5th March

Alison is busy mending fencing as her ponies got out last night and she still has to take the dogs for a walk I dare say that she will be glad that I am doing the blog for today. Although once home she can get on with those wifely chores and then put up her feet for the evening!

Many thanks to Gareth for his generous donation of £25 and David Bennett for his generous donation of £20 to Cleo's fund, it is really appreciated when we are all finding things so hard. As they say on the advert for a specific supermarket chain 'every little helps' no matter how small even if it is only £1. Cleo is hopefully having a special weekend ready for her operation on Monday, which I am sure we will all be thinking of her.

For me this week has been one of ups and downs. I home checked a couple for S.E Rescue which I must say passed with flying colours but sadly they re homed a dog from Battersea today, happily it was a Stafford called Minnie. I wish them a long and happy life together, their life will never be the same again.

It's strange how something happens and it evokes memories. I remembered when Percy died I kept looking on all the rescue sites for an elderly Stafford who would fit into a household with Daisy, Honey and Oscar. We put our name down with Battersea should they have an oldie come in and went to see a seven year old male at Battersea Old Windsor, some how it was not right so we declined him. During those searches my eyes were always drawn to a Percy look alike, yet I knew he could not be replaced. My husband and I arranged to see a male Stafford at Foal Farm who was 13+  but when meeting our three, the dog decided he wanted to mount all three of them poor Oscar was shocked and startled, Daisy and Honey was not under any circumstances tolerating that sort of behaviour! So again we came away with just our three. Both of us decided that we would let things just take there course. Then some weeks later Doris was advertised on the Oldies website she was being re homed by Animal Helpline in Lincolnshire, good with dogs aged 13+years. She had been a stray in the pounds with a put to sleep date on her. Animal Helpline stepped in and she was currently in a foster home. We filled in the neccessary application form with all the details they required and contact references for our suitability. We were accepted and early one Saturday morning we drove to Lincolnshire with our three to meet Doris. Doris would not win a beauty contest she was small with a two lumps one quite large on her back leg and a smaller one on her front leg her gait was slightly unsteady, she had lost her muscle mass due to her age and was overweight. her breathing was noisy to say the least which I was concerned about.

Doris was not phased by meeting our three and our three in turn sniffed her and walked along side her as if she was not there.  It had all gone so well that we decided to adopt her but would have to drive back to Lincolnshire the following week to collect her as she had an appointment with the local vets.

We collected Doris on  Friday, 31st July 2010 with Daisy. Daisy, Doris and I sat in the back of the car, with Doris, farting all the way home and her breath smelling as bad as her bottom. Poor Daisy looked at me as if to say 'What the hell is this' looking back and forth from me to Doris. I exclaimed that I was being gased to death and not sure that I or Daisy could cope with the constant smell. To which Stuart laughed.

 We arrived home about 11.30pm, to late to take the dogs out to meet Doris on neutral territoy before taking her into our home so it was a quick walk up the road for the meeting, then to bed.

Our neighbour eagar to see Doris exclaimed that she though Doris was at deaths door and what had we taken on? "They must of seen you coming!"

During the early days Doris could only make it to the local park or else her breathing became laboured.  During one walk her breathing became so bad Stuart had to carry her home for fear of her collapsing and we had to put her in a cold bath.We accepted that Doris would probably never be able to go on the walks with the others as it would be to much for her. Doris was not happy to settle anywhere in the living room preferring to lay in the kitchen. She would shake with fear when we took her into the living room or if we lifted her onto the furniture. In a panic she would go back to the kitchen and lay down. When we would take her out into the garden she was unsure and reluctant to come back in laying down as if she was not allowed into the house. Doris would shake if we tried to get her upstairs and never barked. Where ever Doris laid Daisy, Honey and Oscar refused to be.

We took Doris to our vet for a check up, he told us that she had a heart murmur but was unsure of the grade due to her breathing. The lumps were possibly benign tumours, Scleriosis due to age, slight arthritis, enlarged soft palate due to excessive weight, excessive plaque and teeth worn down and Cushings disease, hence her pot belly.

We were unfazed by it all as we always felt that we would have her for TLC for however long she was with us, giving her the best we could in a loving environment.

Seven months on and Doris is a different dog. Doris after breakfast goes out into the garden, then eagerly waits for the living room door to be opened when she will get up on the settee and lay there waiting for her morning cuddle. She goes with Daisy Honey and Oscar for her walk on the common where it is normal practice for her to have her ball straight away, this she refuses to give up untill she is back home and the ball is replaced by a treat. Whilst on the common she runs in circles back and forth with Honey and Oscar whilst they run for their balls. She has lost weight and her breathing is better, Doris will now walk upstair at night to go to bed and on very odd occasions during the day. Doris has found her voice in the last month and will bark 4 times a day, breakfast, going for a walk, dinner and pudding time!!!! You cannot imagine the delight and laughter when we first heard this little squeek of a bark which is now getting stronger. It is like hearing a child talk for the first time. It seems as though she is just discovering she is a dog and what life is about. Daisy, Honey and Oscar will lay beside her and snuggle up with Honey allowing her to take over her crate. My grandson loves her, Doris lays there with a grin on her face whilst he rubs her tummy. Her breath does not smell and her 'botty burbs' as my grandson calls them are far less and tolerable. She wags her tail so much that you think its going to fly off!

Our neighbour cannot believe she is the same dog and is amazed at her stamina on the common, although she does believe that Doris must have lived in a round house due to her persistance in running in circles.

We know that we will not have Doris for years but the joy in seeing her blossom is like watching apple blossom unfold in the Spring albeit briefly. Its a sight and elation never to be forgotton.
Author and Edited by Valerie