I will never forget the day I met this gorgeous little Cocker Spaniel dog. We were visiting a pet shop in Ohio USA, and out of ten puppies he was the only one left. Nobody seemed very interested in this lovely cocker spaniel, as he was not doing the best, and nobody took the time to find out why he was sick. At this time I was not over enthusiastic about having a dog, as I was a cat lover, but there was something about this lovely puppy that reduced me to tears. So, we went back to the pet shop and bought him, and took him home. We called him Chuckey Lee.
As each day went on, this puppy was having seizures, but other than that he became very healthy. We taught him the rules of the house, which was "do you want to go potty" the words ":Sit" and "Stay" We taught him to give five for his biscuit treats and food. We taught him to play hide and seek, and we felt like children all over again, playing this game with him. Chuckey was not too keen on the word Bath but he got over it, and just loved to have his fur dried with the blow dryer. But his obedience in training was excellent.
He was the most obedient pet I had ever owned. As my love grew stronger for this dog, this dog grew stronger each day. Still having seizures which lasted about 3 minutes. He was on medication for his fits, but the pills did not seem to help that much. The best solution I found was teaching him to chew ice, and this kept his temperature normal, so he then did not have as many fits. He was having up to five a month, which was really scary.
He just loved visiting the Dollar Store, with his dollar note hanging out his mouth. We had so much fun in the first five years. He travelled everywhere with us, and just loved to visit the "Coal Miner Jamboree" and other Music festivals with us, and voice his opinion. Every time, he saw the McDonalds sign down the highway he would start howling, as he wanted his ice-cream in a cone or a small fries.
As time went by, I was diagnosed with squamous carcinoma cancer, and I became quite ill. This beautiful dog did not want to leave my side. He would stay by me everyday. Sometimes he was trying to get me up out of bed tugging at the bed clothes and nibbling on my ear or pulling my hair, talking in his doggie talk " come on mum we have work to do", and also reminding me it was time to go to potty.
He would sing with our Collaborators while they were training, and he just loved one special CD we played at home with Reba McIntyre singing, he was just like one of the children.
I remember one day we had to go to Nashville to record one of our Demo Artists, and Chuckey was allowed to come along. He was waiting in the recording studio lounge, and then when our lovely singer started to do the tracks, all we could hear was this howling coming from the other side. Of course everyone was in fits of laughter, and our singer said, "I think he is trying to do the back up vocals"
As my health was not getting any better I was advised to travel home and return back to Australia, to be near my family. We made arrangements with the Government Vet and paid for certificates, injections like rabies shots, and testing's for hydatids so that our dog would get clearance to come with us. Well, when the time came for the paperwork to be picked up, my husband was informed that they had lost the paperwork, and all the tests would have to be done again as the time had lapsed for air flight quarantine matters. We were so devastated, as time had run out.
This was a terrible decision that we all had to make as we had to board our beautiful dog into kennels for nearly a year. It was the most terrible time of our lives, as we fretted for him, and he fretted for us, and I felt like my heart was going to burst into a thousand pieces. We phone the kennels once a month to see how he was doing, but even that got very hard. It turned into a financial nightmare, at this point of time, we were crying out for help.
Eventually, we contacted a person in our Collaboration Academy and asked if she could assist in picking up our beautiful dog from his prison cell (cage) and take him to her place until things could be organized for Chuckey. Well, we never endured the story would get worse, as the Vet informed my husband that it would be very dangerous for Chuckey to travel if they had to sedate him for a long period of time, and the thirty day quarantine in Australia would also be harmful to him. This was because of his bad seizures.
After paying out all the expenses, then to be told this news was just totally unbelievable.
We just did not know what to do, we were totally lost for words, and the person that took him in the mean time was getting very cranky because things were taking to long, and she wrote emails stating she was feeling used even though she was compensated in many ways. This terrible journey did not only break our hearts, it also broke up friendships along the way, because nobody really understood the whole situation, and we were judged on our decisions.
We rung Cocker spaniel rescue places to see if they could assist and many of them did not have any room. We were all in a stage of panic. I had terrible thoughts going through my head, that I really did not want him put down, but then again maybe that would be better rather than him go to an abusive owner of some sort. It was like we were being forced to terminate our friendship, our love, for our beautiful dog under duress. We were getting very upset and full of anxiety. We prayed about this everyday.
Finally the day arrived, we got an email to say that a Alzheimer’s hospital was looking for a dog and they were really interested in having Chuckey. They stated that he would be a full time patient at their hospital, and he would be helping the patients. Well, that was a big sigh of relief, but it still did not solve the problem of Chuckey being returned to us without all the complications. So we finally made the decision to sign Chuckey over to the hospital, where he is now the comforter for many patients and very happy.
I am so glad that I taught him certain rules about caring for people, and he sings to them apparently, he rules the roost so to speak.
We still miss him terribly, and I personally have been so lost without him. He was my motivator, my comforter when I was going through very rough times. I would never like anyone to go through this terrible situation, as it is a heart breaker, and many people did not understand that this dog Chuckey was a “Miracle” in himself, the way he helped me and many other sick people get through situations that were really rough.
Remember, look after your pets, keep them healthy and make sure their shots are up to date, they are just like children need their needs, comforting, and discipline. Show them love and they will love you straight back.
