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Meet Hendricks the dog and Alice

Alice and Hendricks on the canal

When rescue dog Hendricks was dreaming of his forever home, he might not have imagined that it would be a narrowboat.

But that's exactly what it was and thanks to his ‘first mates' Alice and Chris, who fell in love with the 18-month-old Spaniel Cross when they met him at Dogs Trust Shrewsbury, he is now thoroughly enjoying new adventures on our canals and rivers.

Alice and Chris made the houseboat their full-time home a year ago, and realised that they had an ideal lifestyle for a dog.

Alice says: "Living on a boat gives us the freedom to go wherever we need to for work and we realised it's perfect for a dog. Hendricks loves walking along the towpaths but even more than that he loves exploring new places. We move around a lot, heading off to somewhere different every week or so, so it's never boring for him.

"At first so he could get used to the noise of the engine, I'd walk Hendricks alongside the boat but now he's more than happy to sit back and relax inside whilst we do all the work. He usually stretches out on the sofa but gets himself in a position where he can still keep an eye on what we're doing.

"When he comes up on deck with us he likes to make sure he has a good viewing position which usually means putting his paws on my knees, much to the amusement of passing boaters and walkers."

photo of a location on the canals
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