Post photos of your dogs vol2
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tting on the door mat!
This year I had to make the hardest decision of my life so far. I had our family dog, Cracker, put down.
Six months later and writing that has reduced me to tears. He was old and his back legs were failing, but the medicine was damaging his liver, a catch 22. He lived with my parents but they were on holiday and the kennels had taken him into the vets. I had visited him and he was not a happy dog. I gave him a few days in their care to see if he would get better. On my last visit I willed him to stand up for me but he wouldn't/couldn't do it and just looked deeply into my eyes. It was absolutely horrendous. I made a decision. What life is it for a dog if he can't even walk out to the garden?
It still didn't make it any easier to do. In fact I was completely ruined. I sobbed all the way back to my hometown. I took his collar for a final walk around the town and ended up sitting on the beach where he used to go for his Christmas swim.
Telling my parents over the phone was just as bad. Compounded by the fact I had to ring the vets in the middle of the night to ask for the ashes to be returned at my parents request, I had assumed they wouldn't want them and told the vets at the time not to worry about them. Luckily it was all sorted.
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
However let's not dwell on the end. We gave Cracker a fantastic life and he enriched ours more than you could imagine a pet ever could.
It was the summer of '99 when my parents surprised me by taking me to the NCDL kennels. My mum took me first. All the dogs were barking and going crazy, but there was one dog who sat quietly in his basket and looked forlorn. Cracker was always different. We stopped at his cage and he looked up at us. Then slowly he came over to the door of the cage and put his back against it to be stroked. That was all it took. We asked to take him for a walk, I have never seen anything so happy to be outside. We were hooked.
We took my Dad for the second visit and he was just as enamoured as us. Sorted out all the payments and whatnot (I can't remember everything as I was 10) and got a bit of a back story on Cracker. He was found wandering the streets of Rhondda. It was suspected he was a Christmas dog who had been abandoned but had survived on the streets. This had given him a determination to eat any food he could find that would stay with him the rest of his life. His time in the kennels also left him with a suspected condition that meant he moulted permanently, any remedies for this barely worked. It was thought he was between 18 months and 2 years old when we got him.
The first time we let him off the lead he ran in a big circle as wide as the field we were in for around 20 minutes straight before coming back panting and smiling. Being the age he was and and spending so time wild meant he was hard to train. He would sit, beg and shake hands for food but that was about it. My Dad could get him to sit and wait to cross roads. However off the lead walking, for me, required empty fields because he had very selective hearing and would take a long time to come back to you. Not that he was a danger to other dogs generally. I only saw him be aggressive twice and both times were over in a flash when the other dog realised their mistake and scarpered.
When he was still young Cracker became a minor celebrity when he became the face of a joint NCDL and Andrex campaign. You had to buy so many toilet rolls and send off the vouchers to receive a toy dog or something. However you got a thank you note from the NCDL and here it is
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
Cracker was a playful dog - he enjoyed playing chicken with you, although he accidentally knocked all of us over on more than one occasion. He always came over to lick you better though. He would do the same if you had a play fight with him, which my Dad and I used to do all the time. He would lightly chew your hand until you said "ouch" and he would instantly switch to licking you better. It was said many times that he was more likely to lick a burglar to death than anything else.
He was a quiet dog though. I can only recall a handful of occasions that I heard him bark. Once when we had the sky dish recalled and he didn't know what it was. Another was when he was protecting the back garden from one of the biggest seagulls I have ever seen. He was pretty good at protecting us from bees and wasps too. I watched him kill dozens of bees over his life, it was hilarious watching him try to eat it with bared teeth so his lips wouldn't be stung. Eating random things was another of Crackers funny traits.
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
Here he is licking a saucepan clean.
Over the years I can recall him eating the following:
1kg of Galaxy chocolate at Christmas - we thought he was going to die, 6 vomits later and he still didn't learn as...
1 Terry's Chocolate orange - next Christmas he managed to lick a Terry's chocolate orange out of it's wrapper, apart from an opened lid the packaging still looked perfect from the front, quite a trick!
Cooking oil - prepared to make chips, he started to eat it at my grand parents house. They panicked and rang the vets, who suggested bread would help settle his stomach. My Nan (lovely woman, rest her soul) decided that he couldn't possibly have plain bread, so made buttered soldiers for him!)
Bag of bird seed - his poop looked like granola bars for the next few days, and looked extremely painful to pass as well!
Snorex medicine - still didn't stop his snoring though!
Also wax candles, any piece of fruit my Dad gave him and basically anything he could get his paws on. He once cleverly opened an oven door that was ajar to cool the oven, stood on the oven door to reach the cooked dinner that was resting on the hob!
Talking of his intelligence, he was a master escape artist. I can not recall how many times he escaped. He used to dig the usual holes, but also we caught him walking up a ladder that was leaning at a shallow angle on a wall. In our first home he used to be easy to find. He would go to the duck pond and be chasing the ducks! He loved that. In our second home I can remember walking around the streets calling his name when I noticed one of those plastic boxes that the council use for recycling moving around someones drive way. I called out his name and the box stopped and started to move towards me. Lifted it up and lo and behold there he was! The one thing he never managed to learn was fetch though, however I think he was too intelligent (you threw the stick, you pick it up!).
He was also quite dexterous and acrobatic. I remember playing with him by putting my hand onto his throat while he lay down, he would wrap his paws around my arm in a fairly good grip, then use his hind legs to push my arm towards his mouth - it was very impressive. When my parents were away and I couldn't look after him he would go to the local kennel. He used to get very wound up and would quite literally climb the walls. He would run up them and kick off them in pretty much a back flip, the kennel owners had never seen anything like it before. He was also smart enough to hold his food bowl with his paw whilst he licked it clean. He never left any food!
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
He was a massively popular dog with all who met him, he was the first person to be greeted by family and friends who came to our home. He loved attention and being stroked and would wag his tail with incredible force. I used to love coming home from school as a kid, jump on my bed and find him nestled in the blanket sleeping. He used to wake my Mum up every morning by running up the stairs and jumping into bed on my Dads command.
In his 17 years (approximately), 15 spent with us, he brought us so much love, laughter and happiness. I like to think that we gave him the good life that he deserved. I think about him many times a week, I try to concentrate on the happy times. He gave our family so many stories and good times. I think this is what makes a dog more than just a pet. They really are mans best friend. I implore you all to love your dogs, treat them well and they will bring you so much more than you could ever have imagined.
Rest in peace Cracker.
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
Six months later and writing that has reduced me to tears. He was old and his back legs were failing, but the medicine was damaging his liver, a catch 22. He lived with my parents but they were on holiday and the kennels had taken him into the vets. I had visited him and he was not a happy dog. I gave him a few days in their care to see if he would get better. On my last visit I willed him to stand up for me but he wouldn't/couldn't do it and just looked deeply into my eyes. It was absolutely horrendous. I made a decision. What life is it for a dog if he can't even walk out to the garden?
It still didn't make it any easier to do. In fact I was completely ruined. I sobbed all the way back to my hometown. I took his collar for a final walk around the town and ended up sitting on the beach where he used to go for his Christmas swim.
Telling my parents over the phone was just as bad. Compounded by the fact I had to ring the vets in the middle of the night to ask for the ashes to be returned at my parents request, I had assumed they wouldn't want them and told the vets at the time not to worry about them. Luckily it was all sorted.
Cracker by blayney1989, on FlickrHowever let's not dwell on the end. We gave Cracker a fantastic life and he enriched ours more than you could imagine a pet ever could.
It was the summer of '99 when my parents surprised me by taking me to the NCDL kennels. My mum took me first. All the dogs were barking and going crazy, but there was one dog who sat quietly in his basket and looked forlorn. Cracker was always different. We stopped at his cage and he looked up at us. Then slowly he came over to the door of the cage and put his back against it to be stroked. That was all it took. We asked to take him for a walk, I have never seen anything so happy to be outside. We were hooked.
We took my Dad for the second visit and he was just as enamoured as us. Sorted out all the payments and whatnot (I can't remember everything as I was 10) and got a bit of a back story on Cracker. He was found wandering the streets of Rhondda. It was suspected he was a Christmas dog who had been abandoned but had survived on the streets. This had given him a determination to eat any food he could find that would stay with him the rest of his life. His time in the kennels also left him with a suspected condition that meant he moulted permanently, any remedies for this barely worked. It was thought he was between 18 months and 2 years old when we got him.
The first time we let him off the lead he ran in a big circle as wide as the field we were in for around 20 minutes straight before coming back panting and smiling. Being the age he was and and spending so time wild meant he was hard to train. He would sit, beg and shake hands for food but that was about it. My Dad could get him to sit and wait to cross roads. However off the lead walking, for me, required empty fields because he had very selective hearing and would take a long time to come back to you. Not that he was a danger to other dogs generally. I only saw him be aggressive twice and both times were over in a flash when the other dog realised their mistake and scarpered.
When he was still young Cracker became a minor celebrity when he became the face of a joint NCDL and Andrex campaign. You had to buy so many toilet rolls and send off the vouchers to receive a toy dog or something. However you got a thank you note from the NCDL and here it is
Cracker by blayney1989, on FlickrCracker was a playful dog - he enjoyed playing chicken with you, although he accidentally knocked all of us over on more than one occasion. He always came over to lick you better though. He would do the same if you had a play fight with him, which my Dad and I used to do all the time. He would lightly chew your hand until you said "ouch" and he would instantly switch to licking you better. It was said many times that he was more likely to lick a burglar to death than anything else.
He was a quiet dog though. I can only recall a handful of occasions that I heard him bark. Once when we had the sky dish recalled and he didn't know what it was. Another was when he was protecting the back garden from one of the biggest seagulls I have ever seen. He was pretty good at protecting us from bees and wasps too. I watched him kill dozens of bees over his life, it was hilarious watching him try to eat it with bared teeth so his lips wouldn't be stung. Eating random things was another of Crackers funny traits.
Cracker by blayney1989, on FlickrHere he is licking a saucepan clean.
Over the years I can recall him eating the following:
1kg of Galaxy chocolate at Christmas - we thought he was going to die, 6 vomits later and he still didn't learn as...
1 Terry's Chocolate orange - next Christmas he managed to lick a Terry's chocolate orange out of it's wrapper, apart from an opened lid the packaging still looked perfect from the front, quite a trick!
Cooking oil - prepared to make chips, he started to eat it at my grand parents house. They panicked and rang the vets, who suggested bread would help settle his stomach. My Nan (lovely woman, rest her soul) decided that he couldn't possibly have plain bread, so made buttered soldiers for him!)
Bag of bird seed - his poop looked like granola bars for the next few days, and looked extremely painful to pass as well!
Snorex medicine - still didn't stop his snoring though!
Also wax candles, any piece of fruit my Dad gave him and basically anything he could get his paws on. He once cleverly opened an oven door that was ajar to cool the oven, stood on the oven door to reach the cooked dinner that was resting on the hob!
Talking of his intelligence, he was a master escape artist. I can not recall how many times he escaped. He used to dig the usual holes, but also we caught him walking up a ladder that was leaning at a shallow angle on a wall. In our first home he used to be easy to find. He would go to the duck pond and be chasing the ducks! He loved that. In our second home I can remember walking around the streets calling his name when I noticed one of those plastic boxes that the council use for recycling moving around someones drive way. I called out his name and the box stopped and started to move towards me. Lifted it up and lo and behold there he was! The one thing he never managed to learn was fetch though, however I think he was too intelligent (you threw the stick, you pick it up!).
He was also quite dexterous and acrobatic. I remember playing with him by putting my hand onto his throat while he lay down, he would wrap his paws around my arm in a fairly good grip, then use his hind legs to push my arm towards his mouth - it was very impressive. When my parents were away and I couldn't look after him he would go to the local kennel. He used to get very wound up and would quite literally climb the walls. He would run up them and kick off them in pretty much a back flip, the kennel owners had never seen anything like it before. He was also smart enough to hold his food bowl with his paw whilst he licked it clean. He never left any food!
Cracker by blayney1989, on FlickrHe was a massively popular dog with all who met him, he was the first person to be greeted by family and friends who came to our home. He loved attention and being stroked and would wag his tail with incredible force. I used to love coming home from school as a kid, jump on my bed and find him nestled in the blanket sleeping. He used to wake my Mum up every morning by running up the stairs and jumping into bed on my Dads command.
In his 17 years (approximately), 15 spent with us, he brought us so much love, laughter and happiness. I like to think that we gave him the good life that he deserved. I think about him many times a week, I try to concentrate on the happy times. He gave our family so many stories and good times. I think this is what makes a dog more than just a pet. They really are mans best friend. I implore you all to love your dogs, treat them well and they will bring you so much more than you could ever have imagined.
Rest in peace Cracker.
Cracker by blayney1989, on Flickr
RESSE said:
Lottie is a Jackadoodle (Mum is a short coated Jack Russsell and her Dad is a miniature poodle).
Ah! I asked because I thought I spotted some poodle in the photo in the quote. There's a distinct bend in their snout before the nose. I didn't realise she was a JRT cross.Mine's the same cross, although it gets referred to as 'The Jackapoo' in our case. The story is that her mum was a registered poodle and her dad was quite good at escaping from the next garden
She's quite an easy dog. My other mutt (the lives with my parents) is a cross with a Jack Russell and she all of the rat-catcher temperament, proper handful when she was younger.
Just about fits in the car
Konan said:
RESSE said:
Lottie is a Jackadoodle (Mum is a short coated Jack Russsell and her Dad is a miniature poodle).
Ah! I asked because I thought I spotted some poodle in the photo in the quote. There's a distinct bend in their snout before the nose. I didn't realise she was a JRT cross.Mine's the same cross, although it gets referred to as 'The Jackapoo' in our case. The story is that her mum was a registered poodle and her dad was quite good at escaping from the next garden
She's quite an easy dog. My other mutt (the lives with my parents) is a cross with a Jack Russell and she all of the rat-catcher temperament, proper handful when she was younger.
Just about fits in the car
Great photo.
She has good colours in her coat. Very cheeky face!
Edited by RESSE on Sunday 30th November 11:11
Blayney said:
Lovely story mate - thanks for posting, I feel a bit sad now as my silly old bear has a similar back story (and a similar list of things he shouldn't have eaten!) and it's reminded me of his mortality. God willing, a few years in him yet though.Usget said:
Blayney said:
Lovely story mate - thanks for posting, I feel a bit sad now as my silly old bear has a similar back story (and a similar list of things he shouldn't have eaten!) and it's reminded me of his mortality. God willing, a few years in him yet though.
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