Adopting Baxter

Since moving in together Luke and I had been discussing the possibility of having a pet. We both agreed we would like a dog. I have always had dogs and Luke has only ever owned a cats and Luke has always wanted a pet dog.

This discussion has been going on since last year and it has never seemed like the right time with work and our other commitments. March/April 2016 and we caved in (mainly me) and decided that we would get a pet. Luke always believes in adopting pets and although I wasn’t sure I was open to the idea…

Following a lot of research on the internet we made a highly excitable trip to Dogs Trust Bridgend on Saturday 9th April 2016. We kept our minds open and 50 minutes later we were pulling up to a quite busy Saturday morning at Dogs Trust.

Firstly we had to complete all the admin including an adoption form to work out whether we were suitable potential parents to a new fluffy ball of joy. Many questions later including our future plans which really made us question where we were which we did not expect.

Anyways, we explain we saw a few potentials online and was told to make our way down to the kennels to have a look around.

Each dog was wonderful, adorable; I wish I could take them all home. On our way round we saw the most gorgeous Cairn Terrier. Baxter! He was sharing a kennel with a very excitable dog which Baxter did not seem that fussed about. As smiles stretched across both our faces I think we had found our new fluffy baby.

Power walking back up the hill to reception we said how much we wanted him. Our own little Toto!

We reserved him that very day but had to go through checks to ensure we were right for him. We made a further two visits that week where we spent as much time as we could with him. Pending a home visit on that Friday we would be told whether we were successful with the adoption.

A nervous day awaited…

We were told that all was good and we could come and pick him up at 9am on Saturday 16th April 2016!

He is my beautiful fluffy boy and we love him to bits. He is an 8 year old Cairn Terrier with no health issues. We were told he had some attention seeking barking and we need to take things slow with him.

For the adoption fee, which is a reasonable £127, he is neutered, up to date with vaccinations, month of dog insurance, dog food, leads and harness. We can contact the behaviourist for the lifetime of the dog which has proved useful with some of his issues.

He has his own Instagram (Baxter Instagram) and has been on a few adventures so far.

Regularly walking him down the river, up the mountain and taking him away on holiday with us he is our bundle of joy.

We are unbelievably happy and relieved to have him and we managed to adopt which has its cons however he is wonderful. He is hard work and has some issues with barking etc but overall he is house trained with some basic commands. He can sit, give his paws, lie down and rollover. We have entered him into fun dog shows and he has proven to be quite successful.