Meet the 'boys'!
I thought I would introduce you to the dogs. I have two scruffy little white dogs; the larger of the two being a Bichon has pathetically large eyes and always looks at us as if we're about to break his heart. We return home to his desperation, where the poor dog genuinely thought we had died and he would never see us again. He's a rehomed dog and we are his third owners as he was too needy for anyone else. For quite a while a rehomed dog doesn't give you much in return until you win their trust and although we're almost there; Scruffy will still whistle and whine in the car, whine at the door and secure himself to either of our ankles in case we might step out of his sight at any moment. He cost very little, doesn't eat much and Bichons don't require miles and miles of walking and combing his hair is a relaxing as meditation.
Bobby Dazzler, on the other hand, is a sparky, beautiful and minute dictator! No one stays in bed when he wants a walk, no one has any peace if he wants a lap and this dog does not lack confidence. We rehomed him at six months old and Maltese terriers usually find good homes by the time they are 12 weeks old......but not this one. He came from Port Isaac on New year's eve of 2006 and has guarded us with a fierce loyalty ever since. He has also guarded Scruffy, who has Bobby to ride shot gun with him, wherever he goes. Bobby Dazzler is definitely the 'Del Boy' of the two, whilst Scruffy remains the hapless 'Rodney'. Like teenage boys, who can be perfectly behaved for grand parents and visitors, Bobby and Scruff can wreak havoc. Scruff loves to tip over the bin, dig out the cat litter tray, climb into the dishwasher, whilst Bobby refuses to be house trained and will, when you least expect him to, piddle on the kitchen floor!
They are though, wonderfully entertaining and loyal to the point of fixation. I am often home alone in the school holidays, whilst dearly beloved is at work and we're often filling hours of our lives with their company. Inspite of their tiny size, they will both walk over moors and cliff paths and will spend hours in the garden with us and where we go, they go.
But are they frugal? We don't insure them. We take that risk. We clean their teeth to keep them healthy, we groom them so they don't become tangled and they eat very little. They live for years and years and now we have the two; we can't possibly go abroad on holiday so we're saving the cost of the ferry and camping. They are an indulgence but I don' t holiday, buy clothes, don't drink or smoke, don't go any where that costs money and they are the cheapest form of tranquilisers you could ever get.
We do a lot of shopping around online before we buy anything at all, we always check the main supermarkets, compare it with Lidl and Aldi, look at local discount stores such as Trago Mills and then look in the local shops. This month, the cheapest pet supplies were in 'Pets at home' We bought more than a month's supply as we know we need to buy more diesel next month to see the family so we stocked up whilst we could afford to. We bought two months supply of cat food for 19.32 for 96 sachets and a very large box of dry food for 2.22. The dogs are fed for £8 a month. We bought far more cat litter than we need but it doesn't go off and it is the very posh kind that doesn't smell! Say no more!
