NWESSR

I first met Jak or “jakiboy” as he came to be known in Birmingham  the week before  Christmas in December 2001, he had been taken there to a half way house so that I could meet him and become his new dad. From the description on the NWESSR website  I only knew that he was black and white 4 years old and that his owners wanted him to go to a new home with children, because they had moved to sheep country and that he had a habit of hopping the fences and taking off. As I sat in the chair in the house in Birmingham I didn’t know what to expect! Would he like me? Would he get on with the children?

The journey home took about an hour and Jak took it all in his stride he curled up on the back seat and went to sleep occasionally lifting his head to put his nose out the window ,driving along that morning I couldn’t believe how lucky I was this beautiful dog was ours. As we pulled onto the driveway the my wife Lisa and the children Sam .Joe and Ellie were all outside waiting for us. From the second the car door was opened Jak was bombarded with love, affection and toys I can honestly say that the children must have nearly worn him out ,but in true Springer style he played “fetch” hide and seek chased any thing the kids threw in the garden for him for hours. Jak truly did love kids and games.

Jak settled in to his new home straight away  at Christmas time he eagerly helped everyone unwrap there presents along with his own he would dive in and shred the wrapping paper all over the floor then roll in it with his feet in the air his cheeks flopping back over his face in a gravity style grin. The children would roll all over him and love him to death, he was a really contented dog. He loved his walks and never missed the opportunity to bring me a present whenever we went out, his favourite was hedgehogs he would carry them for hours never hurting them  and would only surrender them to me when we got home in exchange for a biscuit. Then I would have to go back out and release the hedge hog in the fields at the end of the road.

He would sit for ages by the garden pond patiently waiting for a frog to appear so that he could chase it once whilst we were out he even dived into the hedgerow and emerged with a pheasant I swear he could find anything. 

Every year we would try and get away to Derbyshire in the winter time around new year where we would rent a cottage this was Jaks holiday and we would walk him over the dales for miles ,his favourite was along dovedale where he loved to chase the ducks along the river then back to the cottage and curl up in front of the fire and sleep having thoroughly worn both myself and lisa out. Sadly though after eight and a half years of absolute pleasure in February this year Jak was diagnosed with bone tumours in his shoulder at the age of 12 the vet explained that this condition is extremely painful His diagnosis was confirmed by xray and the extent of the cancer was quite severe his time with us would soon be at an end, all we could do was as the vet had advised to make him comfortable as possible and use tablets to suppress the pain an operation was impossible due to the location of the disease.

We were devastated he still looked a strong healthy youthful lad and had endless energy  but his condition worsened rapidly. He still wanted to go out and walk but struggled to use his front leg he bravely battled on for 12 weeks but after a restless and painful night for him on Sunday 30th may I picked up his lead to take him out he wanted to go but his body wouldn’t let him he looked at me the same way as he did when I first met him and I knew that our time together was at an end

I had to make the phone call I had been dreading and with tears in my eyes made the arrangements with the vet. Jak went to sleep that morning, and we said goodbye to each other the same way as we said hello with his head in my lap and as I looked into those beautiful brown eyes. My wife stroked his head and Ellie rubbed his neck. In the time we had him not once did he ever growl bark bite or show any signs of aggression to any one he was truly a gentle giant with the biggest of hearts who gave more than he ever took.

He is now resting peacefully, in a beautiful place beneath the apple and cherry trees on my fathers land free from pain at last. There is a massive hole in our lives that only Jak could fill and we miss him dearly. In the hope that his old mum and dad read this letter on the website the following sentence is taken from the note that came with him in 2001 to which I have added a few words.

“Jak was born in Bristol on October 1st 1997. He was the smallest of the litter and only an extra pint of milk a day helped him to survive.”   He grew into the handsome gentle giant that enriched our lives to the full it must have broken your hearts to part with him as it has done mine in saying goodbye.

There is an enormous empty space in my house, my heart and by my side where jak used to be and when I go to sit and talk to him I can’t help but think how lucky we were and I thank him for choosing me.    

Goodnight “Jakiboy” and god bless you x        Pete and Lisa Hammond

Dear NWESSR
With much sadness I must tell you that in April we had to say goodbye to Penny aged just over six, following a severe epileptic attack from which she was unable to recover.

Penny joined us in 2005 having been paired up with another NWESSR springer Jack, and what truly wonderful dogs they proved to be.  They were very different personalities but became inseparable: Penny was rarely without a tennis ball, followed us everywhere - and was very much the boss!

Two years ago she developed epilepsy but with the support of our vet and the Canine Epilepsy Support Group we managed to keep her fits to a minimum.  However in January Penny had a dreadful series of seizures and was admitted to the vet hospital for a week; the outlook was bleak but she made a remarkable recovery and regained much of her old character. Sadly in early April she relapsed again and despite increasing medication and another spell in hospital it was clear that she was not recovering from the seizures. After much soul-searching we made the decision that all dog-owners dread.

We have lost a dear and much-loved friend and Jack too has found it quite an adjustment, but we have many glorious memories of Penny and are forever thankful that NWESSR brought us together.

Jan and Ian Rendle

It has taken me a while to write this, but three weeks ago we lost our 'Big Girl' Tilly. Tilly came to us 7 years ago. We collected her from Chorley service station on the M6. What a job we had with her at first. She would not get out of the car as she was so frightened, when we got her home she would not come out of the bedroom for a week. Also she could not understand why she was not getting her normal diet of scraps, Kentucky and McDonalds that she was used to (when we did have these Tilly would go mad as she loved them) Eventually she came round and what a fantastic dog she became.

Tilly had a broken leg that had not been fixed so she had a bowed leg and she walked like it was a flipper. Tilly was a very large lady with an even larger personality. If it rained she refused to go out and when it snowed we had to clear a path for her, spoilt i think the word was! Tilly became my dog, she followed me everywhere, this was lovely except when i did not realise she was directly behind me!!! All the 7 years Tilly spent the nights by the side of my bed, god help anyone who did not speak before they came in. Tilly also knew who she liked and did not like, if you were not liked you knew about it. Tilly out lived many of our other foster dogs. Each one she accepted without question and each one she seemed to look after in her own way.
One dog she really mothered and that was Titch. You would have thought that Titch was her puppy. They used to play alot and Tilly could have really hurt Titch but she was so gentle with him.

A few months ago Tilly had a stroke which she did not fully recover from. Her eye sight started to fail and her co-ordination was bad. Still that dog would follow me with a wagging tail and the smile on her face that we loved. We then had to start to carry her up to bed a night (not easy with a dog weighing 40kg) as she did not like to be alone, then carry her down in the morning.
3 weeks ago Tilly became very confused, and she seemed to be in pain. Tilly lost that wagging tail and the smile on her face. It was time to let this very special girl go and have the rest that she so deserved.

We have had a number of foster dogs through our doors and everyone of them has left there mark on us, but our Tilly has left the biggest hole possible. 3 weeks on i still think she is behind me, or will walk in the door to me but i know that she will never do that again.
Night night Tilly 'our big girl' We will love you lots for ever. xxxx

Pat and David Blease

A letter and a Poem regarding Seve. To read, please click to Enlarge

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Dear Springer Rescue
 
I am writing with extremely sad news of the passing of Sally. We collected Sally from Rose tree kennels in 2002, she was 10 months old when she came to live with us and our other springer Toby. She lived with us for four years until one weekend we left her with friends while we went away their 14 year old son fell in love with her and she with him she loved being the centre of attention and not having to share the attention with Toby. They begged us to let her stay with them on a shared ownership. She stayed a part of our lives and she settled in to my friends straight away and changed from being a really demanding dog to being laid back and contented.

It was a difficult decision for us to let her stay but we could see how much happier she was and her and Aaron became soul  mates. Four happy years passed for Sally with Aaron until valentines weekend this year when she developed a limp. My friends Hazel and Kevin took Sally to the vet and initially he diagnosed ligament damage and told them to come back in a month. The limp got worse and she then suffered  a problem with her eye and nose on the one side of her face, so back to the vet she went and we were told she had "Horner syndrome" and she was given eye drops and tablets.

They also decided they would X-ray her leg as they thought there was a possibility of a tumor. The results came back from the X-ray  and revealed the worse; Sally was diagnosed with bone cancer we were all  absolutely gutted. The vet said they could try taking the leg off and giving her chemotherapy but the cancer was very aggressive and there may have been other tumors. So Hazel and Kevin decided they couldn't put her through that and she was sent home with pain killers and to keep in touch with the vet.

Sally sadly passed away in Aaron's arms and with the rest of her family around her on the 21st of April 2010 at 20 past 7 in the morning  minutes before the vet arrived. She has left a massive hole and we are all devastated. Thank you to springer rescue for letting us and the O'Neil family have such a wonderful dog.

Rest in Peace Sal Sal til we meet again.xxx
 
With sadness the Mussell and the O'Neil families

Our own beautiful springer; Molly (formerly Angel) died on 9th January 2009 and left us broken hearted.

Molly came to live with us in October 1999, aged about 22 months, she was a lovely companion, fun, energetic and an extremely loyal friend, her death left ourselves and her grandparents devastated.  We now live with the many happy and precious memories we have of her. 

Even though Molly's not here now we know, and she did too, that all her family loved her and spoilt her rotten.  She was a very happy and contented lady, its just hard getting used to her not being here with us anymore.

 MOLLY HOLT Molly came to us in April 2007. She was a youthful looking 10 year old with a silky black and white coat. People often commented on what an attractive dog she was.

It quickly became apparent that Molly was an individual who marched to the beat of her own drum. She bonded quickly and strongly with me and with my mum (with whom she spent her weekdays) and would follow either one of us everywhere. Despite some initial scuffles she settled in to life with us, three children and our two young Springer’s Murphy and Maggie.

Every evening after tea she enjoyed wrestling with Murphy. Molly loved her walks. She would lollop along (always at her own pace) tail held high and waving languidly from side to side, sniffing at her favourite places.

Molly was a consummate bin-burglar and would never miss an opportunity to have a rummage in a handbag or shopping bag. She was a caffeine addict who would nudge you constantly to remind you to give her the last bit of your cuppa. She would lie on the kitchen floor awaiting debris and only ever spat out olives. Molly rearranged our sleeping arrangements. Murphy and Maggie had only ever slept downstairs but Molly had other ideas. On her first night with us after howling constantly for an hour she suddenly appeared upstairs having worked out how to open the doors. Trying to keep her downstairs was to prove futile after that.

She was a dog who loved to travel. On our first trip in the car she leapt over the back seat and showed us that she intended to travel either shot-gun between the fronts seats or sitting on my knee on the passenger seat.  After we installed a dog guard she would glare accusingly over the top of it before eventually settling down to sleep.

On the down side she taught the other two dogs to bark. Molly would sit on the window sill howling or barking at passers by she took a dislike to. She hated both the postman and the window cleaner. Molly died whilst undergoing an emergency X-ray under anaesthetic after becoming acutely breathless. The vet diagnosed a large lung tumour.

She was a loving, loyal and reliable old lady who will be greatly missed.