Dylan Mackenzie

Lorraine said: “It is with the heaviest heart that I’ve been asked by Jenny to let you all know that their wonderful Dylan left for the bridge yesterday.

As you all know, Dylan was born with a large fluid-filled cyst in his brain, resulting in a plethora of neurological issues affecting his hearing, sight, balance etc.

With your support, IRR was able to able to diagnose and treat these symptoms although unable to cure him.

With the wonderful of care of first his fosterer Alan and then his forever home with the amazing Jenny & Julie, Dylan thrived with patience, understanding and constant vet support to review and manage his meds.

He achieved more than anyone thought possible for a brain-damaged dog and that was down to Jenny & Julie who completely changed their lives and home to support his complex needs.

Unfortunately, after many med reviews to control the increasing pressure in his brain from the cerebrospinal fluid, Dylan had reached the maximum treatment available. With no surgery possible these meds were the only thing keeping him comfortable. Over the last couple of weeks, his pressure increased to unmanageable pain levels which also started affecting his behaviour resulting in him becoming aggressive. Despite this change in behaviour and often being the target of his outbursts, Jenny & Julie were still steadfast in their search for solutions and hope for improvement.

Heartbreakingly after more vet consultations and changes in meds making no difference, there was only one last gift of love to give him…. Permanent release from pain.

He left peacefully yesterday in the sunshine of the vet gardens with his adoring family at his side. His short but well-lived, well-loved life for the last 2 years thanks to Alan, Jenny & Julie at an end.

He will now be restored to full health and reunited with his friend Jack who also left the Mackenzie clan recently. For Dylan, the pain has ended, for his family, it’s only just begun… please hold them in your hearts.

Thank you Jenny & Julie for all the sacrifices you made to ensure Dylan reached his full potential, even for a short time. It was short for you, but for Dylan it was most of his entire life.

Also thank you to each and every one of his extended IRR family who allowed us to support him and his family by never putting a financial limit on the help available, without you it wouldn’t have been possible.

A TRIBUTE FROM DYLAN’S ORIGINAL FOSTERERS

Alan told us “Celia and I were devastated when Jenny and Julie informed us about their gorgeous boy. Even though he was only in our lives for a short time he left a massive paw print on our hearts like special dogs do. With Jenny and Julie’s kind permission at this heartbreaking time we would like to share some of our special memories of him with you.

We first met Mr Wobbles as he was then when we went to pick him up off transport. We arrived as Michael the driver was doing his best to clean him up with limited resources. He had pooed in his cage and then decided to roll in it and he was covered in it from nose to tail. When Michael had done the best he could, we put him in the car, obviously with all the windows open. What we didn’t know was Mr Wobbles was a nightmare in the car and he proceeded to serenade us on the way home. Thankfully, he fell asleep after about half an hour into our 2 hour journey home but still the smell was awful.

First job when we got home was to give him a bath. He met our dogs with no problems, they were probably thinking “who is this smelly thing you brought into our lives?” We were given the privilege of finding a new name for him and there was only one that really sprang to mind, Dylan, after our daughter’s rescue Springer Spaniel. He too had had an awful time in his early years and still carried those scars with him to the Bridge.

I don’t think anyone had realised the extent of the newly named Dylan’s problems. To say we were totally out of our depth to start with was an understatement but, as they say, love can overcome everything, we had plenty to give and he loved getting plenty of it. As she always does with the puppies, Niamh came to the rescue and took Dylan under her wing, he was a big boy, weighing in at 25kg at just over 5 months old. They had a great relationship whilst he stayed with us, we are sure she thought she was his mum.

My first and probably the most special memory I have of him was the first time I took him out for a walk. He had obviously never been on a lead before, he was all over the place, it was a grey blowy day and suddenly the sun managed to break through the clouds. Dylan just stopped, closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sun, his ears being blown back by the wind and he just had that look of the utmost pleasure on his face, it was absolutely priceless.

He loved putting the side of his face into the palm of your hand and you stroking the other cheek and telling him what a gorgeous boy he was.

We have a little ritual at night, when we are going to bed I knock all the lights off and our 3 follow me down to the hall cupboard for their nightly biscuits, it took Dylan about 3 nights to cotton on to what was happening and after that he led the nightly parade.

He wasn’t one for playing with toys but loved walking around as proud as punch with a slipper or shoe in his mouth, just before he left us for Jenny and Julie’s they sent him one of their slippers which he took with him when he left for his new life, I don’t know how long it survived.

I could go on and on because he was one special boy, his loss has really affected us so it must be horrendous for his mums.

Goodbye gorgeous boy, thank you for letting us be in your life, short as it was, but you lived it to the full. If you are short of something to do at the Bridge, which I doubt, introduce yourself to the Gibson Goldens, I’ll let them know you could be in touch”.