So you met all the team members working in front and behind the scenes at Red Dog Rehab and then we went quiet for a while.  I thought it was time we gave another update!

We’ve been quiet because we’ve been flat out painting (and yes, Diesel did ‘help' with his tail and nose!), organising and launching Red Dog Rehab services on site at K9 Aqua.  We’re so excited to be providing rehabilitation to dogs and cats in our new premises every Friday! 

Diesel modelling the fold out ramp and stair combo, while Poppy watched from the massage mat.

​We’ve also featured in an article written in VetScript this month raising awareness of canine rehabilitation available in New Zealand.  VetScript is a magazine sent out to all New Zealand Veterinary Association members.  It was really fun to be involved with and all the dog’s did great on their modelling debut! 

​Town is a pretty scary place and it took me three months before I could actually walk around an entire block in town without being terrified and freezing.  I don’t know if you’ve been to town, but there are fireworks, cars, lawn mowers, trucks, people … so many things to be scared of.  I was lucky and got to go to my Mum’s work and hang out in the garden a lot of the time. All the nurses were really nice too and I got lots of cuddles.  They even taught me what toys were.  I’d never seen a ball. It took me about 6 months to learn to catch. I kept trying though because I’d seen other dogs doing it at the park and it looked really cool.  Now I’m pretty darn good at it, well I catch maybe 6 out of 10 throws. I should probably practice more …
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Settling into my new family went pretty smooth except for Sammy.  Sammy is the cat.  I’m pretty embarrassed about it now, but I thought he was food. I just got mistaken. It took me a while to change my behaviour. Instinct would just take over and he was so plump and fluffy.  I’ve said sorry about a million times, but now he is always angry at me.  I think he holds a grudge.  I’ve heard people say elephants have a long memory. Maybe he is part elephant and that is why he is fat too.  I know I’m bigger than him, but I’m a bit scared of him now.  Sometimes when he gets hangry, he takes it out on me.  Mum tells him off, but he still does it occasionally.  I can’t walk past him anymore so mum has to stand between us so I can get out the door.  He doesn’t actually do anything to me, but he looks at me in a really scary cat way.  I think Sammy sits in the doorways and by the car door on purpose just so I can’t go past.  Mum says it’s a pity as we could have been good friends.

Hi, I’m Diesel and I’m the youngest in the family. The best, but the youngest! They say good things come in small packages but I’m pretty big.  I’m so excited to get to write something!   Mum said to tell you about myself first and then later we can talk about more fun stuff. So here goes:

I can’t really remember when I was little, but I was found lying in a rest stop on the side of the road at night in the rain. I was crying because I was so hungry I couldn’t move. The pound said I was so skinny they couldn’t help me.  Luckily the nice people that found me said they would help. It probably helped I licked them and did ‘puppy dog sad eyes’ like they do in the movies.  I went to a few new houses and tried to be on my best behaviour but I was so scared. I was too scared to walk so I just army crawled around and sometimes I wet myself a bit because it was scary.  The sound of a lead clicking on terrified me and I’d just freeze. And cars, well they were scary too. So were people. Actually everything was scary and I mean everything. 

When I met my new mum she seemed nice, but I’d seen lots of people so I didn’t really know if she was going to be my mum. I was pretty shy. I remember when she picked me up, she let me sit in the seat and put my head under her arm because cars are scary.  I decided then this person seemed pretty nice. They called me Diesel and I don’t mind that name. 

...  It took me a while to find my feet moving to New Zealand.  I like grey cats. I don’t like black and white cats.   I’m not fat, I’m just really really fluffy! Mum keeps feeding me diet food.  She says I’m fat. Well she never actually says it to my face, but my nickname at the cattery is Sammy Sausage and I’ve overheard them talking when they thought I was asleep.  I just like food.  I think I should be fed constantly.  I don’t hunt. I tried that once but I didn’t have the killer in me, so I just hid the fledgling birds behind the curtains to save face.  I think Mum found them and put them back outside.  I tried getting a mouse once too.  I even hit it, but I forgot to put my claws out and it squealed as it rolled away. Well I got such a fright, I just stood there watching it rolling.  I’ve never touched them again.  I think mum is a little disappointed I won’t catch them, but I’m more of a cuddling machine.  I love to cuddle and purr! 

We got a dog a few years ago.  I was pretty excited because I thought he would be my friend, but it turned out he wanted to eat me. I mean, actually eat me!! I’ve never forgotten and I don’t trust him now.  Mum talked to him and put me in charge.  Sometimes, I rub my face against him, you know, to make him smell better, but he is pretty scared of me.  I still don’t trust him 100%. Ugghh, it’s hard to make new friends when you’re an adult.  Maybe it’s my Australian accent … 

​Hi, my name is Sammy. My human mum asked me to write this. I think it’s a bit random, plus it’s hard to type with furry feet but Mum said part of having a blog is to let people know who she is and her family so here goes.  

I was born in Melbourne to a cat mum, but as you know, we move out of home and have to fend for ourselves pretty young. After moving out, I lived with a lady in Melbourne, but she didn’t really take care of me. By 1 year of age I was getting into lots of fights and hanging out late as I still had all my man bits. Apparently, I was smelly too because of my abscesses.  I was pretty skinny back then. 

I needed a home so my mum adopted me.  She was pretty nice and didn’t even tell me off when I vomited on the carpet.  I was only vomiting because of stress. There was a big bully cat that wanted to beat me up and I'm more of a cuddler than a fighter.  The reason I chose the carpet,  well I chose that over the tiles because carpet feels nice on my furry feet! 

We lived in Melbourne for a bit and then moved to Townsville in North Queensland.  North Queensland was really warm. It was cool until I nearly got eaten by a snake. That was scaaary! It was massive and by the fridge. Everyone had said the snakes wouldn’t come inside – it did!  I only saw it last minute and I ran away so fast.  I skidded on the tiles for a bit trying to run away!  Now sometimes, I get scared by long sausage shaped things.  I’ll never forget that snake.  My fur life flashed before my eyes that day! Not long after I nearly died, we moved back to New Zealand. I like New Zealand because there are no snakes here!