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.

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

03/09/2024

Update on Theo, nearly a month after his fit, he seems fine, he has, touch wood, had no more fits and is his usual self, sometimes a little wobbly (expected at nearly 14) yet oddly can still happily stand steady on his back legs when there is a treat involved!

06/08/2024

Positive thoughts for Theo please, I came home today to find him having a fit, which lasted a few days, (despite having slight neurological tremors fairly regularly he has never had a fit before). He is now over his fit and is his usual self. The vet doesn't want to see him as he feels the stress of taking him to the vet won't be in his best interests so soon after the fit however if he has another one today, I am to take him straight in. He will be having a calm relaxing rest of the day and tomorrow as well. Current position...... Very happy and comfortable, thank you!

05/08/2024

Belle has taken to using a cushion as a pillow when she is lying on the floor, (I don't put it under her head, she finds out where one of the others has pushed it onto the floor and positions her head on it!) 🤣

01/07/2024

I had my final post op check at the vets today, they have signed me off now 😊 the vet wasn't worried about any of the lumps he took off, although they were all different sorts of lumps. They do say I have to keep my posh PJ's on until the last of the scabs fall off, (Mum and all her neighbours think I look really smart and cute in them). I also had to have a lot of teeth out, so I am still having soft food, which my 'brother and sisters' aren't very happy about as they aren't having it as well. I am just chilling on the sofa this evening 🙂

19/06/2024

Bryony is off to the vets on Friday to have a couple of lumps removed, so she has a new pair of lightweight pyjamas to stop her licking the wounds.

13/12/2023

Today it was my turn to go to the vets for a dental, my teeth were a lot worse than Belle's and I had to have a lot more of them taken out. Mum was told she had to keep me calm and quiet....... First thing I did when I got home was jump from the floor to the top of Elsa's crate (it is a very large crate and I am only a little dog! 🤣) I have spent most of the evening snoozing quietly though. It seems dentals and tooth extractions are what is happening in our house this month, as Mum is going to have a couple taken out tomorrow as well, I think the other dogs are beginning to feel left out! 🤣😂
Love Titch

07/12/2023

Last week Mum noticed the side of my face was swollen, so off to the vet I went. As Mum expected I had a tooth abscess, so I was given an antibiotic injection and a pain killing injection (I was NOT impressed) and sent home with some medication, with advice to come back and have a full dental with possible teeth extractions. The vet also found I have a slight heart murmur.
Considering my age and the heart murmur, Mum was worried about me having a general anesthetic, but the vet said it was necessary. They did discuss other options, putting me on permanent antibiotics, but it was eventually decided that a dental operation was the best way forward.
So yesterday I had my dental (having had my bloods checked first to make sure my liver and kidneys were ok). I had intravenous fluids, which help clear the anesthetic drugs from my system, which is often advised in older dogs. I had 6 teeth out and came home the same day. I am still taking antibiotics and painkillers for a few days, but I seem none the worse for my experience at the vets.
Love Belle

01/12/2023

Mum has now retired, so is spending much more time with us. She has had a full knee replacement since we last posted, which meant a fair few weeks with fewer walks and with different people than Mum, but as we are getting older and she was home all of the time, we didn't mind. We have a reasonably sized garden we could run around in and lots of toys to throw around the house on the days we didn't get a walk (we only knocked one thing off the mantle piece! 🤣) And Mum has a few snuffle mats to keep us entertained. (Though we can't use those together as we tend to get a bit possessive!)

Mum is now back up and running (so to speak, she has never been a runner). So our usual walk schedule has resumed, including our one to ones on Dartmoor 😃 although it is a bit cold today, so we are having a sofa day 😴😉 (in Theo's case a floor day).

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