Danny Grantham

A Sad Farewell (16.12.20)

Danny’s mum, Vivienne, wrote, “I am writing to let you know that Danny, who I adopted from IRR on 15th March 2015, was put to sleep on Wednesday of this week.  He had an abdominal scan just over a fortnight ago which showed a tumour on his liver so I knew I would not have him for long. He remained noisily enthusiastic about his food till the day he died but unfortunately, the recurring tummy upsets, together with mobility problems due to arthritis, meant that, for his sake, I had to take the decision I had been dreading for the last few weeks.

What made it easier for him was that he loved going to the vets.  After lockdown, when he was finally able to have the vaccination that had been due in April, I wasn’t allowed into the surgery, so handed Danny over to the vet outside the door. What happened next looked like a real-life dramatisation of a cartoon, with the vet, who is not a small man, being dragged through the door of his practice by a patient who simply couldn’t wait to get inside!  So on Wednesday Danny was only too happy to go into the building that held no fear for him and be greeted by people he knew.  It certainly helped me that we were both treated with such kindness by those who have been involved in Danny’s care especially over the past few months.

His passing leaves a huge hole in my life but I am so grateful for the memories of all the fun that he brought with him.  When he heard the news, a fellow dog walker on our local field exclaimed, ‘Danny was such a happy dog’ and that, despite how sad I feel at the moment, is how I want to remember him.”

History

Age:  5 to 6 yrs old and fairly small for a boy.
Sex: Male, neutered.  

Personality

Danny is a wonderful dog  who loves everyone. He, initially, jumps up when greeting people but this shouldn’t be a long term issue. Although he was given a rubber bone to bring with him, he is not possessive of this nor any other toy/object he has picked up along the way.

He does not appear to be toy or food possessive. Although, originally, he was eating his food quickly this has definitely stopped. We are still feeding him 4 small meals a day but he is now quite happy to leave it in his bowl and return later for another nibble.

General Health

Danny was taken to the vets for a general review. The Vet agreed that he is 5/6yrs old. Initially she thought the blackness on his scrotum could be pigmentation but having a closer look she could see a small wound in the centre. She thought this could be a reaction to the stitches and thought it best to put him on antibiotics for 5 days.

He has several small areas on 3 of his legs where you can see he has done some chewing. She believes this to be physiological and thinks this will go away once he is settled.

On Tuesday, 24 February, he weighed in at 29 kg but the Vet thinks his ideal weight should be about 32kg.

His temperature was slightly raised but the Vet thought this could also be a bit of anxiety. Otherwise everything is fine. 

Social Learning

Housetraining:  He is house trained. We have had no accidents at all.

Leadwalking:    He pulls a bit on the lead so more training is required there.

Car travel:  He loves travelling in the car, in fact, he would jump into anyone’s car given the opportunity.

Children:  We have a three year old granddaughter and 4 month old grandson who visit our home regularly. He has been stroked, thrown the ball for and everything appears to be fine. We are obviously cautious and would never leave them alone. He will play with them and ignore them with no issues.

Dogs:   He shows no sign of aggression to people, cars or other animals when he is on his walks.

Cats:   We have two cats. Upon his arrival he chased one out of the garden and went nose to nose with the second one. I pulled him away. I wouldn’t say he is cat tested as such but I don’t believe it will be an issue, I think he is just interested.

Behaviour when left:  Danny sleeps in our eldest son’s room and you don’t hear anything from him. The first couple of nights, when our son popped out of the room, he did tend to do his girly bark until he or someone came back but that has now calmed down.

During the day, if he is wet and has to stay in the kitchen to dry off a bit, he does tend to bark still but I am giving him the separation anxiety drops.

After only 4 days, we have left him for 3 hours on his own but in a dog crate as it is still early days. Upon returning home, he was found fast asleep.

Dream Home

Danny is a lovely boy who would probably fit well into any family if given a few days to settle. In return for food, walks and a warm, dry bed with oodles of affection and kindness, he will make a really lovely pet for someone. 

March 2015

Danny has gone to his Forever Home

UPDATE FROM HIS FOREVER HOME (30.3.2015 )         

Vivienne wrote to say” I can’t believe that Danny has been part of the family for two weeks already.  He is much more settled.  My son, daughter-in-law and little granddaughter stayed over last night and could see a huge improvement.  They last saw him the day after we collected him from Derek & Jill.

He is now quiet at night from 11ish till about 8, he didn’t seem to notice the hour change, which always affects me for about a week!  I have been careful about the amount of exercise he has done on our walks, after my initial over enthusiasm.  He likes to have a ball in his mouth throughout the walk but I’m not throwing another one for him yet.  Occasionally he will chase Tanya’s toy but I try to throw hers when he’s looking in another direction.  I’m sure his fitness will gradually build up.

He is VERY enthusiastic about everything we do and everywhere we go.  So we’re working on being calm and waiting before coming out of the front door or getting into the car.  (He would probably tell you that’s really BORING and that he can’t understand why we just can’t get on with things IMMEDIATELY!)

I didn’t know how he would react to water so on our first walk beside the local canal I kept him on the lead in case he took a flying leap into it.  That wouldn’t have been a particular problem but the banks are quite high and getting him out again might well have been.  He didn’t seem to pay any attention to the water and I wondered if he’d not encountered much in the past.  Another day we went to the park surrounding a National Trust property.  (The grounds have resident deer and sheep there for part of the year but we are allowed to walk dogs off lead …. as long as they are under control.)  There are two lakes that are easily accessible so I let the dogs off the lead near one of them.  Danny did plunge very enthusiastically into the water and from his rather surprised reaction I wondered if this was a new experience.  A couple of days later we were walking near a small river and he chose to paddle a bit and then roll vigorously on the little ‘beach’. 

I can’t help wondering about his past.  He’s obviously not been ill treated at all and has been beautifully house trained.  I wonder if he simply got too big and boisterous for his situation in Romania.  When I received the chip registration and the pet passport, they showed a specific date of birth – in November 2012 – which seems to imply some kind of registration.  A friend has worked in Bulgaria and she cast doubt on that suggestion. saying that, in her experience, one cannot believe in the accuracy of much official documentation!  Who knows?  The younger age, compared with the assessment of the vet here, does make a lot of sense though.  He really is like a big puppy.  He is so funny when I feed him.  He knows he has to sit first but when he screeches to a halt and sits, he just quivers with suppressed anticipation!! 

So I feel we have all made a great deal of progress in just two weeks.  At present, during the day, he likes to be in the same room as me, so I am trying to get him used to being in another part of the house from where I am for short periods.  So far, if I have had to go somewhere where I can’t take him, I have either left him with a friend at her house or left him in the car.  Eventually I hope he will be happy to stay at home for an hour or so, especially as leaving him in the car won’t be an option when it gets warmer.  That, though is a longer term goal.

Meanwhile, it’s time for the next walk of the day …. “

FURTHER UPDATE ON DANNY BOY (14.4. 2015)    

 Vivienne tells us “Danny is continuing to do well.        

He was funny over Easter.  The Chinese musician that I was guardian to when she was a 6th former and who used my home as a base between finishing at college and getting her own house, came to stay for the holiday period.  Danny took a real shine to her. 

I thought I had been supplanted in his affection …. although he doesn’t seem to have been pining since she left!

It was my little granddaughter’s second birthday on Easter Monday and we all went over to Derbyshire for a get together.  We stopped off in Bakewell for lunch and I was really proud of the way Danny coped with so many people (and dogs). 

I do use a halti when I think the temptation to pull on the lead might be too overwhelming for him and he had it on that afternoon but he did exceptionally well. 

He’d had a run before we left but there was no opportunity to let him run free once we were in Derbyshire so he’d a lot of pent up energy but did really well.

I was amazed the other day.  I don’t mind weatherproof toys ending up in the garden but like the dogs’ teddy bear to stay in the house so that it stays dry.  At one point I couldn’t see their bear, so said to Danny, ‘Go find Teddy’.  He disappeared into the garden and returned almost immediately with teddy!  I was very impressed! 

He loves toys and balls, particularly tennis balls.  He scans our local playing field for any sign of flying tennis balls and if he sees one, he’s off – and he’s not slow!  The problem is, once he’s grabbed his prize he is not for giving it up easily.  I now carry chopped up dental chews (which he is very partial to) in my pocket for such eventualities.  I am though, trying to time our visits to the field so that they don’t co-incide with the tennis ball brigade!

I feel we’ve made really good progress in the 4 weeks Danny has been with us.  He still gets anxious during the day if he can’t see me but is very settled at night.  I am now throwing (his own!) balls on ropes & toys for him on our walks so he is working off a lot of energy and increasing his fitness.  I’m hoping to enrol him in a beginners training class starting in May, which I think will be good mental stimulation for him and I’m sure he will enjoy.

Thank you so much to all at IRR for matching us up and guiding us through the early settling in stages.  You’ve given us great support”.