Gone But Not Forgotten
| TILLY |
Tilly became the perfect little Springer Spaniel, loving, gentle and very funny in her own way, missing her is painful. She developed a niggly cough towards the end of 2009. Investigations including x-rays, blood tests, biopsies etc were all clear but still the cough persisted. Antibiotics and steroids didn't help either. Two weeks ago she started coughing blood and a further blood test and x-ray shocked everyone including our vet. A large growth was attached to her heart, this had developed in less than two months. We had no choice, surgery was out of the question so Thursday 14th January the Vet made his final visit and Tilly went to sleep. The hole in our lives is unbearable, she helped our grief when Harry went, now there are only memories. Tilly came into her own, loving the walks in the woods and at Ruislip Lido making many friends and becoming very well known. She was a gentle little dog never showing any aggression to other dogs or children, many who would ask to stroke her as we walked passed. She was nervous if someone coughed or sneezed possibly a throwback to her pre-rescue days, her history was unknown. She loved the garden, sitting in the rain and even the snow, enjoying a good rub down when she came in doors. Tilly played ball her way, running after the ball, bringing it to you but not letting go, she liked to tease! She put on weight, a diet ensued and she regained her shape. We shared our bed with her and the sofa, the sofa being her main place of rest since day one. Tilly was very determined about some things and the sofa was one of them, even when I turned the cushions upside down to stop her getting on the sofa she found a way. Her biggest asset in our eyes was the patience she had with children especially our grandson. He is nearly four and could be less than gentle and often clumsy but he did love her. She put up with a lot of his ways and never grumbled or growled. Talk of another Springer is early days yet, time will heal and time will tell. Thank you for Tilly and Harry, we had nearly nine lovely years of Springer company with them. Regards to everyone at NWESSR Madeleine & Barry (28-01-10) |
Tilly was rescued with Harry in April 2001 from Rose Tree Kennels, both dogs had their problems but we worked through them and they became loving family pets. Harry passed away in March 2007 and left Tilly to cope by herself! | KEEGAN |
Sadly, he had to be put to sleep on October 6th 2009. He gave us a lot of pleasure and several scary moments like leaping off high rocks and running miles ahead to chase seagulls. Some people may remember him from the 2009 Fun Day where he was 3rd in the "Best Veteran", "Best NWESSR Dog" and "Reserve Best in Show". He was really proud of himself - especially when the nice lady gave him a sausage, as in the photograph in the Winter Newsletter! He was coming up to 15 and had a wonderful life. He had also just enjoyed a great holiday with us in East Anglia in September trotting along the beaches and paddling in the sea. His ashes were scattered in one of his favourite places, Lyme Park, Cheshire, where he can do all the naughty things that he would have liked to have done in the past (such as chasing the sheep and deer, rolling in the dead crows and fox muck as well as pinching any picnic that came along his way)! He has left a big gap in our family. Who knows, we may come back to Rose Tree again when the time feels right. We'll keep up our sponsorship and reading the website. Keep up the great work and thanks for all you do for our special friends. Maggie and Andy (12-12-09) |
We picked up Keegan from Rose Tree on July 19th 1999. He was a stocky 4 year old who thought he was the boss until he met our cats Tinker and Scamp, who quickly put him in his place. | EDWARD |
 "Near by lies one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery, if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just Tribute to the Memory of Edward, a dog."We are just sorry that our time with him was short but would like to thank you find him for us. Rachel and Kieran (28-11-09) |
| CHARLES |
But he soon settled and came to love his walks (always with his infuriating tennis ball in his mouth!) and found a great liking for music. Put on anything from Wagner to Led Zeppelin and his little face would appear around the door and he'd take up a (usually horizontal) position for the duration. As you can see from the picture, the final one taken of him, he became a really beautiful lad. No one can bring him back and we will never forget him but still have Meg and Harry to console us. David and Pat (6-11-09) |
We lost our dear little chap Charles at age 10 on 28th October, probably due to internal bleeding. He arrived at NWESSR in a dreadful state but luckily through the ministrations of the Rescue was healthy enough to come to us in 2003 never-the-less the legacy of his previous 'life' were all too manifest - sticky thin, patches of fur missing and the scar resulting from a cigarette burn near one of his eyes. | MOLLY |
The decision although hard meant that hopefully both dogs had good and loving homes; we know that was the case for Molly who was the fifth member of our family. She was loyal, trusting, loving and, without her, things are not the same. Our walks on beaches in Wales and Northumberland will never be forgotten, our trip to Ireland when we sat on a deserted beach and watched the sun go down will be treasured. Molly was her mum’s dog. If Mandy was around then Molly would be one step behind, whether it was hoovering, washing, gardening, being in the shower or reading a book Molly was always there. Life is empty without her. Her walks have been part of her life and as she got older with failing eyesight and going deaf she always liked to be on the local field with her friends and her mum and dad. We always knew that time was not on her side but we thought we would have at least another year, Unfortunately Molly had a stroke and the right decision was to let her run along the beaches in the sky where hopefully she will continue to have good times digging holes and chasing balls. Farewell to a true and loving friend Mandy, Garry, Chris and Dan (27-10-09) |
It is with sorrow that I write to inform you that our beloved Molly has passed away. We found Molly with her daughter Betty, on your web site in 2004; they both came to live with us and for a time things went very well. Unfortunately as Betty settled she took a dislike to Molly and after speaking with your amazing helpers and with a heavy heart we decide that we had to give one of them back. I don’t thing our boys will ever forgive us but it was decided that there was more chance of re-homing Betty who was younger and in many ways cuter than Molly who was 8 years going on 9. | DOTTIE |
 It is with saddness that on Wednesday 14th October we sadly had to have Dottie put to sleep. Dottie came to us because her elderly owner was very ill and had to go into hospital. Dottie was a gentle girl and was no trouble, we hardly knew she was here. Over the last few months Dottie seemed to give up on life. We had some tests done on her and there was something going on with her liver. Because of her age we didnt want to have her mucked around with it just would'nt have been fair. On the 13th Dottie seemed to get worse and the vets wanted to do lots more tests. With advice from Mick and Liz we decided not to have these test done and to let Dottie go. On the 14th this was done. Hope Dottie is now back with her owner who loved her so much and a big thank you for letting us look after her until they could be reunited. Love you lots and lots Dot Dot xxxx Pat and David |
| SAM |
We miss you so much. Love Alison, Dave, Ross, Connor and Eloise xx |
It is with much sadness that I am writing to tell you of the passing of our beautiful, springer boy. On June 30th we had to say goodbye to him forever. Sam was adopted from yourselves in September 2004. I remember the call I received from Liz describing him to me as a lovely 7 year old boy with one problem, that he only has 3 legs. Well that was never a problem to us. When we arrived to pick Sam up his fur was matted and smelly and he was covered in fleas. However, a quick trip to the beauty parlour and he was handsome as ever. He had a beautiful nature and loved his playmate Molly. I was always grateful for Molly’s border collie traits as she often needed to round you up on walks when that springer deafness took over. We knew there was a chance your cancer could come back but nothing prepared us for how quickly it would take over. Only 2 weeks before new growths started to appear and a trip to the vets confirmed there was nothing that could be done. On that Tuesday morning your eyes told me that you had had enough, your bouncy springer eyes were tired and they had lost their sparkle. We didn’t want you to suffer anymore. The house seems quiet without you and the kids soft toys that you stole and left in the garden remain still. I still can’t believe I won’t need to write school notes anymore explaining the reason they weren’t wearing proper shoes was that you had left them in the garden overnight and they had filled with rain water! Sam you were a lovely gentle boy and a pleasure to own. | POPPY |
 We are very sad to tell you that Poppy died on 23 June 2009 following a tragic accident while we were on holiday in Cornwall. We have only had Poppy for just over 4 months and she had become a much loved member of our family and we are devastated that she is no longer with us. We adopted Poppy on 14th February this year from the Rose Tree Kennels at Warrington and fell in love with her immediately. Rolo, our older male springer, was a bit confused at first but soon got to like having her around. After her season had finished we were able to let her off the lead and she followed Rolo’s favourite pastime, chasing tennis balls. The only problem we had was that Poppy would always steal Rolo’s ball. So we developed a very efficient system whereby Poppy would get to chase the first ball thrown and Rolo would wait while we threw another ball in a slightly different direction. Poppy had been attending training classes and was doing really well. We all came up for the NWESSR fun day on the 14th June and we had a great day, Poppy really enjoyed the flyball. The following weekend we went camping to Cornwall to an area we have visited numerous times and had done a couple of good walks plus a couple of visits to the beaches. On the 23rd June we set out on a circular walk near St Just and as on previous days we let Poppy and Rolo off the lead whilst on the inland part of the walk and we had planned to put her on the lead nearer the coast. As we approached a headland Poppy and Rolo both took a detour to the left and as I called them I saw Rolo come out from a spot about 20 yards below us. We went down and immediately feared the worst as this was a crevice where a small stone wall had been built up to stop people going over. The other side was a small area of grass and then a vertical drop to rocks. I could not hear or see Poppy and the next 4 or 5 hours involved a desperate search for Poppy. A combination of the local coastguard team and some local young men enabled us to recover Poppy and it was clear that she had died instantly without suffering. We then took her to a local vets who arranged cremation and we will bury the casket in the part of our garden we call Poppy’s path (she had a short cut through the borders). Her loss has hit us all very hard including Rolo who has not been quite the same since her death, a little bit of a spark seems to have gone from him but I think he’s gradually getting back to his old self. We would like to thank NWESSR for bringing Poppy into our lives, we are very sorry that Poppy’s life was cut so short while under our care. We know that Poppy was a very happy dog for the 4 months she lived with us. Jon and Barbara |
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