Kate H
Well-known member
(Sorry it's rather long)
Aled came from a Welsh puppy farm. He was intended to be a stud dog but – probably due to low testosterone levels – he wasn’t interested and got handed over to Many Tears rescue when he was 18 months old. I collected him from his foster home near London just before Christmas 2008. In many respects Aled then was like a young puppy – he knew nothing. He had never been for walks or run free in the park, he didn’t know how to relate to other dogs or to people, if I put him on my lap he froze (What are you going to do to me now?), in his second week with us he got a bad cough from meeting traffic pollution for the first time. But he learnt so much from his Big Brother Oliver. If Oliver wasn’t worried about something like fireworks, then Aled didn’t worry; if Oliver thought people were nice, then Aled would give it a go.
So Aled became part of our family. He came to our monthly obedience training days and wiggled his bum at the other dogs. He even won a couple of rosettes in obedience competitions, though it took me about two years to teach him to retrieve, but once he’d learnt he loved retrieving toys in the sitting room. He came on our camping holidays in Norfolk and loved the beach. He visited friends and co-hosted the Cavalier Christmas parties. I loved the way, when I let him off the lead, he ran around in circles and dive-bombed Oliver with such joy. But if I walked him without Oliver he would simply walk at my heel – Big Bro was his confidence.
Healthwise, Aled was a disaster. He came with a grade 1 heart murmur that slowly increased, he had mild CM/SM, an eye problem, and developed quite severe myoclonus. He went into heart failure last July and was not expected to live as long as he did. When he died he was 7 years and 7 months old – the classic age for Cavaliers to die of MVD. He had been with us for just over 6 years, and I am so sad that he didn’t have longer to enjoy life after his bad start. But I am glad that though he started life shut in a kennel on his own, he died surrounded by loving friends and with me stroking his head. Like Oliver, Aled was registered with the Cavalier Collection Scheme, so his tissue samples will help research into MVD and pancreatitis. And when his ashes come back to me I shall scatter them on our favourite Norfolk beach.
Aled came from a Welsh puppy farm. He was intended to be a stud dog but – probably due to low testosterone levels – he wasn’t interested and got handed over to Many Tears rescue when he was 18 months old. I collected him from his foster home near London just before Christmas 2008. In many respects Aled then was like a young puppy – he knew nothing. He had never been for walks or run free in the park, he didn’t know how to relate to other dogs or to people, if I put him on my lap he froze (What are you going to do to me now?), in his second week with us he got a bad cough from meeting traffic pollution for the first time. But he learnt so much from his Big Brother Oliver. If Oliver wasn’t worried about something like fireworks, then Aled didn’t worry; if Oliver thought people were nice, then Aled would give it a go.
So Aled became part of our family. He came to our monthly obedience training days and wiggled his bum at the other dogs. He even won a couple of rosettes in obedience competitions, though it took me about two years to teach him to retrieve, but once he’d learnt he loved retrieving toys in the sitting room. He came on our camping holidays in Norfolk and loved the beach. He visited friends and co-hosted the Cavalier Christmas parties. I loved the way, when I let him off the lead, he ran around in circles and dive-bombed Oliver with such joy. But if I walked him without Oliver he would simply walk at my heel – Big Bro was his confidence.
Healthwise, Aled was a disaster. He came with a grade 1 heart murmur that slowly increased, he had mild CM/SM, an eye problem, and developed quite severe myoclonus. He went into heart failure last July and was not expected to live as long as he did. When he died he was 7 years and 7 months old – the classic age for Cavaliers to die of MVD. He had been with us for just over 6 years, and I am so sad that he didn’t have longer to enjoy life after his bad start. But I am glad that though he started life shut in a kennel on his own, he died surrounded by loving friends and with me stroking his head. Like Oliver, Aled was registered with the Cavalier Collection Scheme, so his tissue samples will help research into MVD and pancreatitis. And when his ashes come back to me I shall scatter them on our favourite Norfolk beach.
