The lives of Stanley the rescue lurcher, tripod Elsa and Tally's and family

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The lives of Stanley the rescue lurcher, tripod Elsa and Tally's and family

Stanley was rescued from the council dog pound after being found straying in somewhere in Kent and came into foster care in March 2014.

10/04/2026

Unfortunately I am here again far too soon with more sad news. Today I had to let Belle go over the bridge to join Theo. She woke me at 5.30 this morning barking from the kitchen. She had collapsed and was unable to get up, even with my help she couldn't stand for over half an hour (she has done this before, but helped up she was able to stand and walk immediately afterwards). Once standing she was very wobbly and then very 'flat with no spark to her at all. People say you will know when it is the right time and often wonder if I will know. But today I knew and however hard that is, especially after losing Theo just 9 days ago, it is the best and last loving thing I could do for her.

Go and find Theo and the rest of the gang that have gone before.

She was a beautiful and loving companion, who will always be missed.

💔

03/04/2026

Huge apologies for not updating 'Stanley's' page for so long.

I come with sad news, at fifteen and a half years old I have had to let Theo go over the rainbow bridge.

For the last year or two he has been slowly showing his age, starting with a small occasional neurological twitch, which the vets could do nothing about, but didn't seem to bother him. He then began having the very occasional seizure, short in length and two or more months between, and recovering within minutes, and still his normal happy self. Recently he also had thyroid issues, managed with medication, but earlier this week he didn't recover as he usually does from his seizures.

So I had to make the hardest and the kindest decision to let him go. He will be so missed. He was the best, craziest boy you could ever imagine.

Belle, Bryony, Elsa and Titch are all still doing well, despite their growing old (all are over 11years old now).

Fly high Theo, go and find your good friends Tia and Ollie, my Three Musketeers together again. Maybe even find the wonderful Stanley, who you begrudgingly allowed to become your fourth Musketeer for a few years.

My heart is broken 💔

07/04/2025

Belle's third heart scan a week and a half ago, showed further improvement and her medication has been reduced again and there seems to be no negative effects 🙂

However, whilst I was out yesterday she suffered what the emergency vet and I feel was a TIA (mini stroke) and my son returned from work to find her prostrate on the floor 😞 (I had had a friend come in and check on her whilst I was out and she had been fine an hour and a half before). I rushed home and took her into the emergency vet, having to carry her to the car and into the vets as she couldn't stand. She was in no distress or pain fortunately. She was prescribed Vivitonin and sent home (again needing carrying to the car) to see how she progresses for the following couple of days.

On arrival at home again she wouldn't stand and had to be carried from the car, but once I had put her down she got up, walked into the kitchen and jumped up onto her bed like there was not a thing wrong with her! She seems fine this morning and is currently sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

Hopefully the medication she is on will mean that will be the only episode she has, but only time will tell.

21/03/2025

My turn for a Dartmoor one to one again, yet another orange sky that Mum seems so fond of looking at. This time a place we haven't been before.
Love Bryony

20/03/2025

Yesterday was my turn for a Dartmoor one to one with Mum, and another sunset, beautiful skies, but Mum said it was very cold!
Love Elsa

19/03/2025

A week ago Mum and I headed up to Dartmoor for my one to one, and so Mum could watch the sunset (for some reason she seems to like it when the sky goes orange! 🧡). We had a lovely time, even if we don't walk as far as we used to up there (I am 14 and a half after all!)
Since then Bryony has had an upset stomach (Mum says I mustn't go into too much detail! 🤣), so Mum has said we couldn't go out in public in case it is contagious and we might give it to other dogs. She thinks we are all ok now, so she took Elsa out last night and will post those photos later.
Love Belle

07/03/2025

Yesterday it was Titch's turn for a one to one wander around Dartmoor (no-one's turn today as the weather is awful and Dartmoor can be really unpredictable and dangerous with bad weather). The moor looking a little different due to weather and location, so many different vistas, we are spoilt for choice. You will notice that all the dogs will be on leads when I am on Dartmoor. It is coming into lambing season and also soon the ground nesting birds will be choosing their nesting sites and making their nests, so all dogs have to be under close control and on leads. Even on lead there is lots of time for sniffing as well as walking, sniffing gives the dog's brain stimulation, which is just as important as the exercise a walk gives your dog.

As you can see, the swaling mentioned yesterday is still going on, leaving parts of the moorland black and charred. As the warmer weather comes, these areas will become green again with the new plant growth starting to germinate, giving fresh green grass and vegetation for the wildlife and livestock to enjoy.

The roads were quiet, which gave us time to stop and look at the wildlife as we passed and wait for the sheep who didn't want to move from the middle of the road!

06/03/2025

Mum and I did one of our one to one walks up on Dartmoor yesterday evening as the sun was setting. It was nice to have some time with just Mum. On the way home we saw them burning some of the vegetation on the moor, this is something called swaling, which is a controlled burn, to help deal with overgrown vegetation and help with the growth of fresh new pasture for the moorland animals. It also creates firebreaks in to help control any moorland fires in the hot dry summer.

03/03/2025

Mum here, I am sorry it has been so long since I updated you all on how everyone is here. I now have a 'pack' of oldies, everyone is over ten years old and when there are days they don't get walked for one reason or another, they are all quite happy lounging around in the house and pottering around the garden.

Belle, who had serious heart issues last year has astounded the vets, when she went back for a second heart scan a couple of months ago her heart was back to it's normal size and functioning as it should, so we have been reducing the dosage of her diuretics, and she is still appearing to be fit, she is going in for another scan in the next couple of weeks, which will show us if the reduced medication has had any negative effect.

Theo has a neurological problem, which manifests itself in small tremors from time to time (like someone has walked over his grave) he also very occasionally seems to have a back leg malfunction and falls over, yet he is still able to balance on only his back legs when there is a treat involved! (Not something I ask him to do, but as soon as the treat pot is touched it is his normal reaction).

Bryony has fully recovered from her lumps being removed and is sporting a new winter coat.

Elsa is doing well, with no appearance of any arthritis in her remaining legs (which I was concerned would happen as she got older, given the extra work they have had to do having lost a leg at a young age).

Titch is being Titch, still full of energy, bounces around the place. She has just got over a nasty stomach issue, (I spoke to the vet, but didn't need to visit fortunately). Her favourite place is sat on the back of the sofa!

27/09/2024

I gave Mum a scare earlier this week, my breathing became very laboured and fast and I lost all colour in my gums, so she knew something was very wrong. Emergency trip to the vets, who said it was a problem with my heart (which is what Mum has suspected).

The vet gave me some medication to take (and Mum a fairly big bill) and asked her to bring me back the following day as that is when the specialist comes in every week to do MRI scans. So Mum took me back on Wednesday.

The specialist said I have congestive heart failure on the left hand side of my heart and my lungs were starting to fill with fluid, so they weren't working properly either. She gave me an injection and has tweaked the medications I was given and added another one, (another huge bill for Mum, she says she is glad I am insured!) I have to go back in three months for another scan, which will see how well the meds are working and may give a better estimate of how long I will be around for Mum to love. (I am to go back sooner if I start to get worse and Mum is worried.) My breathing is a lot better now and my gums have gone back to their usual colour, so Mum says the drugs must be doing their job.

The vet also said that as I am half Flat Coat Retriever, I am doing very well for my age as I had my 14th birthday earlier this month! (Flatcoat don't usually have a very long life expectancy, usually 8-10 years, but my sister Tia, a full flat coat lived until she was 16 so Mum must be doing something right 😃)

Hopefully I will be around for a long time yet

Love Belle x

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