Introducing Blu

Welcome to Blu’s introduction! Blu is my rescue dog, I got him back in 2015 and he was around 6 months - 1 year old when adopted. This is a little section on his backstory, why he’s so important to Ichiban & what work we plan to do in the future to support rescue dogs around the world.

Where Blu came from

Blu was advertised by a local rescue to me at the time, under the name Hammer. I had been asking my parents if I could get a dog of my own as at this time in my life I felt really lost, depressed and alone. I truly believe that Blu is and always will be my ‘soul dog’.

When my parents agreed, we had two family dogs at home already and they believed a female would fit the pack dynamic; so I rang the rescue originally about a husky called Miska. I was then told she had been adopted & asked if I had seen Hammer on the site (I hadn’t!). I told my parents and they were not convinced at ALL! We still went to see him, I took him for a walk and he came home with us that day to try out living with the rest of us and see if he was comfortable around the other dogs. 

When we got him home, you could tell he really didn’t care too much about us humans and just wanted to explore. He was so shy, scared of any fast movements and loud noises. He found comfort in the other dogs being so docile (although our oldest Maisy was not so keen on playing!) 

I told my parents he’s perfect & should stay, again they still weren’t convinced as he was so distant from people (but I think given his history I would have been too). They agreed to let me keep him, so we went back and signed the papers; Blu was officially my dog.

The first night he was home, he came upstairs to my room, jumped on the bed and had cuddles almost all night! He’s got the funniest character and so crazy. He, being a husky cross, was also vocal which we discovered very quickly!

Over the next week or so, I decided on his name as he didn’t answer to Hammer at all (many dogs in rescues have little to no history, so get given names at random). He responded to Blu quickly as it was easy and short for him to remember. Many people believe I named him Blu for his eyes, but he’s actually named after the raptor from Jurassic Park!

Unfortunately the rescue didn’t have any history on him as he was rescued from the pound. Had he not been, then Blu would’ve been put down. I believe that his start to life was not a nice one; his breed is very mixed which means he more than likely came from a back yard breeder or puppy mill, ended up with a family who thought he was ‘cute’ not realising how much work huskies are. 

His behaviour suggests he’s been hit and abused, and our theory is that he was either dumped somewhere or escaped (He’s very good at finding gaps in fences, hedging and so on). Either way, he was left unclaimed when found and ended up in the rescue that I then adopted him from. Blu is the most loving dog you’ll ever meet, even with his mild behavioural issues, I wouldn’t change him for the world.

Why is Blu important to Ichiban?When I purchased my MX5 Blu took quite the interest in this car. He’d come and sit in the passenger seat no matter what I was doing on the car; whether it was cleaning, driving or working on it! Unfortunately he’s a bit.. stupid sometimes, so having a soft top wasn’t an option with Blu in the passenger seat, as he’d attempt to jump out of moving vehicles when he saw other dogs or something interesting (not ideal, I know!) 

Lucky for him, I don’t mind a hardtop with the window down! After a while I decided I want to make the MX5 Blu’s legacy car. What I mean by this is creating a car that captures the essence of Blu, which to many people probably sounds crazy - but that’s okay, I don’t mind being a little crazy! This car has become an ongoing project that will feature intricate art, design and style all about Blu so that wherever it goes, people get to feel this boys love and presence.

It’s not a project that will be finished overnight as cars, which I’m sure you’re aware, are expensive to work on, fix and change! The MX5’s are notorious for rusting, which mine has lots of. Ideally I’d like to fully refurbish this issue before starting any more cosmetic work; but this will take a long while of savings on my front. In the mean time, I’ll be making custom door cards, respraying the roof, adding custom engraved sill covers and other bits to the car that I’ve had planned for a long while now, before moving onto replacing coil-overs, welding, body kits and potentially swapping the wheels from reps to something a little different. 

I hope to have Blu along for all of this journey with the car & the build, but no matter what happens it will get finished to the standard I envision for his legacy.

Blu and the rescue charities

Blu & I will be releasing a line called ‘BluPrints’ with artwork and features around Blu which will be available to purchase, where 50% of all profits will be donated to help fund rescues around the world that I myself have a personal tie to. The below centres are ones I have been to & directly support myself, including the one where Blu came from. If you want to support these charities directly please feel free to use the links below and donate directly to them. Your donations can help save dogs like Blu and give them the chance to change someone’s life like Blu has done for mine.

 

Blu’s Rescue - https://homes4dogs.co.uk/how-to-help/

Mauritius Strays Rescue - https://4pawsrescue.co.uk/belle-mare-project/