Hello again,
I know I keep saying this but where does the time go!! My last blog was in warm weather and at the moment we're "enjoying" a downfall of snow which can make getting into the centre a bit tricky. Looks like my 4 wheel drive might come in useful very early this year.
We were very lucky on Sunday with our Funday Sunday despite the recent bad weather. Supporters from far and wide made the trip and helped it be one of our most succesful events at this time of year. A real big thank you to you all. The comments so far about our new venue at Uttoxeter Racecourse have been very positive but please let us know how you thought the day went.
Rehoming always goes quieter at this time of year due to the approach of Christmas and as usual we've got a big of a back log building of dogs in other rescues and their own homes needing help. Once rehoming picks up I'm sure we'll be able to help as many as possible.
It may seem a little early but on behalf of everyone at BCT, including of course the collies we help can I thank you all for your support and wish you a Happy Christmas and hope 2011 is a good year for you
Ben
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Show weather!!
It's been a busy few weeks with a number of shows to visit. I'm currently in Northamptonshire at the International Agility Show. The weather has certainly been "mixed" and today we experienced almost every type of weather - except hail and snow!!
The thunderstorms have certainly upset a few dogs and one poor lad who'd been scared by the noise came running into our gazebo - how did he know where to come to? Well he was a collie and we'd got Border Collie Trust emblazoned everywhere. Quite odd though that he ran past a number of other gazebos yet came straight into ours. Glad to say he was re-united with his owners.
This is the last show I'll be attending this summer although there are one or two other smaller ones that colleagues will be visiting and I'm hoping to fit in Discover Dogs in Novemeber at our stall there.
Meanwhile it's business as usual at the centre and a number of lucky dogs have found new homes in the past few weeks.
Bye for now
Ben
The thunderstorms have certainly upset a few dogs and one poor lad who'd been scared by the noise came running into our gazebo - how did he know where to come to? Well he was a collie and we'd got Border Collie Trust emblazoned everywhere. Quite odd though that he ran past a number of other gazebos yet came straight into ours. Glad to say he was re-united with his owners.
This is the last show I'll be attending this summer although there are one or two other smaller ones that colleagues will be visiting and I'm hoping to fit in Discover Dogs in Novemeber at our stall there.
Meanwhile it's business as usual at the centre and a number of lucky dogs have found new homes in the past few weeks.
Bye for now
Ben
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Do sort though your photos
I don't think the Trust has ever held a Calendar photo competition before, certainly I can't remember one in my time connected with the Trust (but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!!)
Well this year we're holding a competition to find 13 photos to feature in our very own calendar for 2011. The winning photos will be rewarded with a free calendar and 10% discount on any further ones ordered for family and friends.
We've had over 30 entries so far and some excellent photos amongst them. I can see this being a hard job for the judges!!
The Memorial Garden has been finished and once the plaques have been re-installed there'll be some photos appearing on the website.
We're as busy as ever with dogs coming in and out. I enjoyed one of my regular trips up to Gretna Green recently to bring back 3 and on Friday I'm off to Wales for another 6.
Hope the summer weather is suiting you!!
Bye for now
Ben
Well this year we're holding a competition to find 13 photos to feature in our very own calendar for 2011. The winning photos will be rewarded with a free calendar and 10% discount on any further ones ordered for family and friends.
We've had over 30 entries so far and some excellent photos amongst them. I can see this being a hard job for the judges!!
The Memorial Garden has been finished and once the plaques have been re-installed there'll be some photos appearing on the website.
We're as busy as ever with dogs coming in and out. I enjoyed one of my regular trips up to Gretna Green recently to bring back 3 and on Friday I'm off to Wales for another 6.
Hope the summer weather is suiting you!!
Bye for now
Ben
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Clocks will be going back soon!!
Okay perhaps a bit of an exaggeration as it's a few months yet before we mess with the clocks again but in a couple of weeks the days do start getting shorter don't they?
It doesn't seem five minutes since we were shovelling snow from the drive and although summer did seem to be on its way we do look like being back to the normal BBQ weather.
Since 1st March 145 dogs have been rehomed and judging by the continued increase in visitors to the website and the usual number of phone calls we'll continue to be busy in the rehoming of collies needing our help. Of course at the same time 120+ dogs have come into the centre and like all rescue work it is like being on a treadmill. At the moment we do seem to be having a welcome lull in the number of calls for help but I know that ths will change at any moment - it always does.
Away from rehoming Trustees have been laying plans for an Enhancement area to provide some welcome relief from the kennels, esepcially for dogs that aren't coping well. The idea is to provide different surfaces, object to explore and generally enrich the lives of the dogs in our care. As with many of these ideas we are in the hands of the planning department even though this is on our own property but hopefully they will support us and we can move the idea forward.
We've a number of shows and events to attend over the summer months, unfortunately the weather at a recent agility show in Bakewell didn't look kindly on us and reduced the three days attendance to just one. One of our volunteers had more success at another show the same weekend in the West Midlands and I'm hoping this weekend is fine for our stand at Cartmel.
New items are still appearing in the Collie shop and our best seller from last year, the book - Motorway Walks is still attracting lots of orders but do keep an eye on the website for new collie related goodies.
So it's still business as normal, thanks for popping in - hope to see you again soon :-)
Ben
It doesn't seem five minutes since we were shovelling snow from the drive and although summer did seem to be on its way we do look like being back to the normal BBQ weather.
Since 1st March 145 dogs have been rehomed and judging by the continued increase in visitors to the website and the usual number of phone calls we'll continue to be busy in the rehoming of collies needing our help. Of course at the same time 120+ dogs have come into the centre and like all rescue work it is like being on a treadmill. At the moment we do seem to be having a welcome lull in the number of calls for help but I know that ths will change at any moment - it always does.
Away from rehoming Trustees have been laying plans for an Enhancement area to provide some welcome relief from the kennels, esepcially for dogs that aren't coping well. The idea is to provide different surfaces, object to explore and generally enrich the lives of the dogs in our care. As with many of these ideas we are in the hands of the planning department even though this is on our own property but hopefully they will support us and we can move the idea forward.
We've a number of shows and events to attend over the summer months, unfortunately the weather at a recent agility show in Bakewell didn't look kindly on us and reduced the three days attendance to just one. One of our volunteers had more success at another show the same weekend in the West Midlands and I'm hoping this weekend is fine for our stand at Cartmel.
New items are still appearing in the Collie shop and our best seller from last year, the book - Motorway Walks is still attracting lots of orders but do keep an eye on the website for new collie related goodies.
So it's still business as normal, thanks for popping in - hope to see you again soon :-)
Ben
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Spring is certianly here
A few weeks again since the last entry - and what a difference a few weeks makes!!
The mower has been out twice already and looks like that'll be me booked once a week or so for a while now. Today Sue and I have been starting on fence painting and it's at times like this you wish you had brick walls.
The most important event recently has been the arrival of little Emma. She was found straying and taken to a Vets - bad enough for any dog but especially at no more than 12 weeks. When they checked her over they found she had a heart murmer. Murmers are measured on a scale of 1 to 6 and she's believed to be a 4.
But she's a lovely natured young dog and we're sure she can have a wonderful life somewhere. She'll be seeing our Vets tomorrow but the best news this weekend was that someone had already reserved her so we're all delighted for her.
Elsewhere we're gearing up for the summer shows and events we'll be attending, we have a number of training courses also lined up for the staff locally and I'm off on a First Aid course in a few days time. Did a lot of First Aid in my previous life but always good to update your skills.
Bye for now
Ben
The mower has been out twice already and looks like that'll be me booked once a week or so for a while now. Today Sue and I have been starting on fence painting and it's at times like this you wish you had brick walls.
The most important event recently has been the arrival of little Emma. She was found straying and taken to a Vets - bad enough for any dog but especially at no more than 12 weeks. When they checked her over they found she had a heart murmer. Murmers are measured on a scale of 1 to 6 and she's believed to be a 4.
But she's a lovely natured young dog and we're sure she can have a wonderful life somewhere. She'll be seeing our Vets tomorrow but the best news this weekend was that someone had already reserved her so we're all delighted for her.
Elsewhere we're gearing up for the summer shows and events we'll be attending, we have a number of training courses also lined up for the staff locally and I'm off on a First Aid course in a few days time. Did a lot of First Aid in my previous life but always good to update your skills.
Bye for now
Ben
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Time flies
I can't believe it's been so long since I last did a blog entry!!
After the relative quiet of Christmas, 2010 started as busy as ever. So far this year we've rehomed 64 dogs and admitted 65 so you can see it's been a busy few weeks. Of course the weather has not been at its kindest and we did have a couple of days where staff struggled to get in but nevertheless made it.
We'd arranged a number of admissions that had to cancel because of the snow and yet some brave souls still made their way to us to adopt.
You may have seen on the website that this year we've moving our Christmas Party to a new venue - Uttoxeter Racecourse. There will be much more parking, the room we hiring is much bigger and it's very handy for both the M6 and the M1 so we look forward to seeing you there in Novemeber. More details will be on the website and in our magazine later this year.
Baz one of our centre cats has not been well lately. We know he's at least 10 or 11 years and arthritis has taken its toll on him. Some TLC and new injections from the Vet seem to be helping a lot and we've even had a few offers of a home for him so maybe Baz will have a very happy retirement to look forward to.
We've been off to various parts of the country recently helping collies - Gretna Green, Pembroke and London just to name a few and I'm sure we'll clock up a few more miles before the years out.
Bye for now
Ben
After the relative quiet of Christmas, 2010 started as busy as ever. So far this year we've rehomed 64 dogs and admitted 65 so you can see it's been a busy few weeks. Of course the weather has not been at its kindest and we did have a couple of days where staff struggled to get in but nevertheless made it.
We'd arranged a number of admissions that had to cancel because of the snow and yet some brave souls still made their way to us to adopt.
You may have seen on the website that this year we've moving our Christmas Party to a new venue - Uttoxeter Racecourse. There will be much more parking, the room we hiring is much bigger and it's very handy for both the M6 and the M1 so we look forward to seeing you there in Novemeber. More details will be on the website and in our magazine later this year.
Baz one of our centre cats has not been well lately. We know he's at least 10 or 11 years and arthritis has taken its toll on him. Some TLC and new injections from the Vet seem to be helping a lot and we've even had a few offers of a home for him so maybe Baz will have a very happy retirement to look forward to.
We've been off to various parts of the country recently helping collies - Gretna Green, Pembroke and London just to name a few and I'm sure we'll clock up a few more miles before the years out.
Bye for now
Ben
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)