I am sad to say that one of rescue favorites went to the bridge today. We love all the dogs that come through rescue but the ones that stay the longest also seem to stick in our hearts the longest.
Skipper a big show type black and white boy came into rescue towards the end of 2002 aged around 3-4. He was great with people but did not like other dogs at all and so like many of the less than perfect dogs he became a semi permanent fixture.
He was re-homed for a short while but came back and his size, strength and dislike of other dogs put people off so he stayed with us. It wasn't until June 2007 that my mum and dad (who didn't actually want a dog) decided that enough was enough and they couldn't stand him being in kennels any longer and took him on. It wasn't easy initially and we did have one accident when he attacked my precious Woody but in a relatively short time he could be walked happily with other dogs and after a year or so even share a house with other dogs during holidays etc. In all other ways he was ideal, he loved people, was pretty obedient, adored my nephews and considering he spent so much time in kennels was fantastic in the house.
He had been struggling on and off for the last few weeks and unfortunately his heart gave up, he was struggling even to find the energy to breath this morning so my parent had to make the hard decision to let him go.
Obviously as he remained in my family I am a little biased but he was a fabulous dog who never should have spent so long in kennels. When I think about the long stay dogs in kennels it reminds me that we should never give up hope he waited a long long time for a chance but it was worth it in the end. He had a great life with my parents (and they had a great time with him), I just hope that our other boys get their chance one day.
