai and they do Christmas here big in all the malls and shops and as well as catering for all nationalities they also cater for our 4 legged friends. Bob and I attend Valentines lunches and Halloween parties and we love nothing better than a visit to Father Christmas.

We have 2 events this year. A secret Santa and swimming session at Dog Walk this coming weekend and last weekend we visited Santa at Paw Parking.

Oh and on Thursday Bob and I are going for a spa day. I'm off to have a manicure and pedicure ready to see John Bishop in the evening and brunch on Friday, while Bob is off for a grooming session at Paw Parking for the day.

And don't forget the cat. Pushkins joins in with Christmas also.

I'm pleased to say she doesn't mess around with the tree or the presents, but she did attack and eat half the contents of her advent calendar when left unsupervised.

3 reasons why you should foster a dog

There were a few tears a few weeks ago, in fact there were quite a lot of tears.

Rory went on trial in her potential forever home and I was sad to say goodbye, I was sad at home for the rest of the evening especially when her new family kept sending me photo's to show me how well she was settling.

Sadly 6 days later the call came to collect Rory, due to a variety of reasons it just didn't work out.

Rory had the potential to be a foster fail, when you fall in love with a dog and just decide to keep them as part of your family. Rory can't stay with us and will be returned to over full kennels on Sunday.

Rory is only the 3rd dog I've fostered and the agreement with DAWS is that I only have the dogs for short periods of time and I do all I can to help them find their forever home, socialising them with my dog Bob, giving them experience of being around a cat and focusing on toilet and crate training, walking on a lead and learning simple commands such as sit, stay and down.

My only qualification in dog training is having my own rescue dog who was badly treated and mistrusting of humans when we adopted him in South Africa, 4 years ago and trial and error.

Bonnie was an expensive dog to foster after she chewed through my laptop cable as was her brother Clyde chewed our furniture. Both Bonnie and Clyde needed a lot of work around toilet habits and there was quite a lot of unpleasant clearing up to do. Rory destroyed my favourite flip flops and would chance her luck running off with cushions, she was also car sick on longer journeys, but it was worth clearing up the mess in the car seeing how happy she was to walk in the desert and splash in the lakes with Bob.

Bonnie (top) Clyde (below)

All 3 dogs have had me awake at night for the first few nights, barking or not settling and there have been a few food related fights with Bob which have been quite frightening. But all 3 dogs, calmed, settled, learnt to pee and poop outside.

So far it just sounds like a lot of hard work and expense, but as a family there have definatley been great benefits for us all.

1. I've met more people, made friends, gained great satisfaction from seeing the first two dogs going off with their forever humans, there has been great satisfaction through basic training and seeing how quickly these dogs have learnt, there has been lots of love, cuddles and endless kisses. Although I've had to ask my husband to add the word dog to the end of his sentence when we've been in the garden and he's yelled 'stop licking me' I've no idea what our neighbours thought was going on.
2. My husband and I have both gone out for walks with the dogs in the evening, rather than taking it in turns to go on our own with Bob. Our cat has become far more tolerant and is less jumpy around new dogs, but the greatest benefit has been to Bob.
3. Bob, despite his age of 7, is very energetic, he is also very social and is extremely well behaved. I can honestly say in the 4 years he's lived with us, we've never had any problems, but he does have two areas of behaviour that fostering has helped sort out. It's not just the foster dogs that have benefitted from staying with, but our own dog also.

Walking on lead
Bob pulls none stop when walking on a lead, we've tried a harness, choke chain, normal collar and have settled with a martingale collar. Bob has really slowed down walking now and no longer pulls after the first few minutes, unless of course he sees a stray cat.

Eating
Bob doesn't eat his food, he inhales it, he never chews anything and eats it within a few seconds, we've tried special dishes etc and nothing worked. He has been eating much better since Rory has been around, chewing every few mouthfuls and no longer trying to knock the bowl out my hand as I place it on the floor.


Meet Rory.

Urgent Foster home needed for Rory. She is 18 months old, an English Staffordshire Terrier, she must stay somewhere with a garden and with someone who is at home all day and is prepared to use the crate for night times and when left alone.

Rory is energetic, she likes to chew but with supervision and discipline she will drop items and is easily redirected to a ball or a suitable toy.

She gets on well with other dogs, untested with cats, but has been known to jump garden walls to chase after them.

You'll need a lot of patience and time, but within a week of doing the above she was happy to just follow me round the house and garden.

If no home can be found for her, she will end up back in kennels, there is little space available and funds are not available to support her.

Please get in touch with DAWS - Molosser & Bull Breed Rescue UAE or comment below if you are able to help in anyway whatsoever.

Plants in Dubai that are dangerous to pets.

The desert rose, scientific name, Adenium obesum, also known as impala lily, kudu lily, desert azalea, mock azalea and wabi star.

Popular all over the world and considered scared in some places.

Tribes in Africa use the sap of the plant and pollen to get poison for their arrows. it is so toxic it can even kill an elephant.

The entire plant is toxic if ingested by your dog.

There's space in my garden for a new shrub, since I found out this plant was extremely toxic to cats and dogs and can cause serious illnesses including heart failure from ingesting any part of the plant, just from licking any part of the plant.

There are hundred's of these plants in Dubai, usually grown in pots to keep them more ornate or they grow into mid sized trees.

They produce the prettiest of flowers and adorn almost every garden in Dubai.

This plant has been re homed to live outside the garden gate.

Meanwhile the dog has been posing for his latest GQ centre spread.

Not taken with a soft focus, just need to replace the cover on my phone

Bob got a stone in his paw, out in the desert, growled at me when I went near him, so I threw his precious ball in the water which he limped after and the stone came free.

Found a dog friendly coffee stop.

Bedtime for the cat, when she's ready for bed, she follows me around and sits and looks at me like this until I give her, her treats in her bed.

The cat went into full on attack mode, seconds after this picture was taken, poor Bob had to run for his life.

You're never alone when you let a cat and dog into your life, waiting for peas and sweetcorn, the cats favourite snack.

The garden is looking a little dire, the plants are growing but they're not growing as big and as fast as they did last year despite the recent rain. I've moved the houseplants outdoors for a few weeks before the weather gets too hot and they seem to be doing well.
*update....it rained and we had storms. Half the plants died so are now back indoors.

111 My Sunday Photo - V is for Valentine

Despite the picture which may lead you to believe I'm single, over 40 and lonely, you'd only be right on 2 out of 3.

I'm not looking for a valentine, I'm happily married, I am over 40 and no one warned me that when your kids left home one would fill the space with pets and I'm lonely in the day during the 8+ hours Peter is in work.

Peter and I are going out on the evening of February 14th. Me with a friend for dinner and him with his colleagues for work. 

#BobTheDog will be my valentine's date on Tuesday and we're off for lunch with a group of dogs and their humans.

My dog is how I meet people and make friends, now the kids are no longer at home.

The Green Planet, City Walk. Tropical Rainforest in Dubai with AnimalTales and HDYGG

The Green Planet at City Walk is home to a tropical rainforest, a standalone bio-dome that is home to over 3000 plants and animals.

While I was very impressed with my first view of The Green Planet, I was slightly disappointed to it's size. Everything in Dubai starts with 'The worlds first/biggest/largest....' and whilst not meaning to put down the efforts of their Tropical Rainforest in the middle of the desert, from the hype and media advertising I just assumed it was going to be bigger and better than what it actually was. So with high expectations, based on previous experiences I was a little disappointed when I visited.

I did have the option to fill in a customer survey at the end of the visit and had the pleasure to meet the project manager, who has invited me back as the project continues to grow for a walk round to hopefully impress me some more.

This isn't meant as a negative review, because once I put my initial thoughts to one side, I could see the effort and work that has gone into the planning, design and construction of this project and the more I read on The Green Planet, the more I appreciate the mammoth taks they undertook to build a rainforest in the desert.

So I'll leave you with these photos and tell you that the entry price was worth every single dirham, you can also visit using the Entertainer App. There are restaurants, cafes and shops and plenty of parking at City Walk and you can access the area by the number 93 or number 8 bus along the Al Wasl Road.

 There was lots of information on the animals inside the dome and educational and interactive areas, but I was disappointed by the lack of information on the plants and it would've been handy to have had a printed guide to carry around with the names of the birds and butterflies, seen throughout the visit as most of the information was on the top floor, where you start the tour.

You can read more about The Green Planet on their website.

Week 91 - Photalife Animals and My Sunday Photo

I love photo prompts, without them I'd probably just be uploading photo's of the cat and dog all week.

We've been fostering Clyde (bottom right) for the past two weekends, he's a pit bull mix and the brother of Bonnie, who we fostered for two weeks in June. Bonnie found her forever home and was adopted in Abu Dhabi, where she has settled into a loving family with another dog and 2 children.

Clyde is energetic and was neutered last week, we had him immediately after the surgery for a few days before returning him to kennels, but his kennel was too big and allowed him to jump around and he's not recovering from the surgery as well as we'd hoped for. Sadly this means Clyde has to be crated most of the day and night, where he can rest, we tag team our cat and dog to allow Clyde to spend some quiet time out of the crate with me in the house and the garden where he is calm.

Bob the Dog and Pushkins and the husband have been forced to bond with being restricted to the lounge when Clyde is out of his crate. The cat is as nervous as anything, but that's pretty much her normal state and has been able to spend the odd night outdoors now the weather is cooling.

Bob has enjoyed more time outdoors at the lakes in the desert and evening walks around the neighbourhood.

A couple paid a visit to meet Clyde, yesterday and I'm pleased to say they have offered him his forever home and left with him, for a two week trial in Abu Dhabi, with approval from DAWS, Dubai Animal Welfare Society. Sadly the trail failed after 24 hours, Clyde just wouldn't settle and became dominant and firmly in charge, so back to kennels for him now while we'll come up with a new plan.

My next challenge is to spend the week driving around Dubai collecting donations of curtains, blankets, duvets and pillows etc to make dog beds for rescue dogs, like the one bottom left in the photo.

Looking to adopt a dog in Dubai? Meet Bonnie.

She loves to play

Meet Bonnie, she is 8 months old and a new addition in our home for 2 weeks. We are fostering her until the 30th June in the hope that someone will adopt her, when they see how loving she is, how well she gets on with our dog and pretty much ignores the cat.

How could you resist?

Bonnie is under the care of DAWS - Molosser & Bull Breed Rescue UAE to be eligible to adopt you must have a residency visa and live in a Villa. Please contact DAWS directly for enquiries on adopting Bonnie.

We have a few chewing issues, she is a puppy still. A couple of toilet accidents, a few moments when she's helped herself to the contents of the litter tray (gross) and it's fun and games when we go for a walk, as she doesn't want her walk to end and digs her heels in as we round the corner towards home and I end up carrying her home.

 She works well on a lead

But we have had issues persuading her to come home after a walk

I thought the bowl was part of dinner

 Unlike Bob, she eats very well and chews each mouthful

 She has her own bed but wants to share with Bob

 She loves playing with toys and with Bob and shares nicely

Bonnie loves company and her and Bob follow me from room to room

We already have a cat and dog who were rescues when we were living in South Africa.

The cat, Pushkins, is aged 7, and until last month had been a girl for 4 years, the vet informed me, 'she' is actually a 'he' and always has been. We struggle to say 'he' so the poor cat is now referred to as 'it'

The dog, Bob aged 6, is a boy and has been living with us for 3 years.

Both were house trained and Bob has NEVER chewed anything in his life. He pulls when he's on the lead, he prefers to be off lead and responds, eventually, to come back on a walk. Bob follows me from room to room and is constantly under my feet.

Pushkins is currently being kept in the house, due to it being severely over weight, it helps itself to the food left out for the cat feeding scheme in our street.

You can see more photo's and updates on Bonnie on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or like my page Chickenruby.

Week 71 - My Sunday Photo

Bob has some kind of skin infection. Vet ruled out mites, ticks, fleas and has taken a biopsy, says probably not from the lakes as we go every week, but I changed his shampoo 2 weeks ago and it could also be from the rat that has been living in one of the out buildings. Bob has also been losing weight and his ribs are sticking through, have to go back next week for results, weigh him and see if he needs more steroid injections. In the meantime despite not being able to walk forwards and staring at walls until we turn him round, he's still wagging his tail.

Hippo Christmas with #AnimalTales

Just because it's Christmas and because I can, this week's Animal Tails post is all about the hippos.

These photo's were taken in South Africa, by me, over a 4 year period at Kruger National Park, KwaZulu Natal and various Nature Reserves in Gauteng.......enjoy.