Goodbye to our dearest friend Scollopy Hurrah nick named Hurry-Up but called "Lordy"

Dear all,

It is with a heavy heart that I have to share this entry with you all. Today mummy and Chris went off in Wesley (after much fiddling with the battery) with just Lordy, they were gone for some time and returned without him. At first we thought he had gone on his holidays but neither Mouse nor I are in our season and they were not gone long enough to take him to his usual holiday location.... we realised that today was Lordy's last trip in Wesley. We had watched this patient old dog get slower and slower, more recently noticing that he no longer enjoyed his food (laced with anti-inflamatory potions and herbal remedies for joint mobility), he spent more time horizontal than on all fours and was starting to sway as he stood for the duration of his meals. We think he suffered much in silence despite every effort to make him as comfortable and mobile as possible. Mummy and Chris lovingly helped his elderly weak body as much as they could, carefully llifting him in and out of the car, always giving him priority on the dog beds, and taking him on short slow walks which he thoroughly enjoyed!

The afternoon at the seaside was such a nice time, Lordy enjoyed his swim but struggled to walk back to the car and was exhausted when we returned home, we are very grateful of the photogarphs mummy's sister took, these will be a reminder of happy times together.

I am really sad; Mouse, in her effort to comfort me said that one thing is for certain, Lordy's life would not have ended unable to walk or too ill to stand, no dog in this house will ever be reduced to that. To have spent the last afternoon of his life walking in the woods in the sunshine is certainly a dignified end for what was a fine gun dog!
Lordy would have been 14 in June, a fine age for a Labrador, he now rests a short distance away from us in the woods he liked to visit.

Goodbye Lord "Gump" - "Scolloppy Hurrah", we will not forget you! xx Pop's