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27th June 2013 – the day my Sooty Monster’s little body gave up the fight. We miss him and he’ll never be out of our minds. He has left an impact on us all that no words or tears will ever express. Our hearts really did break when his did.
I want to say thank you, a million times over, to those at Dogs In Distress, and Paul Kelly Vets, who helped us keep Sooty enjoying life until the very end. My Monster was a star on Earth.
Today, the 26th of September 2012, is an incredibly special day – Mr. Sooty Monster will be with my little family for 3 whole years. For those of you who don’t know just how significant this is, let me fill you in:
Sooty came to me weighing half his recommended body weight, scalped and looking like a patchwork quilt from all the stitches he had. His hip bones, his ribs, his shoulders, everything poked out from under his skin and when he lay still enough we could see his heart pumping in his chest. He shivered all the time because he had no coat, he had been shaved so close that he had a film of hair covering him. This was because he had been so matted that there was nothing else that the groomer could do other than take all his coat off. His back end was very swollen with lots of stitches poking out due to operations he had done because of the neglect he had suffered. And so this bundle was delivered to me and his little face stole my heart.
Sooty was diagnosed with MVD, a serious heart problem that would inevitable take his life, and needed medication. So our house became full off pills. Sooty gets cold easily, so our house is full of jumpers. Sooty cannot get up the stairs on his own, so he has a constant lift system in the form of my 6’4” OH who will stop what he is doing to respond to the cries at the end of the stairs. Sooty was a near to impossible case to home, so we allowed him to stay in his first home. Sooty’s little heart is giving up on him so we do all the heavy lifting so that it doesn’t have to. At no point has he been a burden, at no point did we ever give up on him and at no point has he stop giving back ten times the amount we put into him.
My Sooty Monster is an advocate for adoption and for unwanted dogs, he has gone through pain and sickness that the best of us would have given up at, he has taught me never to judge a book by its cover and never to underestimate what some love and care can do, and how satisfying it is to see a dog that was given a maximum of 2 years to live still looking up at me with his little face an entire 3 years later.
I fear that this will be my last Sooty post, but I won’t believe it until it happens. He has had a hard time of it lately, with a hefty dose of kennel cough and sore joints, but he still troops on wagging his tail, rattling away in his little world. September 26th will be a day that we always remember, even when he is gone. When his heart breaks, so will ours.
SDC10432.JPGSDC10402.JPGToday is a very special day, Sooty has been with us two whole years! It’s a mini miracle (I think so anyway!) – not even the vets thought he would last this long but he’s a little trooper! This time last year we were hoping he would make it to Christmas and now we are hoping for another one. He is still a super little dude who loves pets and rubs, treats (of course!), is so good (even when things aren’t going too well) and a total charmer. He has a trick of getting his own way, that I wish I knew, and there isn’t a bad bone in his body (just a cranky one every so often!).
He spends quite a bit of time at the vets (or sleeping in the car on the way there and back!) and our house is like a chemists with all the medication but he’s doing well (for him anyway!). He still gets mad bouts of energy and boots it around, barking at nothing, but then has to sleep off all the excitement for a few hours
He snores the house down when he gets going and gives out about being disturbed. He is super chilled about (almost) everything – apart from food and someone at the front door – and he’s still plodding along, a happy camper SDC10438.JPGSDC10402.JPGWhew!
So many Cavaliers turning up in rescues recently – madness! Such a fantastic breed… but I’m biased…
Golden oldies are the best! It’s such a pity they are often looked over when it comes to rehoming – they appreciate everything that is done for them and give back 10 times what they get in love! She’s so beautiful and there is no such thing as too many photos
Today, the 26th of September, is one year since my Sooty arrived.
It took me nearly a month to post on the site because he was in such bad shape that I didn’t want to post pics of him. He was painfully thin – nearly half of what he should have weighed, very sore and swollen around his back end – due to several surgeries in the area and scalped – because he was so matted that he had to be shaved completely (he couldn’t even go to the toilet properly because of matting).
He never had any fear (and still doesn’t!), even in my mad house, and has always been so friendly to everyone he meets – which is shocking considering how badly he was treated (no/very little human contact or veterinary care, isolated his whole life, not fed properly…).
Initially, he had some food and resource aggression issues with my other dogs but they have reached an understanding (ie. they leave him alone and he leaves them alone!
) and now it’s only the odd growl. He is deaf, which has gotten worse over time (he used to be able to hear loud noises – doors banging etc. – but now not even clapping over his head is heard) but it has never caused him any problems. He is quite the barker when he gets going, has no fear of anything and does everything with gusto. He knows that after he gets his pills the food is coming and if there is any delay the will let you know! He gets himself so excited when food is being handed out and, unlike when we first got him, he knows when is turn is (but still spins around is circles until then!) and doesn’t try to eat anyone elses food.Sooty sleeps A LOT, for the joy of it and because of his heart problem. Over the year we have had him, he has slowed down a good bit and sleeps more and more. We dread to day he goes to the rainbow bridge but because of the severity of his heart issues it is something that has to be thought about and considered. He is on a lot of daily medication, has quite a low immune system (will pick up any bugs going), suffers with his anal glands (mainly due to the way he was treated before he came to me), cannot go for very long (and then needs to sleep for a few hours to recover), can only go for short (15 minute) walks – he is not able for a daily walk because it tires him out too much so he’s taken out 3/4 times per week and needs constant monitoring.
Sooty is such a wonderful addition to our household, he is truly settled and this is his home. I would never have thought I would end up with yet another (
) Cavalier but here we are, and we treasure every moment.SDC10166.JPGSDC10196.JPGSDC10027.JPGIsn’t this the little lady that was in a terrible state with a rope embedded in her neck last year? She’s looking fab!
Hope she gets sorted soon.
I don’t want to be devil advocate but crating him alone will not get rid of this problem. Because he has been allowed to do this behaviour for so long, it’ll take a lot of training and patience to get him to stop – crating him all night is not the solution.
Getting a dog used to a crate (esp if they have never used one before) has to be a slow and steady process otherwise the dog may take a disliking to the crate and you will have bigger problems to the ones you have now. Leaving him in the crate overnight off the bat will turn him off the crate – he’ll be very stressed, probably cry the house down and could potentially injure himself trying to get out of it. Slow introduction with toys, treat, food etc. while you are around is the best approach. Feeding him in the crate, putting him bed and toys in there, giving him special treats when he goes in himself and generally making it a fun place to be. To get him comfortable with the crate could take days, weeks or months (some dogs never take to a crate if they are introduced when they are older) – it all depends on the dog.
Even if he gets used to the crate, locking him in there all night is not a good idea. Most dogs see the crate as a safe place and shouldn’t be left in there for more than a few hours (eg. if you are going out shopping and he could potentially tear the house to bits – leaving a dog in a crate for an hour or two (as long as they are used to it) is fine). Plenty of dogs choose to relax in the crate, while the owners are around and of their own accord, but this is only achieved with a lot of patience and work.
One thing I want to mention about getting a second hand crate is that if your chap can smell the other dog(s) that have previously used it, he may not want to use it so buying a new one is probably your best bet. They are pricey but your guy is small so a small crate is all you need (you need it big enough for him to stand and turn around, to have his bed in and a bowl of water) and a good one will last forever.
A crate is not a quick fix to your problem and by using it alone to deal with this issue could cause both you and your dog a lot of stress (and sleepless nights!). Training is your best solution. Just be prepared for quite a lot of patience and persistence and you should be able to stop the night time madness.
Good luck!
One of my lot suffers from Colitis (a form of IBD) and I have found that the best food to have her on is Royal Canin Sensitivity (it is a prescription food). It’s also brilliant for dogs that have infections or just general upsets for short term, but can be used as a long term food and my lady is doing brilliantly on it. We initially tried Hills I/D and it didn’t agree with her as much as her current food. RC Sensitivity comes in both wet and dry – I have my lady on dry only. I have a neighbour who also has a dog with IBD who is on this food and she’s flying! I cannot recommend it enough.
It is pricey though. Your best bet is online, there is a great site (http://www.medicanimal.com) that has lots of prescription foods (and regular foods) for cheaper prices than most vets charge, definately worth a look. As always, it’s cheaper to buy in bulk and keep an eye out for offers to cut down on the price. I generally pay around €40 for a 6.5kg bag (I would buy a bigger bag but I only have one dog on it and I don’t want it going off), they don’t need very much of it per day so it does last a good while. I think the 15kg bag is near to €80 (as far as I can remember) and the 1.5kg bag is about €12. It is well worth the money because it is such a good solution, and long term at that, to such a bad problem.
Good luck!
Tried and tested method (lots of dogs peeing on concrete in my house!):
1) Biological washing powder in warm (not boiling) water – scrub the bejesus out of it the ground until very foamy, leave for 5/10 minutes (gives it a chance to break down all the pee residue). Rinse with boiling water.
2) Jayes fluid, diluted in hot water (I use the spray, very handy and no diluting) or a very concentrated solution of bleach (chlorine, not ammonia) – scrub the bejesus out of the concrete, leave for 5/10 minutes. Rinse (really well!) with boiling water.
3) Leave to dry before letting dogs back onto it.
( 4) If there is still a mild pong (just general dog smell), spray Tea Tree oil (in a spray bottle, with hot water – shake really well) onto the area and leave to dry before letting the dogs out. Leaves a very fresh smell)
Don’t forget to the up the edge walls too, they can get very nasty smelling in the recent wet, but hot, weather. A good, stiff yard brush is a must for this – gets all the chemicals into the nooks and crannies. Make sure you let everything sit for a little while, or even better scrub it for a few minutes (might be a bit hard on the shoulders though!). The Tea Tree oil makes everything smell very fresh, but usually I don’t have a need to use this because the other 3 steps get rid of the smell of pee.
A big thank you to Julie (juliem) for delivering pills and food this weekend!
Lucille – please pm me with your story about Sooty and how he got you involved, would love to hear it
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He snores the house down when he gets going and gives out about being disturbed. He is super chilled about (almost) everything – apart from food and someone at the front door – and he’s still plodding along, a happy camper 
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