Elsa, that really made me chuckle!
Hamish is a wonderful dog and not nearly as grumpy as he does indeed look in that pic. He's actually very laid back and sociable - he loves everyone from babies to grandparents and he loves all other dogs (but wants to chase cats). He was born with a big hernia and his breeder wasn't prepared to pay for the surgery - which is how we got him. Sadly although he's only two he has arthritis and double hip dysplasia. He's being treated at the supervet (most Garden.org members probably won't know the supervet, but he's a brilliant man here in England who has invented many innovative surgeries and treatments for dogs - and other creatures - with the result that many of his patients go from last-chance to completely well. There's a popular TV programme called "Supervet" where they follow some of his cases. Last time we were there they were filming and spent almost an hour shooting Hamish (in the camera sense!) We've been told that he will probably need two hip replacements in due course, but for now he's having physiotherapy and hydrotherapy in the hope of avoiding or at least postponing for as long as possible the major ops.
We're not sure how old Hallie is (she was abandoned) but they think a bit less than a year. She's now grown her hair back (she was found mostly bald as well as really thin). I'm thinking of taking her to have a grooming session because she keeps jumping into the pond here and her fur gets completely matted with bits of everything....
