Hi everybody, it’s the beginning of a new week, all the introductions have been made, so hopefully you will be getting to know me and the team by now, if not, just take a look at our other blog posts or visit our face group and say hello.

This post is aimed at families with children, be they your kids, grandkids or visiting little people.

I have 2 grandchildren that come to visit, I know, I know, I look far to fabulous to have grandchildren, especially one that has hit her teens.

However, when they come to visit it is difficult to find something for them both to enjoy.

So we visited the canil, to help with photographing some dogs, my little grandson who was 4 at the time, enjoyed himself but found it a little too noisy.

But my granddaughter loved it from start to finish, so much so she now comes to visit and help with anything she can.

She has found that she absolutely loves dogs and is very good with them, still more of a cat person though, but she gets to stroke so many by the front door of the canil.

The dogs she has met have loved her visiting, she has gotten to hold and cuddle the very small puppies, played ball with older puppies and played on the grass with bigger dogs.

You cannot imagine how beneficial this is for the dogs, to actually get the chance to play and be out with people.

For the puppies, having extra cuddles, they do get plenty from the canil team, means that they are able to start socialising earlier.

I cannot stress enough how good this is for the dogs.

But there are other benefits, my granddaughter has started to get an understanding of dog rescue, and how there are so many dogs, and cats, that need help and love. Unfortunately her family are not in a position to have a dog, but they have now got a rescue cat, and every time she visits us the highlight of her trip is no longer the crepes with strawberries, cream and Nutella, it is coming to visit the dogs. And before Christmas, she also helped on the Christmas Stall at the alternativo Market, speaking mainly to our Portuguese customers.

And from a totally selfish point of view, I now have a fabulous new thing for just me and her, this is our special thing that we do together, and it costs a lot less than that crepe.

So if you are in the Tomar area with teenage children and would like to do something different that has so many benefits, get in touch with the canil directly.

There are always opportunities for volunteers to walk the dogs, photograph the dogs or spend time there with the dogs.

This could be your thing with your teen.

You will need to comply with any canil restrictions, such as completing documentation etc.

If you are interested in volunteering, then get in touch with the municipal canil via their facebook page CRO Tomar

That’s it for now, see you later in the week and please share our posts so that we can meet as many people as possible that may be ready to find their 4 legged friend.