Going through the dogs
I have known quite a few dogs in my time.
First there was Rory, a wire-haired terrier. He went wild one day, tried to rip my sister’s throat out and had to be put to sleep. [The dog, not my sister]
Then there was Pumps [blame my mother for that name]. Pumps was so non-descript that I really don’t remember anything about him.
He was followed by Aesop [my mother strikes again]. Aesop was a great dog. He was a mostly-greyhound-mongrel, and was a complete idiot. He was convinced that there were rats living in an air vent in front of the fire, and used to stand guard while the heat of the fire singed the back of his neck. When the smoke got a bit thick and noxious we’d have to drag him away from the fire.
He also had a habit of grinning. If he was really pleased about something he would bare all his teeth. As a result he was a fantastic watch dog. He considered everyone to be his friend and would grin at them. They would run a mile.
Then came Tuppy [Blame Herself this time]. Tuppy was a small black pocket sized mongrel, and because she was pocket sized I used to stick her in my pocket if I was doing shopping or having a pint. She was the quietest, most timid dog I have known, and would remain utterly quiet unless she saw a knacker. For some reason I never discovered, she hated knackers.
Then came Zoe. [I don’t know who thought up that name but it wasn’t me]. Zoe was a jack Russell bitch. I fucking hate Jack Russells and she was a true Jack Russell. She was a bad tempered snappy little yoke with a bad tempered yappy little voice.
And then came Sandy.
Of all the dogs, she is The Dog. Anyone who has had a dog will know what I mean by The Dog. You only have one of those in a lifetime.
Sandy is the gentlest, most loving, most intelligent and funniest dog I have known. She arrived as a six week old puppy and has been with us now for thirteen years. From the very start she had the self-imposed job of looking after me and Herself. She has the run of the house, including all the chairs, couches and beds, but at night she insists on sleeping just outside the bedroom door, on guard duty. At all times she has to know where both of us are and has to check regularly if we are not all together in the one room.
She is the only dog I have known where I can give her a nice juicy lamb bone and can take it off her again without the slightest protest. Apart from cats, distant dogs and the odd stranger [usually tourists] the whole world his her friend. She happily adopted our two guinea pigs and treated them like her own puppies. She has adopted fledglings in the garden and will mind them if they are in trouble. She once became very friendly with fledgling dove and the two of them used to bask in the sun together.
She is the only dog I have met that has a great sense of humour. She has a series of tricks she likes to play and we are never quite sure what stunt she will pull next. If she is displeased she will usually show her displeasure with one of her little tricks. Probably the funniest one was where we left her for a few hours on her own. When we came back to the house, she had taken a full wrapped loaf of bread and had placed it, completely undamaged in the middle of the sitting room floor purely as a sign of her displeasure. We got the point.
She is under sentence now.
The cancer the vet discovered is presumably taking her over. The prognosis was around five months, and that was over six weeks ago. She is being spoiled rotten now. Outwardly she looks like a very healthy, happy dog but I know there is that blackness doing its hidden filthy work.
I am dreading the Summer.
Sandy reading the paper
Don’t know what to say old man. Maybe – “Glad to see there’s some one in your house reads the sports section.”
tt – Heh! I was wondering how long it would be before someone noticed that. As for the rest, there isn’t much anyone can say, or do. I thought I would write this now while she is still around so she can read it herself.
It may be bollocks or it may not be…. but anything is worth a shot right?
Try the colloidal silver solution. A quick google will bring up a plethora of web pages on how to make it. It’s a piece of piss to be honest.
There is also the Red Indian method of treating cancer with hemp paste made from cannabis sativa flower heads. Although it’s much easier to obtain silver than it is hemp thanks to some moronic long dead yanks and subsequent generations of ‘lawmakers’ demonising a plant but Google is your friend or duckduckgo!
Finally there is crushed apricot kernels. Another possible cancer cure.
I should stress I have no idea if any of these actually work but as the ‘end is nigh’ where is the harm in trying them?
We are lied to every single day by scientists, big pharma, politicians and the righteous so it is conceivable that there are cancer cures in existence but ‘they’ don’t want us to discover them, too much money at stake.
At the end of the day none of these things will do a loved one any harm at all and if any or all of them actually cure the cancer within then it’s more than worth the effort.
There’ll never be a friend in life like your best dog. At home we had a Labrador/King Charles spaniel (if you could picture that!) hybrid called Kerry, Who was with us for seventeen years til she had to be put to sleep by the vet when one day I noticed a large growth in her mouth. To this day it’s the only time I’ve ever seen my Father cry. Now that’s friendship for you.
AW, don’t start me off.
They say that if you want to see who loves you the most the missus or the dog, just lock them both in the boot of your car and see who is glad to see you after 4 hours.
Our chocolate Lab (Smartie) is the source of much pleasure and laughter especially when he picks the spot to have a dump he whips around like a whirling dervish and tries several sites and positions before executing 1 perfect circle with a central column which I can then pick up with ease, yes tt, I use a poop bag.
He’s just coming up for 6. our hearts are going to break when the time comes, let’s hope it is years and years away.
True love and unswerving loyalty that’s man’s best friend.
William – Many thanks for those. I confess i had never heard of any of them as cures, and as you say, there is nothing to lose. I’ll start poking around.
InisEanna – A Labrador and a King Charles? The “creation” of that crossbreed must have been a sight! There again, some dogs will hump anything. And I must confess that over the past few weeks, on more than one occasion I have had more than a lump in my throat.
Patrick – I have just locked Herself in the boot of the car. I’ll let her out in four days and will let you know what she says. I can’t say anything about Sandy’s dumping habits as she is very discreet. She’ll pick a spot and then look around to see if anyone can see her. If she finds that she is visible, she’ll move to another spot. Winter is a hard time for her as she is restricted to going behind evergreen bushes. Luckily we have a large plot of land.
Sorry to read about your dog’s ilness GD. We lost Ruby our King Charles Spaniel recently.
She was a real beauty and my Son’s best pal truly in the Hollywood sense.
She lived and breathed for him. Every where he was she would be too. She used to wait at the front door for him to come home.
She developed a Heart problem. A problem inherent in the breed apparantly, unfortunatly.
We went through all the Vet shite, spent a fortune only to come home and wait for the inevitable.
She waited for him to come home from school, crawled onto his lap and she died in his arms.
She waited for him to come home to die in the place she loved most. It broke our hearts.
So I feel your pain GD and dogs are truly mans best friend. It took Ruby to show me.
I feel for you , my friend. I lost a truly remarkable companion some years ago. He was a yellow lab – George (the kids named him). He developed a tumor in his right paw and he, myself and the vet were all treated for cancer at the same time. He survived two years and died in my arms one morning. It left a huge chasm in my life – we’d both grown from being fit and healthy to being older and less mobile (that’s polite these days). Strange thing is that my daughter bought a similar lab a year and a half ago. Turns out he’s from the same ‘stable’ and lo and behold displays a temperament much akin to his forbear. This guy’s called Floyd. I could easily adopt him as my own – but I’m too slow for a young dog these days. One consolation is that those ‘knowing’ eyes will be will be a pleasant memory which will be with you forever. Pob bendith
Bear up GD, we lost our girlie on Thursday, Carmen, rescue greyhound, lovely girl still fiesty to the end. She had agressive bone cancer, started bout 6 mths ago, but not detected and if, what could anyone have done, apparently common in racing greyhounds.
Anyway she ruled the roost from the day we got her,(3 yrs old) left her downstairs but she soon found out how to open doors, stairs to her were no challenge, well, she was a champion hurdler once, won a cup apparently.
You do the best with Sandy, and I know you will.
Thanks everyone. Sandy is now ruling the roost here. What she says, goes. What she wants, she gets.
She has me completely bollixed.
You just gotta love that look she has for the camera. Seems like one of those “do you mind; only I’m trying to read the f*cking paper, like!” Definitely a pics for the album methinks.
Our dog Kerry was the kind that would do something similar if you were near her. Wouldn’t matter what it was, she’d stand beside it looking to it and then looking at you. As soon as you were out of the kitchen you’d hear her happily muching away. Beautiful dog. She actually looked like Labrador but size wise she was on a par with a Jack Russell Terrier.
A good dog is an awful loss when the inevitable happens. In terms of grief, it is worse than say, if all 166 TD’s walked into a hail of gunfire for example.
We have had loads of pets, a “Pom” at present, but the one that really blew us away was a budgie named ‘Sparky’. We never shut the door of his cage which sat up on a press in the kitchen. He “talked” all day long too saying things like, ‘whatcha doin’, ‘where’s the cat’ and ‘low’ (his short for hallo). At mealtimes, he landed on the table and visited each of us, and our plates. When I was working on the Mac at the table, he would alight on my shoulder and rub my face. Herself was his favorite though.
When he died, we buried him in the garden, with his favorite toy and a small painted headstone. We all shed a tear for this strange little blue bird and his photos are still up around the house.
But, you still can’t beat a good dog though. !
Grandad, sorry to hear about your dog,please give this site a look,it’s worth the try and is used for animals as well as humans, and it seems to WORK!
http://www.thedcasite.com/
InisEanna – She is a notoriously difficult dog to photograph as she is camera-shy. i usually have to catch her unawares, distracted or asleep. I don’t know how i managed the one above!
John – It’s amazing how easily a pet cam become one of the family. I have never had a budgie, though our K8 had two – Statler and Waldorf – who just to buzz me when I visited. One day Waldorf made a bid for freedom through an open window and poor old Statler died of a broken heart.
Welcome Eric. Thanks for that. Another new one on me!
GD. Really sorry to hear that.
Words fail.
Aw geez GD, I’m sorry. Shared this story with some friends who run a site for canines with cancer. Their subjects tend to be of the three-legged variety though, as they’ve lost a limb to the dreaded affliction. But sooner or later they all get it inside and it whisks them off. Drat.
Darragh – Of all people, you know the strength of the bond between man and dog? Incidentally, I was going to say “between dog and owner” but somehow dogs are not “owned” – they are more a member of the family.
I certainly do.
Very sorry to hear that GD.
One of the few times in my life I ever cried was when our 14 year old border collie (“Murphy”) died some years ago. I was working at home in Ireland at the time.
He just decided one day that enough was enough in terms of mobility etc. The hind quarters of collies apparently go first.
Just lay down in the living room and went to sleep – forever.
That dog was more intelligent than me. No hard of course!!!
Mossy – The one thing I would wish for is that Sandy would quietly slip away in her sleep. The one thing that makes me choke now is the thought that some day I am going to have to bring her to the vet and hold her while she is injected. I have done that before and it was heartbreaking then. It will be a hundred times harder this time.
I feel for you if it comes to that.
Sandy, you remind me so much of our heart dog, Jerry. Maybe that’s because he had some Collie in him, but he was our forever dog who meant the world to us. When he was diagnosed with cancer, doctors gave him four months. But you know what? He lived TWO YEARS! So here’s to making those doctors look silly! We send many good wishes for the same kind of outcome for you too. I know you have lots more work to do on this planet.
In the meantime you can tell your folks to watch our Jerry’s story in this PBS special: http://tinyurl.com/PBSJerryShow It’s a tear-jerker but more like hoppy tears. I think they’ll like it.
Many hugs coming your way.
Rene, Jim, Wyatt Ray & Spirit Jerry
Tripawds.com
Aw thanks Rene! I writing on behalf of Sandy as she is out looking for her friend the hedgehog at the moment. That is wonderful news and it gives a ray of hope. Sandy is still outwardly in the best of health and is enjoying life to the full. Let’s just hope we can make our lot of “experts” look as silly?!