Welcome to the crazy world of Digger The Wonder Dog.

We rescued Digger in March 2011 after we lost our dear pet, Misa.  Taihla, our other Boxer, struggled with the loss the most and became depressed.  We were giving ourselves options on how to deal with this, did we get a puppy or a completely different breed altogether?  Then the text came through………

 Lisa, a volunteer with Boxer Welfare Scotland sent me a text asking me to think seriously about contacting the group.  I have to say I wasn’t too keen on the idea, to me rescued dogs were in rescue for a pretty good reason.  My preconceived ideas have been forgotten and I am now a “rescue bore”, telling everyone about the group and trying my best to get others to think seriously about rescue when choosing a new family pet.    I took some time reading through the website, filled in the online form and thought I would have a few days to mull things over before anyone called me back, wrong.  The phone was ringing within 5 minutes.  After a very long chat with Lorraine I agreed to visit Digger a few days later.

On the Sunday morning myself, Jimmy and Taihla set off to meet him.  We were both worried that something would go wrong, the dogs wouldn’t get on, he wouldn’t like us or that he may have issues that we just couldn’t deal with.  We loved him from the moment he came out, he was a typical Boxer, lively, friendly and a little bit nutty.  Within an hour we were on our way home, Digger and Taihla in the back pretending not to notice each other.

Things were good for the first couple of days, the dogs were getting on well, Digger was the model of obedience and we counted our blessings that Digger had come into our lives.  The first sign of what was coming our way began when Digger went missing one day, we have a large garden which was, in our opinion, dog proof so we were confident he was just hiding within the garden somewhere.  When he just appeared 10 minutes later we thought nothing of it, little did we know.   We later discovered that Digger had been leaping over the gate to the side of the house and jumping into the field before leaping back and pretending that he had been there the whole time. It became apparent a few days later when Digger appeared outside the gate that all was not as peachy as we first thought.  This was to become the pattern for the next few weeks, Digger escaping, us crawling around looking for his route out then frantically rushing to Forfar for yet another piece of trellis.  Almost the entire boundary had been patched up with something, trellis, chicken wire, old wooden shower trays, you name it we had used it.  He was leaping over gates (remove gate, build new one), onto 6 foot high pillars (massive flower pots on top) and my personal favourite, through the hedge.  Now, you may think that a 6 stone Boxer leaping through a hedge is no biggy but the hedge in question is a beech hedge, around 6 foot deep and made of pretty sturdy stuff.  Just when we thought that we had cracked it he would go and find another teeny hole to get through, the final bit for escape being him climbing on top of the coal bunker then onto the wood shed then attempting to leap through the hedge from there.  I think it’s safe to say that we might have finally won this particular battle but the war continues……….

I’m writing this blog for a few reasons, the first being that so many people have approached me and passed comment on Diggers little adventures.  He is often mentioned in my Facebook updates and I have a many pictures of what he gets up to which I like to share, believe me they are too good not to.  Another reason is because oor Digger has started being a little bit naughty as far as behaviour goes and we are embarking on a plan of action which I want to share with you all.  As Digger is a rescue dog, we don’t know what really makes him tick yet, really tick.  I have seen him react to things completely randomly and I have started calling these triggers.  One of these being that he seems to lose the plot at strong Aberdeen accents, he starts mouthing and has even chewed through his lead on one occasion when Jimmy was chatting to a neighbour.  One very important part of Diggers rehabilitation is getting him to love the cat.  Poor George was ousted the day Digger moved in and we need to get them to live in harmony.  We have a number of techniques which we plan to try out but would be very happy if anyone had any suggestions.

Anyway, let’s get back to his adventures.  As most of you know, it is part of your agreement with BWS that your dog is neutered.  Digger was very thin when he came to live with us, he had struggled with being in kennels and anxiety had caused him to lose weight.  It was decided that we would wait a few weeks before having this done and get some weight on his bones.  Around 3 weeks later Digger had his “plums aff”. I have to say that he was quite the perfect dog on that first vet visit, after this things went the only way they could where Digger is involved – south, deep south.  It was a few days after his operation that he started to swell down below, I called the vet to update them (they had warned me that this might happen), I was told to keep an eye on it and let them know if it got any worse.  Over the next few days the swelling was worse and the vet said to bring him in.  This was the first of a few nightmare visits (it’s a 2 man job now).  Diggers level of anxiety was off the chart, the vet couldn’t get a look so I suggested that I get him to put his front paws on my shoulders so she had a clear view.  We tried this and she was able to diagnose the problem, note to vet, don’t EVER stand over an anxious dog.  Digger, it would appear, decided that she who had pinched his manhood would suffer and once the examination was over jumped up, head butted her under the chin and sent her through the air.  From a spectators perspective the whole thing happened in slow motion, if I close my eyes now I can still see it and it still brings tears to my eyes.  After an awkward few moments lying in the corner she appeared to get her breath back and uttered the words “he’s a lively one”.  I  don’t think she was really too impressed when I started to laugh, I did apologise on his behalf but I couldn’t help myself, it was quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen.  Digger must have caused some concussion because when I went to pay I was told that there was no charge, good boy Digger.  I’m thinking that if I take him with me to the bank, he could deck the manager and we might have our mortgage wiped out, we can dream………..

Diggers vet issues have happened twice since that day.  He had his stitches out and left a trail of foam on the vets hair (I didn’t have the heart to own upto that one) and just a couple of weeks ago when he developed a limp.  It had appeared from nowhere and he didn’t seem to be in any pain, I checked him over and found nothing so with a heavy heart I arranged to take him in.  He was his usual anxious self when the vet checked him, he found nothing obvious and diagnosed a strained muscle.  As we left the room we passed the next patient, a cute little spaniel who for some reason made Digger nuts, he started straining to get at the poor wee thing.  His tail was wagging frantically and I really don’t think he would have hurt him, merely body slammed him in an attempt to play.  Digger decided to slip his collar and as luck would have it the shock of his successful escape left him rooted to the spot, I found myself actually going for a tackle whilst shouting “help” to the receptionist.  The spaniels owners must have wondered what the hell was going on but beat a hasty retreat into the consulting room whilst me and the receptionist set Digger straight.  That was the moment I decided that vets visits will always be a 2 man job, he’s far too devious for 1.

His mum Doreen wanted to start a blog to tell everyone about Diggers antics that keep them laughing everyday.