Happy Homings

The Grand Ole Duke of Stoke

In February 2005 I received a call from family who wanted rid of their ten year old hound. He had been with them for four years but for the last nine months had been chewing, urinating and defecating in the house! However, they hadn't sooght medical treatment. Such was their attitude that we removed him that night and he was moved to White Lodge Longdogs to be boarded for a couple of nights until he could make his way to myself.

Whilst there we got him immediate medical attention with Con, White Lodge's vet who we also used when our dogs were in their care. Duke was immediately castrated and it was found he had testicular cancer, an enlarged prostrate gland as well as the majority of his teeth rotting away. Obviously the cancer and the enlarged prostrate were what was causing him to be dirty in the house and the chewing was through pain caused by his teeth which were also removed. The poor boy had to have a dental twice within six weeks to get on top of the problem as it was so bad.

Two days later he moved to myself for fostering until homing. For a senior dog he had copious amounts of energy and had major trouble settling in. He would continuously pace and bark, pace and bark, obviously learnt behaviour from the pain he was suffering in his previous home. He was placed on Wendals calming herbs to try and settle him whilst we worked to correct his habits.

Duke is a lovely, very big old boy who is very demanding, he can't be left as he barks continuously until you return. He isnt gaining weight although we have had extensive checks to try and find the route cause of the problem and remains aroun 7kg under what he should be. His health still isn't fabulous and he seems to have a weakness in his throat that means he gets out of breath quickly and can be quite wheezy. Due to the nature of all this it was decided he would stay here with myself to end his remaining days, the poor lad had been messed about too much already in his life.

Duke remains healthy now, is incredibly grumpy (in an old man way) and continually annoys the other dogs by throwing his weight around but we love him and they ignore him so we are getting on just fine! I dont leave the house much anyway and when I do he comes along with me.

He is hard work but totally adored and I cant imagine my life now without him. Aggghh yes I can I may have one.

Senior hounds have so much to offer and are cheeky and comical in their own right. Most require very little other than a warm bed, nice food and gentle excercise! Senior hounds like Duke are far and few between thank goodness or I think I would have collapsed into a tired heap.

Frank

"Frank came to me as a Gap foster from a northern pound. He had been taken there after being found straying along with 6 of his littermates- his time was up, they were due to be put to sleep, and it was a mad scramble to find rescue places, but Lisa did and Fwank came to Gap. He was a real people dog from the start and spent the entire journey from the pound with his head on my knee staring into my face.

He was however quite poorly, riddled with fleas and with a nasty entiritis bug which was eventually to kill his sister who was in care with another rescue. He also had severe seperation anxiety and ate through door frames and his crate whist being isolated from my other dogs. He also sang and earned the nickname Pavarotti!

A few people enquired about homing him but Lisa and I thought he was quite likely to bounce back to rescue if his behaviour was the same. I decided his forever home was here and his problems almost immediately stopped.

He's an easy dog to love but still has a few teenage behaviours like bouncing in excitement and trying to bite your face - he doesnt realise how painful it is and I sometimes have to explain why I have a black eye, cheek or nose to friends and family! This said he's a wonderful loyal friend and I truly would not be without him".

Click here to read about some of our other happily homed hounds.