Month: September 2018

A big thank you to Jenny & her wonderful husband who adopted little Vincent. Older rescue animals are often overlooked by people looking to adopt, especially ones who are also not the most visually appealing, but they deserve a loving home as much as any other. We so appreciate people, like Jenny, who are willing to give an older dog a happy retirement.

When we met Vincent at Grande-Daze it was love at first sight. Our Jack Russell/Poodle cross (a Jackapoo?) is very elderly, a bit deaf, partially sighted, has difficulty co-ordinating his actions, needs new teeth and some of his ‘manly bits’ aren’t quite in the right place! Oh, and his ears are wonky too and he’s bow legged and his tail is, well, too long and but and and …. oh, he is beautiful to us! He has found his forever home.

It appears that our new friend had been abandoned and thus was malnourished to the point of near death when he arrived at Grande-Daze. True to form Anita and Peter saved his life. He received veterinary care, was given antibiotics to clear up suspected infections and put on a special diet. When we saw Vince he had just begun to walk around. It was felt that he would benefit from a quiet environment and under almost constant supervision, thus, because of our circumstances we were able to give Vincent a home. Our rescued Shih Tzu cross, Jigger Joe, is an affable little fellow who is bilingual; took on the role of “carer”, ensuring that Vincent understood English and could learn the routine of the household.

Caring for an older dog with an unknown past is not for everyone but for us it is proving to be a rewarding and interesting experience. During his first weeks at Grande-Daze he was given the doggie equivalent of ‘Intensive Care’ which is very time consuming and requires special knowledge. When The Centre assessed Vincent was ready we took over his care and we were given instructions on his needs. Grande-Daze has been there to help us every step of the way and given us confidence to care for our little friend who has thrived in his new environment. Without the advice and guidance from Anita and Peter we would not have known how to care for Vincent.

Vince is a lovable, comical, intelligent little elderly gent who has quickly settled in with us. He is putting on weight and his health is improving daily; even his gait is more co-ordinated. He likes to sit in the doorway most of the time and, with Jigger Joe, he takes a walk around the garden. He loves to travel in the car and enjoys a short walk in the park. On sight of his blue food dish he runs
inside eager to eat and the tasty morsels soon disappear. We don’t know the real age of this Charlie Chaplin mimic and we hope that he will be with us for many years. But however long he is with us it will be a pleasure to share our lives with him along with his mentor/carer, Jigger Joe. We didn’t realise that we had a “Vince shaped hole” until we brought him home! Thank you Grande-Daze.

We are so grateful to Gary & Wendy for adopting senior dog, Charlie, and giving him the loving and caring final years that he deserves. It is lovely to continue to see him and to watch as he has got happier and healthier, all through the kindness of Wendy, Gary and the lovely Lola.

Charlie is a German Shepherd found wandering near Gorron on 2nd August 2017, very thin and dirty. He didn’t have any identification at all, simply a collar with some electrical cable attached. Anita brought him back to Grande Daze and tried, in vain, to find his owner. There was no way of finding out his age and he seemed very old due to the state he was in.

Once he had been cleaned up, he was thought to be about 9 and his given birthday is the day he was found, which makes him 10 now.

We don’t think he was mistreated as he isn’t fearful, he was just very sad so he may have been just abandoned or lost. We thought he would probably only have one winter left and wanted to make it a comfortable one for him. We knew we could give him a home for however long he had and set about getting to know him, visiting him and walking him around the lake at Grande Daze along with Lola, our other German Shepherd.

On 15th September 2017, we brought him home – it would have been sooner except that our village fete was the previous weekend and they have fireworks on the river outside our house, so we didn’t know how he would react.

Lola was very caring and respectful, allowing him to eat first, and laying near enough to him but giving him space. He soon fitted in to our daily routine and after a few months he started filling out and getting more confident. He doesn’t attempt to go upstairs, but each morning he barks upstairs to tell us it is time to get up and if you say “Where’s Charlie?” he barks to let you know he is waiting!

He has put on a few kilos and filled out a bit but, as he is an old boy, we never expected miracles. He runs, plays and enjoys his walks, so that is our reward – along with the cuddles he asks for on a regular basis!

Although it would be wrong to say it has been plain sailing (he had an operation for a hole in his cornea as well as a stroke), Charlie has enriched our lives and it is hard to imagine life without him. We will certainly be celebrating his first anniversary on 15th September and hope to have a few more years with him yet!

We couldn’t have done it without the help and assistance of Anita and Peter who were always on call when Charlie had a problem or we weren’t sure what to do when he had a bad spell, so this is a BIG Thank You to them.