We own a number of domains – at least a dozen. So for many years we have been customers for good quality web hosting. Like many other areas of business, there can be pitfalls in the setting up of domain names and websites.The choice of domain name registrar is crucial – offers of ‘free’ domain names are not worth considering.  Make sure you own your domain, not some registration company.  Suppose your domain became the next facebook: how upset would you be if it was not registered in your name?  Enough said!

Another aspect of the service that makes a difference is making sure you have scope to host multiple domains with your web hosting service.  One of our SEO clients was paying much more than our host charges, but she was only permitted to put one domain on her account.  That is a very poor deal, and not recommended.  Unless you have mega traffic you should be able to host unlimited domains through your web host for less than $30 per month.

In my last article I explained how we found a two year old Welsh Terrier for sale online. This really was an answer to my prayers: after a discussion on the practicalities of collecting her from Manchester we rang back and asked them to reserve Lula (that’s the name she already had) to rehome with us.  The owners were distraught at parting with their Welsh Terrier but they both worked demanding shift patterns and could not give sufficent time to caring for Lula.  To show that I was serious about adopting the dog I sent a deposit and emailed some references that they could check.  This was important – they did not offer her to a rescue organisation as they wanted to know who adopted Lula, to reassure themselves that she was going to a loving home.

Lula playing Tug

Lula is happy to play tug all day

One week later my husband travelled north to bring Lula back, and after a sad parting from her original family Lula sat quietly in the car for the five hour journey and she behaved perfectly.  She had her own crate, food and treats with her so that we could give her continuity.  When they arrived I greeted her with a big kiss (of course), and she explored her new surroundings curiously.  We made sure we fed her soon after arriving, and then took her to the local pub for a drink.  Lula took all this in her stride, and was introduced to plenty of new people and dogs. Her capacity to cope with such a big change has a lot to do with the sturdy and dependable qualities for which Welsh Terriers are renowned.  Incredibly, at the end of her first evening, she had already shown us one of her favourite games – ‘Tug’.  Here is a nice photo of the first of many games of tug – we get plenty of exercise, too. that is one of the reasons I ahve not posted many articles about Lula yet: I am so occupied playing with her, taking her for walks and – best of all – cuddling her.