pagep
Member
My first post on this forum a couple of weeks back was as a former cavalier owner. My beautiful Blenheim Oscar had just been put to sleep at the ripe old age of 14. At the time, it was very much a case of 'never again' -the sadness of his passing just seemed so great that none of us wanted to go through that ever again.
Coincidentally, I saw a posting on this forum about a Tri Cavalier that had been rescued from the pound, and had been fostered by the volunteer group a Dogs Life. I made some enquiries, and incredibly, Waldo had not been reclaimed; a visit to see him at his foster home, and that was it, we fell in love with him on the spot.
We decided to adopt Waldo -and from a situation where we thought 'never again' we are now so happy we decided to give Waldo a permanent home. He is the sweetest, most affectionate dog, and obviously came from a background where he was well cared for. Housetrained (not one accident so far), beautifully mannered and affectionate to every member of the family, we have probably broke every rule in the book by showering this lettle fellah with love for his first week, but we cannot believe how lucky we are. He is SO well behaved, great in the car (Oscar was a terrible traveller and even short journeys used to be very stressful) and he can be left in the house for short periods with no need to keep him in a crate.
If we have learned anything, it is that 'pound dogs' does not always mean you are inheriting a 'problem' dog -in many cases, dogs are surrendered to the pound for a wide variety of reasons and can sometimes come from very loving backgrounds. All these dogs need is a second chance in a stable, loving environment, and we certainly intend giving Waldo that.
If anything vindicates our decision to adopt a rescue dog it is the greeting we get every time we come back into the room, even after short absences -Waldo jumps up on to our lap, puts a paw on each shoulder, and gently rubs his face against ours, an example of a canine hug if ever there was one.
He has settled in so well, and everyone who meets him falls in love with him straight away. We still miss Oscar, but we like to think we are honouring his memory, by taking on this beautiful dog and giving him the love he deserves. Some pictures of the new arrival:
resize waldo window by pagep195, on Flickr
RESIZE waldo cuddly toy by pagep195, on Flickr
Coincidentally, I saw a posting on this forum about a Tri Cavalier that had been rescued from the pound, and had been fostered by the volunteer group a Dogs Life. I made some enquiries, and incredibly, Waldo had not been reclaimed; a visit to see him at his foster home, and that was it, we fell in love with him on the spot.
We decided to adopt Waldo -and from a situation where we thought 'never again' we are now so happy we decided to give Waldo a permanent home. He is the sweetest, most affectionate dog, and obviously came from a background where he was well cared for. Housetrained (not one accident so far), beautifully mannered and affectionate to every member of the family, we have probably broke every rule in the book by showering this lettle fellah with love for his first week, but we cannot believe how lucky we are. He is SO well behaved, great in the car (Oscar was a terrible traveller and even short journeys used to be very stressful) and he can be left in the house for short periods with no need to keep him in a crate.
If we have learned anything, it is that 'pound dogs' does not always mean you are inheriting a 'problem' dog -in many cases, dogs are surrendered to the pound for a wide variety of reasons and can sometimes come from very loving backgrounds. All these dogs need is a second chance in a stable, loving environment, and we certainly intend giving Waldo that.
If anything vindicates our decision to adopt a rescue dog it is the greeting we get every time we come back into the room, even after short absences -Waldo jumps up on to our lap, puts a paw on each shoulder, and gently rubs his face against ours, an example of a canine hug if ever there was one.
He has settled in so well, and everyone who meets him falls in love with him straight away. We still miss Oscar, but we like to think we are honouring his memory, by taking on this beautiful dog and giving him the love he deserves. Some pictures of the new arrival:
resize waldo window by pagep195, on Flickr
RESIZE waldo cuddly toy by pagep195, on Flickr