For Kizzy - a fond farewell.

 

I wish for you a state of grace

Brave spirit with heart cast forward

Into the wind

You are the zing of life's great  journey

Ever faster to the end.

I will miss you always

Dearest, constant friend. 

Goodbye to Delores - The Third Muskateer

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog. I guess that after Mac died and Kizzy had her accident I ran out of things to say. My dogs have given me a life of adventure and fun and I still get to enjoy time out in the fields with Kizzy every day (more about that next time). But this blog is about my old cat Delores, who died a in July 2018 and about whom I have found it almost impossible to write because Delores was such a big part of my life before I got the dogs and continued to be the Queen of our house right up until we had to say goodbye to her. More important than that, however, was the special bond she shared with my son, who has always been a massive cat person. Delores came into our lives when Finn was three and she was about sixteen weeks old. She was in a right state -covered in fleas attacked by mites and full of worms. It took me weeks to get her right - every night after my son went to bed she sat on my lap as I groomed her, trying to find some skin under all that flea poop. Delores would stay very still whilst I was doing this and never protested, she had such a soft and lovely nature and in the fourteen years she lived with us she never put out a claw, or grew angry or fed up. She loved my son like he was her kitten and would spend hours hanging out with him in his bedroom. The two of them were inseparable and although it broke all our hearts when she died, watching my then seventeen year old son having to say goodbye to his best and most faithful friend. When I recently went to look through our old photographs of her I noticed that in all of them she was with or near my son in them, so I made this little video for him as a celebration of his childhood spent with the profoundly lovely Delores.

The Irrepressible Kizzy the Wonderdog

A story in which Kizzy goes blind, has an eye removed and still keeps on smiling.......

Some  of you will have read already about the terrible accident that my beautiful longdog Kizzy had in 2016, three days after my old deerhound longdog Mac died.  Kizzy ran through a bush and managed to skin herself from shoulders to hips.  It was  the worst degloving I have ever seen and it resulted in a three week stay in the Dick Vet in Edinburgh whilst she got stitched back together.     You can read more about this here http://longdoglady.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/kizzy-wonderdog.html.

Kizzy has always been a feisty, spirited dog.  This side of her personality made her a bit of a handful  when she was a puppy and was the reason why it took lots and lots of work (and tears of rage and frustration!) to bring her on, but it is also what has made her into such a  happy dog with a friendly outward looking nature.  Kizzy loves life, other dogs, people, cats, babies....you name it  Many people have fallen in love with her charming good nature and gentle outlook.  And I thought she had been through enough with her accident. After she recovered I was looking forward to spending time with her as she grew older - the two of us sharing long happy walks on the beach, up in the hills, out in the fields, evenings on the sofa sharing a nice cup of tea together.... and then a month or so before Christmas 2017 this happened:

What was originally diagnosed as conjunctivitis turned out to be tumour in Kizzy's right eye which quickly became complicated by severe secondary glaucoma.  Within a week she had gone blind in her eye and was in a lot of pain.  We took the decision to have the eye removed even though Kizzy was coming up for her tenth birthday (the older the dog, the greater the risk of complications during anaesthesia) because her general overall fitness was still very good.  Since her stint in the veterinary hospital Kizzy has been very wary of the vet and it was a struggle just getting her through the door for her annual check up so I felt really mean leaving her at our local vet knowing that she was going to have to go through yet more pain.  I asked if I could take her into the kennel myself and get her settled.  I think that made us both feel better.  We were able to pick her up the same day - and this is how she came home, with a patch actually sewn into her face!  My son and his friends gave her a new name to reflect her  pirate look - Kizzadora Blackheart.  I have to say I was a bit scared to see what was underneath that patch....

Once the patch was off this is what it looked like (above).  The eyelids are sewn together and then an incision made at the top to remove the eye.  Packing of some kind was put into the empty socket so it doesn't look too sunken in this picture.

When I first looked at the wound I felt so sad that Kizzy had gone through so much (again), now had restricted vision and was changed forever.   But it seemed not to bother her.  Dogs don't look in the mirror so she didn't care what she looked like and she soon got used to not seeing much on her right side (after a few bumps).   In this photo her right ear is down - as sign that she is most definitely not feeling herself, but removing the eye took away all of the chronic pain which had been caused by the secondary glaucoma and she was on the road to recovery.

And here she is now (ear up - feeling good!).  What a dog!!  Kizzy continues to enjoy life to the full, running around on the beach like a two year old and staying by my side for the four or five miles we walk every day.  She is my constant companion and a wonderful, loving girl.  She truly deserves the title of 

KIZZY THE WONDERDOG

Yes, My Dog is Big

Yes, My Dog is Big

Things have been tough in the Longdog household recently, but here is something to celebrate:  I just published my book  -Yes, My Dog is Big.  You can buy it as an ebook from Amazon - follow the link to have a look and see what you think!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yes-My-Dog-Big-Longdogs-ebook/dp/B06ZYH7D5Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1492609502&sr=1-1

Kizzy The Wonderdog

For the  first few days fter Mac died it felt like my heart was being squeezed in a vice as Kizzy and I went on our walks without him, passing every spot where he used to goof around, or chase his tail or just generally stretch his great big long legs and enjoy being himself.  I'm not a newby to grief, so I knew that it would be like that for a while and I thought I would just try and ride it out as best I could without doing too much splurgy crying when people asked me about him (yeah, good luck with that one Kerrie).  The Fates however, decided to add a little salt to my grief soup, and test my poor Kizzy dog to the limits.

I am going to cut this story down to its bare bones, because it the details of it are too difficult to talk about but here it is:

Three days after Mac died, Kizzy ran through a bush and came out the otherside with no skin from her elbows to her hips, her fur hanging around her waist like a goulish kilt.  It was the most catastrophic de-gloving I have ever seen (and I wish I could unsee it, but hey-ho), and I will never forget running up to the bush and seeing Kizzy inside looking like an anatomical model, sitting very still and struggling with the shock.

The next bit of this story involves quite a bit of panic but my husband and I managed to get Kizzy to the local vet who put on a wet dressing and sent us to the Small Animal (Dick) Vet in Edinburgh.  On the drive up there, despite a hefty dose of painkillers and a huge amout of shock, Kizzy never lost consciousness but kept her eyes locked on mine as I talked nonsense to her in the most calming voice I could muster.  I handed her over to the hospital convinced that I would never see her again and drove home somewhere on the outskirts of numb.  It was difficult to think of what pain  Kizzy must have been in - when they wheeled her away she was curled up in a tiny ball, but she still lifted her head so she could see me, right until they shut the door and I had to leave.  At the beginning of the week I had my two dogs with me and by the end I had none.

None of us were allowed to see her for the next three weeks.  I had long discussions with the vet who convinced me that attempting to treat the wound was worthwhile despite its almost catastrophic nature, because if Kizzy recovered she would be able to live a normal life again.  We agreed that if, in the treatment, it got to a certain point (not enough skin left living to cover the wound, too much pain for Kizzy) we would let her go.  Every day for three weeks I got a phone call to find out how she was doing, and every day I had to prepare to hear that she had died.    I went on my dog walk every day without my beloved dogs and felt very bleak indeed.

But hey!  You have to know that this story has a happy ending - because although Mac was never coming back Kizzy did and now almost five months later she is enjoying life again as if nothing had happened. So here is to you Kizzy The Wonderdog - who wouldn't give up no matter what and fought hard to make it home again to cockroach on your favourite sofa - you really are one of a kind!

The left hand side of the wound, just after coming home

The right hand side of the wound.

In the padded cell with her muzzle on - essential to limit mobility and protect her stitches but she hate it sooooo much!

                                      

                                                     The last part of the wound to be closed

                                        

Stitches out!

Taking an interest!

Stylish attire for the dog with no fur!

Fur growing back and allowed to get up and down from the sofa - bliss!

Learning to to love life again.

Farewell to Gordon MacDonald

Farewell To Gordon MacDonald

How do you say goodbye to your best mate?  Someone you have spent the last eight years hanging out with every day on the hill come rain or shine or on the sofa, in the kitchen, first thing in the morning and last thing at night?  It’s hard, that’s how, but last month I had to say goodbye to Mac, who had reached his three score years and ten.

 When your dog dies, the whole family feels it and you can imagine that the Mac shaped hole in our lives is a pretty big one.  We all miss him every day but me especially, as I work from home and spent the most time with him.  I was Mac’s person, the one he liked to be with most of all and for him, as long as I was there the world was alright.  I’m glad I could be there for him at the end and I know that this made it easier for him.  I was there to hold his paw, so to speak, when his moment came to leave this world.

In honour of  his passing I thought I would let you know why we all loved him so much.  It’s a very personal tribute, but I hope it will help those of you who have recently lost a canine pal of your own.

 Those ears:  didn’t always do what you wanted, but boy were they cute!

That nose:  always leading the way.

 Those eyes:  got me every time.

 Those paws – they smelt great !

 You could make a bad day at school a whole lot better.

 You knew how to have fun with your pals.

You could play a great game of hide and seek.

You were King of the Hill.

.But you sure knew how to chill!

Most of all you were my special guy 

Farewell to you Gordon MacDonald, dog of my heart.

 May the wind be always at your back.

Getting Older

Hey there Longdog lovers.  I thought I would just put up a quick post to let you know how the dogs are getting along as they both come up to their eighth birthdays. 

I found this photo of me and Kizzy the day after we brought her home and you can see that she is giving the camera that 'butter wouldn't melt look' but in reality she was a little devil who  nearly drove me to despair!  With patience and a lot of training however, she has turned out to be the most wonderful dog - biddable, outgoing and fun to be with.  

I couldn't find a photo of Mac when he was really small because he never was....really small that is! But here he is at about six months old - before he got his ruff and was totally smooth coated.  He's always been a big gentle giant and a bit shy but easy to love inspite of his need to steal food and sleep on my clothes.

The next two photo's are the latest I have of the dogs.  I think they are looking real fine!  Mac is slowing down a bit but thats usual for his age.  Sometimes he doesn't want to got to far and although this makes me a bit sad, I have come to accept that he is getting older and might not feel like a five mile hike every day.  Kizzy on the other hand, is always up for it and would walk to the ends of the earth if I asked her to.

Here we are together - getting older and hopefully wiser.  Long may the walks continue!

Hello Snow!

Its been raining hard and blowing a gale for so long that it was actually quite nice to have some snow!  The longdogs obviously thought so as well because got very bouncy with excitement as soon as their toes hit the floor and spent their morning racing round trying to find stuff to chase, and ended up chasing each other.

Read more about Mac and Kizzy in the latest edition of Companion Magazine.

Read More about Mac and Kizzy in Companion Magazine

Yuletide is nearly upon us so here is a bit of fun reading for my readers.

Just click on the link below.

Companion Dogworld

And a yo ho ho from Gordie Mac.

How lovely is that? Longdogs, Bassett Hounds, Jack Russells and Autumn.

HAPPY AUTUMN

I think Autumn is quite possibly my favourite time of year - crisp mornings, mist, leaves - it just about has it all. 

 My dogs like it too - when the heat of the summer is over and they can run fast and furious without over heating.  They like to rootle through leaf piles and get themselves muddy by shoving their heads down rabbit holes and into bushes.

If you have dogs then you probably have friends you have made just because you have a dog and so do they.  This happens to me quite a bit because I love other peoples dogs and like to see them hanging out with mine.  So here are some photo's of Autumn, Mac, Kizzy,  Bess the Bassett and Billy the JR - all hanging out in some of the best places for dogs near us.  

Pounce!

Hello there longdog fans!  It's been while since my last post (it's been a busy summer - hope you had a good one!)  so I thought I would put up this photo of Mac pretending to be a ninja stealth assassin.  Do you think Kizzy has any clue what is about to befall her?  Of course she does....she's just pretending to ignore the  great lollop of a dog who is about to jump on her head!!

Hope you are having fun with your dogs too. xx

Lacking a Cushion?

Lacking a cushion?  How about using your best pal?  Comfy AND warm!

Mac and Kizzy show why you need more than one dog in your life.

Big Dog, Medium Dog, Little Dog, BFF's - New Kid On the Block #2

Here are Mac and Kizzy with Ella, their new BFF.  Ella is just a young dog but has got a bit of a thing going with Mac.  Mac loves playing around with other dogs and so does Ella.  Kizzy, on the other hand, is always to busy looking for something interesting to chase to indulge in such time wasting behaviour.  Welcome to the block Ella!

Read my latest blog about Mac and Kizzy in Companion Dogworld Magazine

http://www.dogworld.co.uk/product.php/133352/

Cheeky vegan longdog raids recycling bin!

 

 

 

Look what Kizzy stole from the recycling bin!  No denying the evidence there my girl!!

Mac and Kizzy in Companion Magazine

Check out more tales about my fur babies in the latest edition of Companion Magazine - free for the duration of Crufts.

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=3b0a46b8-5c83-45cd-a90c-63bd523ebe17

Longdog Gordon achieves the perfect ZZZZZ moment.

Ran around for a bit, chased some stuff, played with my mates, ate some brekky.  Having a kip.

Mac and Delores - Best of Friends

Mac and Delores have been really good friends right from the beginning. When Mac arrived in our house his favourite trick was to put Delores' head in his mouth, which didn't appear to bother her at all.  They still play around together now, alhtough they are both a lot older and prefer to spend most of their time just hanging out together on  the sofa.