What a fabulous day we had today!
Massive
to Pilgrims and Pooches and of course to the M&S staff and customers who helped us kick off our 2017 fundraising with a flying start!
The staff have been rehoming like crazy this week - half our kennels are empty
but it was a great opportunity to bring out some of our longer termers as well as a few newbies!
Massive thanks to Denise, who brought along little Ant. We learned a lot about Ant today - not least that he thinks bottoms are for sniffing, not sitting on! It wasn't long before Ant decided he wanted to head back to the Home... Denise, thank you for being such a wonderful Aunty to Ant today!
Becky brought along a little newbie, Missy - a darling little terrier girl who has just arrived at the Home. No pics today, but Missy enjoyed it soooooo much she definitely wants to join us again tomorrow, so watch this space, as you'll see her here first!
Babs brought PJ - this little guys was born to schmooze!
PJ loved the fuss and attention! He'll definitely be joining us again tomorrow!
Helen and Selwyn brought Max, who is well known to our walkers as he is being boarded at the Home whilst his owner recovers from illness. And they had such a fabulous day with him, they have agreed to take care of him until his owner is well enough to have him back home
Happy Days Max! No more kennels for you sweetheart!
Max was SUCH a crowd-pleaser today that hopefully he'll be joining us again tomorrow!
Miss Lucky was also on our list of potential meeters and greeters for today - but she had a much better offer! Lucky has been rehomed
We were rather chuffed that she popped down to see us, with her new sister, and decided to try to get a picture of all three dogs together.... sounds easy eh, but it took some doing to get them all to smile for the camera
Two outta three ain't bad, but keep that camera rolling!
That's the money shot
As the staff welcomed us into the foyer with some of the smaller dogs, we thought little Pete might enjoy a few hours out of kennels. And he did! Pete was like a magnet! Staff and customers were queuing up to say 'hi' and he was in his element! He also kept a kindly eye on the M&S staff who all had a go on the bike today to help boost our coffers.
Thanks also to Janet - without whom we simply couldn't have managed today! We will definitely need a few empty hands (and possible drivers) tomorrow to help with transporting dogs, (and bringing our fundraising bits back to CDH), stepping in when the vols need a bathroom break, or a coffee break, or if they want to pop into the store to grab an M&S Dine in Weekend meal, and to chat to any potential rehomers about our dogs, the rehoming process etc.
We were there from about 11 o'clock until 3 today, and two hours seemed long enough for most of the dogs, so we'll be aiming to do two 'shifts' tomorrow, 11 o'clock starters and 1 o'clock starters....
If you fancy coming earlier and getting home in time for the match, we'll see you at the Home at about 10.15, and if you want to do your shopping first and head down for the afternoon, we'll see you at CDH at about 12.30!
If anyone is able to drive down and be our safety-net pair of hands, that would be amazing
See you tomorrow Pilgrims