Introducing Baxter!

I meant to post about him months ago but my blogging habits have been particularly bad recently, so apologies for that! This post is mostly photostory but has a guide to how I made him at the end as well.

After months of discussion and preparation, Max and Juno had started looking for a dog to call their own. The house just felt too empty without a pet so they decided to try out some of the local rescue centres for their new friend. Dogs of all shapes and sizes were fussed and admired, but none had that spark that made them immediately want to take them home.

 'Remember, nothing too small and yappy...so no terriers!' said Max. 

'They're too nippy, even if they are cute!'

Juno nodded.  'Nothing too big though either, we don't have that much space!'

A muffled bark from behind them alerted them to one they hadn't noticed before.

'What about this one?'

'The sign says he's a Greyhound/Collie mix, only two years old...oh and he's called Baxter.'

 

'It also says he's been here since he was a puppy! Poor thing, why hasn't he been adopted by now?'

'He certainly seems friendly...'

'Very friendly!'

'He sounds perfect, but let's see if we can take him out for a walk and see how we get on first before we make any decisions'

After a long talk with the staff about him, they learned that he'd never really been socialised much as a puppy and it was only now, after a lot of work, that he was able to be rehomed. It certainly wasn't a dealbreaker though, and they were keen to take him out and get to know him.

The rescue centre had very large grounds which backed onto a loch, so it was the perfect place for a nice long walk. Baxter was raring to go, but wasn't too demanding all things considered.

It was obvious that he just loved attention...

...and playing fetch.

'So, what do you think? Should we go for him?' said Max, smiling.

Juno nodded. 'Definitely! Welcome to the family, Baxter!'

And so it was that Baxter came to live with them, and it wasn't long before he became an absolutely essential part of their life.They took him out shopping, on walks - even on holiday.

...but more on holidays...later. :P

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What lurks beneath all that fluff I wonder? Well, this!

He has a simple wire and pipecleaner skeleton...

 

...and his head and feet are made from Super Sculpey and Milliput.

 I gave him a simple hinged jaw so he can open his mouth - he did originally have lots of teeth but they didn't look right so he's a bit gummy now, lol. I drilled a couple of holes in his head later for ear wires.

I discovered when I trimmed down the fur fabric that it actually has an uneven spotty pattern so I had to colour over that with copic markers to disguise them.

I trimmed the offcuts very fine to use as flock and longer fur for the face. His ears are half felt, half fur fabric and I put in a couple of hidden stitches so he'll keep holding them like that.

The opening mouth comes in VERY handy for holding props.

The rawhide chew in the above picture is just a strip of chamois leather with two knots tied in it, and then soaked in starchy stiffening solution for fabric.

I made him some treats out of fimo and altered a tiny plastic bag to fit so now he can be really obvious about his desire for food. XD

By far my favourite thing has to be his tongue, and it's not even that exciting! It's literally just painted leather that I added a bit of gloss to, and it's completely removable so I can add it in for photos and take it off again for safekeeping.

I really want them to have a cat as well so watch this space!