Gone But Not Forgotten

BUSTER

Buster

 

Our love story.

Buster blustered into our life just over a year ago. This sprightly, incredibly handsome gentleman in his what was perceived to be elderly years, (at a mere 10 years old) was a total bundle of energy, character,love and unbelievably intelligence. Age as it is said is only a number, certainly true in Busters case.

On arrival to his ‘retirement home’ he quickly dashed around the house , ‘enjoyed’ his own meal though questionable if tasted at all as it was consumed at such a frantic pace,he then proceeded to steal his new Dads roast chicken dinner!

After giving his new Mum an absolute gorgeous smile he assumed his passionate advances would be well received! He very quickly realised this was unacceptable but cuddles and love were really the best way forward and cuddles in abundance ensued!

Busters smile was just remarkable,adorable and unforgettable.’ I love your smile’ was his mantra and saying/ singing that he would just beam! His sneak attacks comprised of leaning in for a cuddle with his favourite toy, Mr Banana in his mouth, staring hypnotically in your eyes, suddenly dropping it and smothering his victim with licks.

We walked miles every morning , his excitement and enthusiasm whilst being ‘kitted up’ was a sight to behold. Circling at great pace with his banana in situ, lassoing his harness over his head whilst grappling it from his mouth was an art in itself.

Biased as we may be he was so special, he was loved completely and I know he loved us, rescued from poor living conditions he thrived, gained confidence and made friends, both doggie and humans over time in the village.

He was initially intimidated and somewhat scared of men and would be submissive to most other dogs outside of his home. He gained confidence, trusted Brian, his Dad,an amputee recovering during lockdown, (both had stumps as Buster had a very short docked tail so they both had something in common!). Over time they spent more time together and this gave Brian such incentive and determination to be able to walk Buster. Having to adjust to the use of prosthetic leg during lockdown at times when physiotherapy was not available was difficult in itself but he rose to the challenge, especially when said dog pulled like a freight train whilst on a lead!

Busters sudden illness was rapid, aggressive, unexpected, devastating and heart wrenching To have only a year of love, care and attention leaves us at times so bereft. It seems so incredibly cruel and unjust as he was so active and young.The only solace we have is we were all so incredibly happy together and the memories fondness and laughter he brought mean so much to us.

We feel so privileged and honoured that Caessr gave us the opportunity to care and love him, and allowing him to spend his remaining time with us. Forever in our hearts,

RIP special smiley boy.

Sue and Brian

HOLLY

 

Holly came to us through John on Saturday 23d October 2010, after introductions, a short walk from the kennels to see if we liked each other and then home she came. lt was obvious from the start she didn’t like car journeys and promptly wet the floor on entering the house but she didn’t do that again until recently when her health really started to fail.

Holly would tolerate car journeys when it resulted in long walks in the woods, across the fields and around the Lido ending in a sausage at the Lido cafe then sleeping all afternoon until dinner time!

Holly grew with my grandchildren being the same age as Daniel my grandson. When they had school holidays with, me, Holly loved it playing in the garden and of course the long wood walks. One day in particular springs to mind, Holly chased Daniel around the garden, up the steps of the
slide and followed him down it, PLONK on the ground, then carried on the chase. lt only I had had a camera ready!

Some years ago Holly had a cruciate operation on her back leg which was successtul but eventually arthritis set in and progressed over the years. Holly remained active until December 2020 when she had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis which really knocked her back. She did recover well under excellent veterinary care but the walks she had enjoyed were now out of the question. Old age had caught up with her, other ailments took there toll and at 15 1/2 years old our aim was to keep her pain free, but time ran out.

It was obvious Holly was suffering not only with arthritis but also dementia, her “odd” behaviour indicated this, it was breaking our hearts.

On Monday 18th October 2021 Holly passed away peacefully in my arms, a place she had often fallen asleep at night when sleep for her was difficult.

We had our ups and downs with Holly but she was our life and leaves us with many happy memories, like all dogs, a very unique personality, mischievous, cheeky, loony but most of all so affectionate, would love a cuddle, loved to lay in the sunshine and loved people.

Many Thanks, kind regards,

Madeleine and Barry

TILLY MAY

Very sadly we had to say goodbye to Tilly (Tilly May when we met her) last month.

Apart from arthritis she had remained in good health and was still very energetic but unfortunately she developed a tumor on top of one of her front paws. It grew quickly and was inoperable (we were not prepared to consider amputation at her age) and then while we were on holiday she broke the skin and her paw soon became infected despite everyone's best efforts.

Tilly was a wonderful, affectionate family dog and we feel blessed to have had her for seven years. She made human friends wherever she went and strangers were constantly commenting on how pretty she was and how youthful she looked.

We are all missing her terribly and finding it hard to readjust to 'life after Tilly' but at least we have so many happy memories and hundreds of photos of our time together. I attach one quite recent one of Tilly destroying her last 'pheasant', one a long line to suffer the same fate!

I hope all is well with you and everyone at CAESSR.

Best wishes,

Jon

DANNY

We wanted another dog, I’d given up work as all I could get was in London and travelling there every day was too much. We’d also recently taken over the lease of a cottage with half an acre of land and I was creating a garden from a field.

My wife, bless her, decided I needed a dog, we had owned a springer when we were first married and he was wonderful, we had another who died whilst in someone else’s care shortly after the first one. She contacted Caessr and a lady came to see us, I answered the door and spoke to the dog she had with her first, she went round our garden, came in and chatted over a cuppa, then left.

3 days later I had been out working for the National Trust and walked in to “We’ve been accepted and there’s this dog on their webpage and we’re going to Stoke on Saturday to see him” I looked at the picture and wasn’t impressed! But she (who will be obeyed) had spoken.

We drove from Cambridgeshire to a kennels outside Stoke, don’t ask me where, I’d never find it again! Into reception and spoke to the man I became to know as “John”, he went off and came back, sorry was dragged back, by a black & white scraggy dog which was chewing his way through a tennis ball! We took him for a walk along a very busy “lane” and towards a field with some horses. I dared not let him go and eventually we returned to the office. John was still busy, I handed over the cash in my wallet with a promise of more to follow and loaded this bundle of life into my car. I did not own an estate but a Car with an adaptable rear end so we could treat it as an estate even though it was a high spec saloon.

In the car he was well behaved, we later found out that he was an ex-police explosives sniffer dog , who was obsessed with tennis balls and had been sacked by the police for too many “false finds”. Well it gets a bit expensive when you call out the bomb squad because he wants to play with his tennis ball!

We had to re-equip ourselves with all the necessities for keeping a dog, including a lead, collar & tennis balls!

So began many happy years with the most faithful, adorable and handsome Dog I’ve had the pleasure to care for.

We worked together building a garden, well I threw balls and he dug the odd hole to hide them!

He rapidly became “My Dog” although he loved his mum to bits.

On his first night in our house because we live slightly isolated, I would not shut him in the kitchen, so by degrees he made his way upstairs and eventually had his own shaped pillow both sides of the bed with his own mattress my side. He never tried to climb on the bed, in fact if he was put on it he would jump off!
He went everywhere with us, basically if you wanted to see us he came along and after creating mayhem settled down just before time to go home.

Caessr asked us if we would ‘vet’ people in our area who wanted to adopt, why not? We were asked to visit a fairly new good sized house, beautifully furnished and decorated. It was summer and all the internal doors were open, he went through the whole house like a dose of salts every room and eventually he went into the garden and brought in a plant pot, yes lovely beige (I think) carpet and there’s our dog, soil on his feet trying to chew on one of the husband’s embryo Bonsai plants!

Apparently they did go on to foster one of Caessr’s dogs! Why? God only knows!

After many years of running on beaches, digging sand and getting everything out of life, he passed away last night. You know I feel sorry for the Almighty, he really doesn’t know what’s going to hit him! The most gorgeous, lovable, independent minded, dog he will ever meet.

John and Judy

BUDDY

 

 

Sadly, Buddy was put to sleep recently after a gradual decline with liver failure. Although I feel very sad now, the purpose of this email is to let you know what an absolutely fabulous companion he has been throughout the last 10 years. He's been such a lively character and definitely a cheeky boy, always on he lookout for treats, which neighbours would love to offer him! He enjoyed company but found boisterous children a bit too much, and I did learn that if he came up to me and put his head on my lap it was not to express his love but to say 'Mum, get me out of here!' Over the years we have had lovely holidays, especially in the Lake District, Northumberland, and many times in Suffolk and on Exmoor where he absolutely delighted in swimming in the River Barle, looking as sleek as an otter! Close to home, in his younger days he often swam in a little bit of the River Severn as well as springing through fields of wheat and barley (whoops!).

I miss Budddy very much now but I do have lots of lovely memories of the times we had together. And especially, I'm very grateful to you for enabling me to adopt him. He gave me so much fun, and I hope I gave him lots too.

Wendy

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