KAISER'S BLOG - Part 2
Hula welcomed back a familiar face last week Kaiser.
Kaiser is settling back in and many of you may remember him from the previous blog that he wrote for us about his stay at HULA. Kaiser has decided that he would like to pen another blog!
February 2009 - settling back in |
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Well I have had a strange last week or so. Upon arrival back at HULA I was greeted by Debbie and it was so lovely to see her again - she made sure that I was nice and comfy in my new room. Sadly another resident has the kennel with the window but I have nice neighbours each side of my new kennel Holly the terrier on one side and Harvey the Staffie on the other. We have said hello to one another and I'm doing my best be a good neighbour. It’s difficult to settle straight back in the kennels as they are quite noisy when you first arrive – everyone wants to say hello and check out the newcomer. As most of you know I'm quite a nosey boy and I was the same during my previous stay sometimes barking and jumping around when anyone new arrived. I had my tea and a nice walk around the field and said hello to some familiar faces. Everyone has made me very welcome but I am still a little nervous of some people so we are handling my introductions carefully. Steve, Debbie & Caroline remembered me (how couldn’t they) and I have also made friends with Carly who wasn’t at HULA when I left. I have been for lot of walks around the HULA fields and had the opportunity to say hello again to some of our permanent residents Fonzi the Goat, Penny the Sheep and the rest of the gang. My goodness Samson has grown - he can now put me in my place !! |
March 2009 - getting into a routine |
"Playing in the run"
I have had lots of visitors; Karina has been to see me. As she has an injured leg we cannot go on the long walks like we used to but she can sit and throw my ball - so she still has her uses :) As I mentioned the staff are handling my introductions very carefully as I can be a bit of a nervous boy and sometimes I just don’t know how to handle things properly… However, Angela my trainer has been to see me and she has put into place a new training regime for me so just like when I was at HULA before I am going to be a very busy boy. It was good to see Angela as she had allowed me to train for my Bronze good Citizen Award when I was at HULA before – so when I have settled down I am going back to classes. I am looking forward to displaying a rosette on my kennel and repaying all the faith that HULA have shown in me! Also David and Polly the American Bulldog have been up to see me twice – it was so lovely when Karina and I met up with David & Polly. Polly and I were so pleased to see one another again and we chased one another around the runs until we were both exhausted and very very muddy. We had lots of toys to play with and we kept stealing & hiding them from one another. We then went for a coffee with Karina & David and relaxed side by side … next time Polly comes and I will get Karina to take some photos and then I can share them with you all. Harvey my neighbour has gone off to his new home so Jack the Bull Terrier has moved in next door – we get along quite well and often see each other out on walks .. I am learning and improving my manners so we walk past one another with just a nod (no more jumping and barking from me)! Sadly the agility tunnel at HULA has broken. Some of your may remember that the agility tunnel is my passion and I always used to make everyone laugh by whizzing through it. I'm hoping that we can get a new one – so if any one knows of one that's no longer needed please please let HULA know. Still the weaves and the see-saw are still there so Karina helps me practice on those (I think she gets fed up of throwing the ball for me – you just can't get the volunteers these days!). I have lots of training in store over the next few week and some fun times too. My friend Macey the Stafforshire Bull Terries is coming to see me soon – so if you all don’t mind I will keep you up to date and write more when I get the chance. |
April 2009 |
Leanne who is one of our volunteers came up and spent a whole morning with me, we had such a lovely time playing in the dog runs – Leanne took some wonderful photographs of me which show just how handsome I am (even though I say so myself!!) Leanne posted them onto this site Dog Pages.org.uk and I received lots of hits. Thank you Leanne for a lovely morning and making me famous. As some of you may know I made appearances on TV and in the local newspaper last year and Im now on the web... whatever next. Perhaps I should have my own Facebook page LOL rather like Louis the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Louis is one of our previous residents who I often see when he come back to HULA for our open days with his new owners. 
Katrina, the lady who designs this site and I have become very good friends and I always have a good wag of my tail when she comes to say Hello.. She even let me share some of her chips the other evening. So it’s a friendship made in heaven – I will have to ask her if should would like to take me home :) May, will be a busy month with more training, more socialising and the HULA big doggie fun day is coming up on the 17th May. Hopefully there will be a dog parade. It will be the fourth time for me & Karina to be in the parade (well that’s me looking for a home and Karina walking me). Hopefully, as long as I continue with my training somebody will ask about me and be prepared to take some time getting to know me and then talk to the staff, Steve and Debbie, about my personality and ways. I had a lovely off site walk on Sunday when Karina & I went to Brickhill Woods. It was a lovely sunny morning and we had a lovely stroll through the trees. I’m kind of hoping that as long as I continue to be good that I might get taken on some nice days out when Karina can get some time off work. Last year we went to Irchester Country Park, Willen Lake, and even Woburn Farmers Market. Though, my all time favourite place is Stockgrove Country Park (they make a lovely sausage sandwich there – Karina often buys me one...well as long as I am well behaved). I love to be in the car especially when the radio is on and I can put my nose out of the window – I am quite a seasoned traveller! 
"More games in the run"
Well as I say my two year anniversary has gone.. but I have lots to look forward to. I am happy at HULA where I have lots of Friends and Steve, Debbie, Caroline & Carly take really good care of me. We have lovely new comfy beds in our kennels and I get my meals served daily so what more could I want. Well to be honest I would love to have my own home and family like all the other dogs seem to get. In reality I’m a complex guy but I do have a lot of love to give when the right person comes along for me. For now I am happy to say that the Staff and Volunteers are my family and I would like to thank every one of them for their time and patience with me. Especially the staff for all of their hard work & Leanne for her lovely walks and tennis ball games & of course the photos which I hope you all enjoy! |
May 2009 |
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Sunday was a great day it marked my return to Stockgrove Country Park. I was so excited when Karina & I arrived as I could smell the sausages sandwiches - so I was on my best behaviour. I queued up with Karina and a couple of the Stockgrove regulars remembered me. After I had finished my sausage sandwich we met up with Yvonne & Jeff who adopted a lovely dog by the name of Rizzy from HULA. I remember her well and it was great to say hello again, we went for a lovely stroll through the trees and we even had a paddle in the lake so I was a great morning out. On bank holiday Monday Chris my trainer and dear friend came up to collect me with Karina and they also brought along my dear Macey. We went to the Dogs in Trainings Paddock and had a whale of a time running around off lead and playing together. Macey and I get along very well though she did tell me off for being a bit boisterous at first. I decided to be a good boy and let her have the ball – I think she liked me chasing after her. I was exhausted when I returned to HULA – it was a long weekend. I love my days out and all the special care and attention that I get from my friends at HULA.
Everyone is preparing for the Big Doggie Day on Sunday and my Dear Friend Polly is coming along to play with me and accompany me down to the parade… I have so many lovely ladies in my life. Though David Polly’s owner will be there to and he and I are great friends, mind you he hasn’t taken me to the pub since I have been back. Even so, it looks like a great weekend is ahead I hope to see some of you there. You never know somebody may spot me and see what a lovely lad I am. Luv, Kaiser xxxx |
Wednesday 10th June 2009 |
How lovely to see her in the middle of the week – she must have been taking holiday from her busy work. She took me out into the car park and met Katrina there, she’s another volunteer dog walker. I thought we may all be going for a walk around the field but Karina stopped in the car park and started putting blankets on the back seat of her car. Could it be true? Was I going for a car ride? YES! 
We headed off into the forest. It had been raining and the grass and trees were delicious to sniff. After a short time we came across a long wooden path that went right up to the tree tops. At the very end of the path there were some stairs and I was a brave boy climbing them. What a view from the top! 
On the way down we met a lady with her young son and a baby in a pram. Karina explained to them that I was a bit nervous of strangers and they seemed to understand so didn’t do the usual thing of rushing up to pet me which can be scary if you don’t know someone. By now it had started to rain quite hard and there was thunder and lightning which wasn’t very nice but we carried on walking through the woods. I was really enjoying myself. We then stopped for lunch at a café in the forest. There was a nice outside barn area where we could sit and not be disturbed by anyone. By now I was really getting used to being around Katrina too. Don’t tell anyone but when she gave me some of her cheese that’s when I decided she was definitely going to be one of my friends! I secretly think she was a bit scared of me before but I showed her how happy I was when I was out and about on my best behaviour and after that she was “putty in my paws”, she even let me give her big sloppy kisses. 
Sadly the rain didn’t stop so we couldn’t go for a longer walk but by now I was getting pretty dog tired. Back in the car I had to lay down for a bit as my eyes were getting very heavy. I think I’ll sleep well tonight! 
Thanks Karina for giving me a lovely day out. Luv, Kaiser xxxx |
July 2009 |
Where do I start, well I have had lots of visitors including my dear friend Macey the Staffordshire Bull Terrier who pops up to see me regularly and we play together. 
I am really relaxed around Macey and follow her instructions – blimey women are bossy! I have been for lots of walks off site and Karina says I am behaving like a true gentleman – we go to Woughton Park and take a wander across the fields and I get to paddle in the stream. On a Sunday we rush back so that I can get to have a sit down and a cuddle with my dear friend Katrina who accompanied me on my last day out. Katrina looks after the cats on a Sunday and I think she loves to chill out with me afterwards. 
I love being in the car but to be honest I was so tired I fell asleep on the way back. 
I have also started back at training class and am now two weeks into my training for the Bronze Good Citizen Awards. Karina and Leanne (who has taken all these wonderful photos of me at training) say I am a bit of a show off in class. Who me? Surely not! 
That's all for now - lots of luv Kaiser xx |
September 2009 |
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I am training for the Bronze Good Citizen award and even though I say so myself I think I am doing rather well! As you all know I can be a rather nervous lad but going to classes has really helped me to understand that I can be friends with dog and meet new people with no problems whatsoever & its actually fun! I have made lots of new doggie friends Bonnie, Wilf, Loki, Prozac, Toffee, Muppett & Harry. Bonnie is an ex HULA dog so its wonderful that we get to train alongside one another. I have my fifth lesson this Saturday & will soon be taking my test…. I am not sure of the exact date I think Karina is keeping it from me so I don’t get to nervous. Sunday will be a very busy day we have the HULA Fete this is a big fundraiser for us and I really do hope that its good weather on the day. One of the attractions on the day (apart from the yummy home made cakes) is the HULA dog parade. This will be taking place at 12:15 & 14:15 and all of the dogs who are available for adoption are walked by our wonderful volunteers in a parade around the main arena. These parades are a great opportunity to see us all away from the kennels and out and about enjoying ourselves. As happy and comfortable as we are at HULA opening times can be rather stressful as lots of new people are in the kennels, as many of us regard it as home we can sometimes starting barking and jumping up and sown and this can put people off. I enjoy the parades – as many of you know I first arrived at HULA in April 2007 so I this will by my fifth HULA parade. My friend Karina is going to walk me, she spent a lot of time grooming me on Sunday so that I can look at my best on the day!! So many dogs have come and gone since my arrival at HULA, though the fetes are really great as many of my old friends come back to visit so I get to say hello and see how they are doing.
Many of my old friends are surprised to see me still at HULA but everything comes to those who wait……. I have grown up at HULA and regard it as my home. I didn’t have a great start in life and ended up in a dog pound in Wales at 10 months old (sadly as there are so many strays I was due to be put to sleep) that’s until an organisation called HOPE Rescue took me and then HULA very kindly offered me a rescue space and I was transported from South Wales to Milton Keynes. I am grateful that I get looked after wonderfully and get to go to training school and lots of interesting places such as Stockgrove, the Chiltern Hill & all over really. I hope that one day somebody will come along and take the time to get to know me and find out that behind my initial nervousness lays a true friend & character. All for now luv Kaiser xxx 
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October 2009 |
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He's kindly let me take over his blog as I wanted to tell you all about our friendship. When I first volunteered at HULA I started out with virtually no experience of dogs other than the friendly pooch variety owned by friends and family. You could safely say that I would give a very wide berth to any dog who so much as bared his teeth or barked a bit too vociferously. Although I still consider myself to be a novice with dogs I do have a much better understanding of their needs and body language. More importantly I have learned that with time, patience and the correct advice you can build a great relationship with a dog, even one who may have some “issues” such as difficulty meeting strangers (close your ears to this bit Kaiser!). My first meeting with Kaiser did not get off to a good start, less said the better! However I readily admit it was entirely my fault as I approached too quickly, without realising he didn’t recognise me and that he would be very nervous. What a pair we were as I ended up scared of him too! Thankfully Karina intervened. She obviously recognised that we (Kaiser and myself) both needed a bit of counselling and decided to work with us. Each week Karina would invite me to go for a walk with her and Kaiser around the fields. At first it was pretty obvious that Kaiser and I were ignoring each other as much as possible, it was a bit like an awkward blind date. I would sit and have a coffee outside HULA reception and a good gossip with Karina – all the time studiously ignoring Kaiser and he couldn’t have cared less as long as I kept my distance. This went on for several weeks but gradually you could see that both of us were less tense in each other’s presence and eventually I started speaking to him – occasionally he would look at me but nothing more. I then took his lead a couple of times when walking around the field and started to interact a bit more but each time we made sure it was a very low key introduction. Sometimes he probably didn’t even realise straight away that Karina had handed me his lead. The big change in our relationship came with our "Grand Day Out to Salcey Forest" (see above). Throughout the day I was the person giving the treats and he was suddenly very attentive!! Since then there has been no looking back for both of us. I am constantly amazed that no matter what he’s doing at the time, if I approach Kaiser to say hello he immediately recognises me and I get a tail wag. There are no more hard “Paddington bear like” stares as if to say I don’t know you and I’m not sure I trust you. I now have complete trust in how Kaiser will behave with me and I believe vice-versa. We have great fun together with lots of cuddles including wet slobbery dog kisses! Kaiser and I are a real example that sometimes a dog (and the human) just need time, patience and understanding to build the trust required for a fabulous friendship.  Thanks Kaiser boy for your friendship. I do so hope you get the loving home you deserve. Your friend, Katrina x |
November 2009 |
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Sorry I haven’t written for a little while, my friend Katrina very kindly wrote my last blog as I have been rather busy... I have some great news I am really proud to announce that on Saturday I passed my Kennel Club Bronze Good Citizen Award !!!I am so happy about this - these are some of the tasks that were in the exam :-
"Celebrations with the HULA staff" Well I did all the tasks for the exam and I am now the proud owner of a Kennel Club Rosette and Certificate and I’m just so delighted. I hope you can see them in my picture above - they are pinned on the wall behind my self and the Hula management! Though the rosette now has pride of place on my kennel door…possibly not for much longer as my other news is that I am possibly going to a new home I have met my prospective new family and they are lovely so we are spending the next few weeks getting to know one another. I would like to take this opportunity to say a very special "Kaiser thank you" to Angela Wilkins of Dogs in Training who has always believed in me and gave myself and Karina a wonderful opportunity to join her training school and train to achieve my Bronze Good Citizen award. I am a very proud but tired boy at the moment. Karina & I have a party to attend this Saturday as we are going to meet up with my classmates and celebrate our success!! Will update you all soon, Luv Kaiser xx ps thought you may like to see some photos of me celebrating with my training pals. 
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UPDATE |
You may be surprised to see a new blog from me but this is just a very quick update to all my loyal supporters. As some of you may know I was due to leave HULA at the end of November but I'm sorry to say that my potential new home fell through. I wasn't quite the right dog for this family but that's OK, I had a wonderful time meeting them and going for walks. I wish them all well in finding a new canine pal in the New Year. As for me, well it's busy as ever and Karina has me hard at work on training for my Silver/Gold Citizenship Award. Can you believe it? I amaze myself sometimes with how far I've come in such a short time. Classes have already started and I'll bring you a new blog and pictures very soon. Luv for now, Kaiser xx |
JANUARY 2010 |
Again, this is not Kaiser speaking. He’s too busy ordering someone for cuddles or a ball throw or something, I’m sure. I’d just like to let his good blog followers know how great he really is. Since I’ve been a volunteer Kaiser has been a good friend. Always willing for walks off anyone and always getting them! When Kaiser started his Bronze Training back in the late Summer of last year Karina asked me if I was willing to handle him for a couple of classes - which I was more than happy to accept. Kaiser is SUCH a willing dog it’s a pleasure to handle/teach him he just LOVES learning; gets so much out of it! One of the things I do just love about Kaiser is the way he just throws himself into a ‘Down’ position with such excitement - something about it makes me chuckle. 
At the weekend I also handled him for his 3rd class of Silver/Gold training and since I’d not seen him learning this stuff previously I was just amazed at once again how much more he can do. He does it all with such ease - he actually gets rather smug I think a bit of a show off is Kaiser! He just has the best personality the moment he sees someone he knows he gets all wriggly and waggy and jumps around in excitment until you get close enough for him to smother your face with his kisses. There’s a home waiting out there for this gorgeous boy he has so much to offer and such joy to bring to your lives I know he has to everyone at HULA that knows him. From one of Kaiser’s slaves, Leanne x |
JANUARY 2010 |
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This is not Kaiser speaking. He’s too busy ordering someone for cuddles or a ball throw or something, I’m sure. I’d just like to let his good blog followers know how great he really is. Since I’ve been a volunteer Kaiser has been a good friend. Always willing for walks off anyone and always getting them! When Kaiser started his Bronze Training back in the late Summer of last year Karina asked me if I was willing to handle him for a couple of classes - which I was more than happy to accept. Kaiser is SUCH a willing dog it’s a pleasure to handle/teach him he just LOVES learning; gets so much out of it! One of the things I do just love about Kaiser is the way he just throws himself into a ‘Down’ position with such excitement - something about it makes me chuckle.
At the weekend I also handled him for his 3rd class of Silver/Gold training and since I’d not seen him learning this stuff previously I was just amazed at once again how much more he can do. He does it all with such ease - he actually gets rather smug I think a bit of a show off is Kaiser! He just has the best personality the moment he sees someone he knows he gets all wriggly and waggy and jumps around in excitment until you get close enough for him to smother your face with his kisses. There’s a home waiting out there for this gorgeous boy he has so much to offer and such joy to bring to your lives I know he has to everyone at HULA that knows him. From one of Kaiser’s slaves, Leanne x |
YET MORE ADVENTURES..... |
To read the final instalment of Kaiser's HULA adventures please Click Here |
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