3 years on and he couldn't be happier, healthier or more loved....

Three years ago we said our goodbyes with lots of tears but as expected there was no need to worry about Clark, he soon settled in at Fowey and has been waited on hand and foot every since! A true prince in his castle.

We have had plenty of visits and he has come back to us on holiday plenty of times which has made me so very happy. He continues to have a hobbly leg when he is sore but generally, he is in fantastic health for a 10 years old ish dog.

He now has a new sister, Peggy Poo, whom he adores and they have formed a lovely bond of friendship. When comes to us he immediately falls back in with my girls and loves a romp around the fields with them.

Clarkus Barkus changed our lives, and we changed his, I guess. Fostering is hard going on the heart but brings with it so much joy and love. Terrier SOS always need fosterers and have wonderful dogs just like Clarkie who need a loving supportive home to blossom back into the dogs they were before abuse or abandonment - if you can please foster!!

20th May 2014

One year ago today I was on tenterhooks...... Clark was due to arrive in the morning and he was our first foster dog. We were both terrified and excited.

Previous posts in this blog charted his arrival, his time with us and then him finding a forever home. One year on and Clark is happily settled in his forever home with Lisa and Gill, his mums. 

We had the honour of looking after Clark for almost 6 months and in that time we totally fell in love with both him and Wire Fox Terriers in general. 

There were times when I cried both for his illnesses and his fears but came to laughed and love him all the more for the leaps and bounds he made getting both well and happy. 

He left us on the 9th November and has not looked back. He is so loved and although it broke my heart to watch him leave I knew he would be safe and loved for the rest of his life...... I couldn't have let him go if I didn't believe that. 

He recently came back to us for a little holiday whilst his mums had a weekend away and he slipped back into life here in Carnkie just as if he had never left but when Gill and Lisa walked in the door to collect him he went mad - jumping, wagging, chatting, wriggling in joy and that made me happier than any other time - not only do they love him dearly but clearly he loves them dearly too. 

What a difference a year makes, for us and for Clark. Terrier SOS have some amazing dogs, who like Clark, need love and care. If you can foster one please please get in touch. 

One year on.........

13th December 2013 was the day Clark started his journey to safety. He was taken under the care of Terrier SOS and his life changed from that day forward. It took almost another 6 months for him to arrive here in the UK and since then he has blossomed into the most gorgeous, happy and loved WFT we know! 

He is settled, happy and very deeply loved in his forever home with Lisa & Gill. Clark is living the high life, walks twice a day, good food, plenty of toys to play with and best of all a family to love and whom love him. He has come a very long way and I often wonder how much of his old life he remembers..... he did take umbrage against the church warden carrying a long stick so I guess somewhere in there he remembers some unpleasant treatment. :( 

He's a great help with the chores! 

Snoozing with mum.

You talking to me?!

Clark loves his walks they have been especially helpful in his settling in period and if he became stressed Gill & Lisa took him for walk which helped settle him down. He loves to go around the village, meeting all the residents, intent on chasing a cat he regularly spots and he loves the beach! 

Making Sand Angels, a favorite pass time. 

Checking on the ferry service and its Christmas Lights display.

Come on mum, lets go for a paddle!!

Handsome and happy.

Could he be any cuter!!

Deeply loved and cared for.

Its been a hard time for me since he left as I have missed him so much, knowing he is safe and loved helps but the fact remains he took a little bit of my heart with him when he left. I would so love to see him, cuddle him and tickle his speckled tummy but he needs to move on fully before I can. I am counting the days down to our 3 month check! Worse of all today he visited Rosemullion Vets in Helston to have his vaccines and my colleagues got to see him and I didn't! Siobhan is happy with him and although he now needs to use the Optimmune in both eyes he is doing really well. 

12 months on and Clark is now safe, loved and has his whole life to enjoy his new home and family. We struck gold when we agreed to foster this little boy and then we struck gold again in finding him a perfect forever home. 

Happy Christmas Clark and I hope 2015 is the best year you have ever had! 

Clarky update!

Its been two weeks since Clark left us for his forever home in Fowey and we have missed him like mad!  There has been lots of tears but Gill & Lisa have sent daily updates with lots of photos which has helped us enormously.  

His first week was difficult for him and he was off his food but he is bonding with them every day and is now eating again. He has lots of toys to play with and they are enjoying walks with him. He loves his walks and they have been helping him settle by taking him out when he has become stressed or upset. 

All in all he has settled amazing well and they are all getting on great! 

Some pics of him in his new pad courtesy of Lisa & Gill.

Wet look! 

The view is evidently wasted on Clark!

Lisa's term - sun puddling! Love it!

The intrepid snake slayer!

Snoozy bed

Making himself at home

Tug of war

Hmmmmm not spoilt at all... :)

Bath time!

You talking to me! 

Lounging 

Handsome boy

We are so glad he is loved, VERY much loved by his new family and is settling in well. 

I will bring you another update soon.

Remember if you can offer a foster home or adoptive home to a wonderful terrier like Clark please have a look at the gorgeous pups on the Terrier SOS website!

http://www.terriersos.com/dogs/viking-10-year-old-wire-fox-terrier/

and so he has left for Fowey and a long and happy life .........

Today's the day..... the day Clark Kent, aka Superman, Clarkus Barkus, Clarky Bark left us to go to his forever home with Lisa & Gill. It has been a roller coaster of emotions since 20th May when he arrived here, scared, smelly and sad. 

We had a tear filled day, a lovely walk in the fields this morning and a photo or ten taken! 

On our final walk in the fields

Happy cuddles with Rob

After our walk we had more cuddles.....

Funny, happy and loved

I spent the rest of the time with him alternating between crying and smiling at him, cuddling, taking photos and promising him I'd always be here if he needed me (not that he will of course!!) 

After many tears, cuddles and hugs the time soon came around to 2pm and Gill & Lisa arrived to collect the remaining bits and pieces of medication and of course the most wonderful, handsome, happy, funny Wire Fox Terrier - Clark Kent!

We had decided that the best thing to do was go for a walk as usual and then for Gill & Lisa to take him home with them from there. It was awful and one of the worst days I have experienced, my heart was breaking every moment that led up to them driving away.

We had a good walk, lots of laughs and happy times.

Full of energy, flying over the stones!

Doing a very good impression of Shaun the Sheep!

So after 40 minutes or so we made our way back to the car and to our final goodbyes. It was so very hard to watch him hop up into his cage and shut the door..........

Tears are still flowing and will probably continue to do so for a while but I know that he is loved and will be treated like a prince with Lisa & Gill, a better home could not have been found for him. 

and so from this photo taken on 20th May, the day he arrived from Spain.........

To this, 5 months later, happier, healthier and truly a Superman to me and many others.

Thank you for following Clark's story, this blog has brought many people to together and has developed a 'Clark Kent' fan club on Facebook and further afield.  It has helped me no end and I have a detailed record of his time with us. 

I will do my best to periodically update you all with Clark's progress in his new home and with his new family.

In the mean time if any of you have been inspired to foster or adopt please look at Terrier SOS website and help those dogs that have been abandoned and abused. Thank you!!!

Let down by railings! Clark is staying an extra week!

We had been preparing for Clark's departure tomorrow but yesterday Gill & Lisa called to say they had been let down by the man putting up the railings to make their garden secure for Clark. They are so upset as without a secure area for Clark in the garden he cannot go to live with them yet. They had been promised the railings and gates would be fitted by the end of the month but it is now being done next week, so 'D' day has moved to next week, Remembrance Sunday, ironic hey.

Clarky, of course, is oblivious but Lisa and Gill are naturally upset and it has been hard for me building up to tomorrow. I have another week of cuddles but another week of despondence at his leaving here. Its a funny thing really, my tears and sadness are for my loss not for Clark as he is going to have a wonderful life, it is purely selfish and self indulgent of me. 

For this weeks preparations they all had a bath yesterday morning and I had the camera out taking some final pics, or so I thought! 

Bathed and sweet smelling!

After doing triple zoomies they all thought it was guarding time but only after having dried off on the bed :( 

Clark makes a wonderful model and he is happy for me to take lots of pictures of him....I remember being told when he first arrived that he was camera shy but I think he was just so worried and scared he didn't know that a camera was. Now he is such a poser! 

He loves playing with the girls and he loves to sit on the bed with them surveying the village entrance and letting us know when someone is on the move out there. 

Three woolly beards!

Clark loves a comfy bed and usually sleeps in Molly's bed next to the radiator in the living room however he decided to try Wena's out for size this week......

He's getting very brave as Wen is particularly attached to her bed next to Rob's chair, thankfully she was out on cat patrol in the back garden and he had a little snooze in it before deciding Molly's was comfier!

His confidence has grown so very much since he arrived, he was really very scared of Rob initially and it took him many weeks to start to trust him. Now he will lie and have cuddles and tummy tickles confidently, emitting little groans of pleasure.

He strides out despite his smashed pelvis and he will be leaving us in the best possible health. He no longer leaks urine, he is a healthy weight, his eyes are really comfortable, his limp is minimal and only occurs after too much exercise, which we try not to do with him. 

All in all this Superman really is flying high! 

If you would like to adopt a terrierist please please please look at the Terrier SOS website, there are plenty in need of a loving forever home!!

http://www.terriersos.com/dogs/bernie-fox-terrier/

....and we come to our last week.......

Each day that passes brings us closer to the day that Clark moves to Fowey and I am finding it increasing difficult to think about. These dogs from Spain, saved by Terrier SOS, who arrive here scared, scarred, poorly, thin, dirty, and lucky to be alive, thrive with love and care. Clark is a different dog to the one who arrived on 20th May. He is funny, cheeky, loving, trusting, and such a sweet natured chap....how lucky were we to be the ones chosen to foster him!?

My fears noted in my first post have mostly been unfounded and not caused the worry I had anticipated however one thing I didn't anticipate was just how much they wiggle their way into your heart! I didn't think I would be so sad but I feel real grief at his leaving us. I frequently end up in tears and yesterday on the way home from a lovely day at our agility club the radio played the theme from the 1970's Superman film written by John Williams (one of my favorite composers). I spent the whole 5 mins of the piece crying for a WFT Superman who has captured my heart. 

Despite knowing Clark is going to the very best home any of us could have ever wanted for him at present it gives me little comfort.  We are preparing a bag of comforts for him for his first few nights which we hope will calm him. He has an Adaptil collar, his beds have all been washed today so the are clean'ish when he leaves us but have plenty of both his and my smell on them. He will also be taking some Scullcap and Valerian to help his stress ....maybe I should take some too!! 

Gill and Lisa are also making lots of preparations to make the transition easier for him and he will be loved and cared for by them so very well. Fortunately they have offered to take lots of photos and give me regular updates...... I'll be passing on these to this blog too!

We are making the most of his remaining time with us and today went to our favorite place to walk with them all. Clark has grown in confidence so much that he and Wena now play chase and 'almost bitey face' ...he's not yet brave enough for full on 'bitey face'! 

Clark joining in a game of chase and fast moving 'bitey face'!

Sowena and Molly playing chase.

Clark's recall is getting better and better!

I have also had some fun with Clark this week making a Superman costume for Clark.....after all he deserves to be recognised for his true self! 

I'll be bringing you one more update before he leaves us but it may be tear stained and have lots of typo's!!