Maggie And Charlie.....

I'm sure you all remember Charlie who we think lived all his life prior to coming to SHAK in a shed, well here he is with his new friend Maggie. Maggie came to us as a stray, but she instantly made an impression by refusing to go in the back of my Landrover and insisted on riding shotgun.

Maggie is now showing Charlie how to enjoy the outside world, and it has to be said they make a cute couple.

The Gorgeous Mika.....

One lucky SHAK girl that we are all proud of is Mika. I received these photo's today, and I love the line that came with them "it is like she has always lived with us."

Another Weekend Away For Wilf.....

A message from Lynn:

My Number One Mutt

"Seven months ago I made contact with Steve about volunteering at his kennels for large breed dogs and on my first day I was led into the cabin and met my first SHAK dog, a long-haired, long-legged, partially bald Wilf looking very sorry for himself in ‘isolation’ until his mange was cleared up. Once seen those beautiful, big, brown eyes are never forgotten and Wilf has been one of my favourites (not that we have favourites obviously!) ever since. As regular followers of Steve’s blog may remember my boyfriend and I took Wilf away for a weekend in May to walk part of Hadrian’s Wall and to see how he behaves away from the kennels. This would give us valuable information to help us begin looking for a ‘forever foster’ home for him, which he undoubtedly deserves. On his Hadrian Wall trip he met everything from cyclists to other dogs to traffic and had trips in cars, metro trains and buses, none of which made him bat an eyelid.

Unfortunately, a few months down the line, poor Wilf still hasn’t managed to find a home so we decided to give him another weekend away from the kennels, this time to look more at house situations. Once again Wilf has done himself more than proud and fitted in fantastically. He is a very well house-trained dog who slept perfectly in his crate overnight, asked out when nature called, ignored us when we were eating our meals (no scrounging at all!) and even ignored my temperamental cats. On Sunday we enjoyed a lovely morning out at the Dyke Neuk county show where he met numerous dogs and we were even asked if we were entering him in the dog show as he was such a handsome example of a lurcher! Not bad for a rescue dog! Today saw me and Wilf visiting Dunstanburgh Castle for a walk along the coast and a few leaps onto the ramparts.

After such a tremendous weekend with a loving, friendly, well behaved dog it was devastating for me to have to take him back to the kennels this afternoon (as Jill and Geoff will confirm having seen the floods of tears) even if his ‘girlfriend’ Nina was waiting for him. I would love to give Wilf the home he so very badly deserves but one of my cats seems not to want to share her house with a dog so the next best thing for all of us at SHAK would be to see him going in to a loving home somewhere. Having spent so much time with Wilf I have struggled to find anything he won’t take in his long stride and he has a huge amount of love and pleasure to give someone who will treat him well. We are all desperate to find somewhere for him so if you think you (or someone you know) can give this boy the home he’s dreaming of please get in touch."

Update.....

It's been another hectic week in the world of rescue, hence the delay in anything new on here. There is a lot of work goes on behind the scenes by all the team, so thanks to you all, you know who you are.

Just a couple of thanks to the girls and everyone who supported us at the Dyk Neuk on Sunday. A great day was had by all, and with the £240 barrier broke, the day really can make a difference, so thanks Nicola and Carol.

I'd also like to thank Stuart at City Electrical Factors for there kind support towards the upkeep of The Rescue Place, once again some kind people have come to our aid.

Finally, please check out the links on the left of this page, as we're trying to update the information available on line. Thank you.

Smokey, A Truly Reformed Dog.....

Another big boy that we're all very proud of is Smokey. Couldn't believe how cheeky this photo is, a far cry from the dog that we took on who had a reputation and a list of convictions longer than that tongue of his.

Sam.....

Sam, a gorgeous boy we've had for a long time and that we are so proud of.

From Death Row To A Proud Row.....

L-R Bodie, Sam, Benson, Scooby, Doyle.

There is no truth in the rumour that when we went out on this walk, the local residents battened down the hatches, pulled their children in off the streets and locked the doors. Although I do have to admit seeing these 5 beautiful boys walking down the street couldn't help but make an impression. Every dog in this photo was sentenced to death before finding SHAK, second from the left (the one I am holding) is Sam and he was going to be destroyed because he was so aggressive towards other dogs. I think you can see the progress that's been made, and I'm not sure which of the SHAK team who were lucky enough to be on the walk were the proudest.

The Beautiful Harlie.....

Here's the beautiful Harlie out in the Sun and sharing a smile. Harlie has been with us a long time due to her illness, and is such a brave girl.

Sparky And Skips.....

Whilst Daddy Trevor was cleaning kennels yesterday, it was great to see at first hand the bond between Sparky and Skip. As you can see here, they are at total ease with each other, and both ball daft. It was such a joy to see them.

Nina And Wilf.....

Thought you might like to see some of the dogs out in the Sunshine of the last couple of days. Here's Wilf and Nina.

Four Big Boys.....

From bottom up, Doyle, Bodie, Laser and Murphy.

Sparky And Skippy Taking A Plodge....

I can't help but smile when I see this video of Sparky and Skippy together. Both of these dogs came to SHAK after I picked them up as strays, and both had issues. Look at them now, running off lead and having fun. Thanks Trevor for sharing this.

Also to everyone who helped with the mammoth fundraising over the weekend, this is what your time and effort goes on to produce. Thank you.

Sparky And Skippy.....

When Skip's Foster Family had to go on holiday without him, we really didn't want to see him back in kennels as he is doing so well. Thats until Sparky stepped in and offered him a bed. As you can see they look great together, so good I think there may be a custody battle on the cards when Debs returns.

Coming Soon.....

Still very much a work in progress, but coming soon.

Special Delivery.....

Special delivery from Pets At Home..... Thank you so much.

SHAK Fundraising Night.....

Please come and support us.....

Thanks to Claire Dalgarno Todd and Nic Spence for arranging this.

Full Weekend.....

It's a full week end of fundraising this weekend, as the SHAK Tombola hits the NHS Family Fun Day at Gosforth Park. Then tomorrow we are at The Dog Show @ Seaton Delaval Hall, as well as Glouster Lodge Farm Show on the sea front at Blth, and once you've been there, Derek is also open 9-5 at 6 Marine View, Seaton Sluice, so why not pop in for a coffee.

Thanks to all the fundraisers for giving up their time, and of course to everyone who is coming to support us.

Some Memories.....

Some thoughts from Karen:

This has been some week for Shak and a week from hell for me and Mike, I still cant believe that our King Harry is gone, whats worse is that I was away with work and never got to say good bye - but like Steve has said Harry was with his daddy Mike who he simply adored. I thought it would be good to tell you some of the Harry tales we have to make us smile now hes gone to rainbow bridge. As I have said Harry adored Mike and I often used to get up and find them having their ritual boys time in the early hours of the morning - where Harry acquired his taste for an early morning coffee. This little dog who came into our lives as a mere skeleton and showed nothing but determination to get well has left a mark on us which will never go away. Photo shy when the camera came out, barking to let me know that he really didn't want his photo taken. He really did think he was the boss man. I remember the first morning he took himself off to the garden on his own with me chasing to catch up he gave me the Harry sideways glance back over his shoulder as though to say come on hurry up woman !! It was a joy to see him bounce along - when he arrived all he could do was wobble along at a very slow pace. I remember mike being ecstatic when he shook for the first time and he actually had flesh on his bones to shake ! We were very lucky to have had Harry in our lives even if only for a very short time, and although not the happy ending we wanted for him we can take comfort in knowing that Harry discovered that people did love him as all the gang and many of the people following his story did ... I have a picture in my head after this week of Harry and gunnar arriving at Rainbow Bridge and him telling everyone ' Hey I am the boss and this is my bouncer and the two of them running the show up there. Good bye our sweet little soldier brave to the end ... you are gone but will never never be forgotten see you at rainbow bridge. Love mammy and daddy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time To Lose King Harry.....

They say the kicks come when your down, and today we were well and truly flattened as we had to say goodbye to Harry. After being diagnosed with Lymphoma last Tuesday, Harry was back to his usual self over the weekend, in fact the pictures of him enjoying his bacon sandwich were on here. Yesterday though he took a turn for the worse, and this morning we knew our time with such a brave little soldier had come to an end. The vet confirmed our fears and King Harry slept away in the arms of the man he loved so much, Mike as I stroke his belly that was once so emaciated. Harry taught us so much in terms of the love that a dog can bring and give back, and like Gunnar and all the dogs we've lost before them, we were lucky to have them in our lives. Nobody else got to know the real Harry like Karen and Mike, and that is something they can both be very proud of.

As we try and pick ourselves up from this, we can only comfort ourselves with the happy thoughts of the time we all shared. The whole team has been very brave and I am proud of them all for carrying on professionally and giving all the other dogs the attention they deserve. The fight must go on, there are other Harry's and Gunnar's out there that needs us. Run free brave, brave boys.

Miko Ready For The New Season.....

Forget the Premiership, here's Miko working on his Pre-Season training.

Some Great News.....

Some great news from Derek:
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/08/16/seaton-sluice-fundraiser-can-move-charity-cafe-61634-29240925/

Thank you and well done to him for keeping going. Opening details when confirmed.

Mona, Me And The Rain.....

I had strict instructions from my team to get away from it all today, so I decided to venture out into the great Northumberland countryside with some of the dogs. The weather wasn't exactly picnic weather, but we made the most of our day away from the usual routine. Here is the beautiful Mona enjoying herself and looking pretty next to the flowers.

A Romantic Stroll.....

Storm and Summer enjoying the great British Summer. The dreamy effect is nothing fancy, just my camera steaming up with the rain.

Enjoying Time Out.....

Reading up over: Lewis, Sam, Grace and Miko.

Thank Yous.....

A couple of Thank You's for some good things that happened yesterday. Thanks to our friends at B-A-R-K in Berwick for inviting us to have a stall at their dog show. A great example of how charities should work together for the sake of the dogs.

And thank you to Karen, Mike and the Galloways for manning the stall and raising a fantastic £100, and of course to the people of Berwick for supporting the work we do.

The Morning After.....

After the horrendous day yesterday, I thought it would be good to show you some of the amazing SHAK team (both 2 & 4 legged) that helped me get through today with a huge part of my routine, and a great pal missing. The important thing to remember when looking at these photographs is that every dog in them was due to be destroyed. We were there last resort. Funnily enough they both live in pairs, Miko and Grace the two German Shepherds, and Tara and Denbar.

Thanks to you four and the all the other SHAK dogs for getting us through a difficult day.

Gunnar.....

Gunnar, a true legend, and absolute inspiration.

Knocked Off My Feet.....

I'll never forget this day, the first day he was groomed. It was such a proud moment, until he knocked me on my backside with a kiss.

My Best Mate.....