Eddie Turner

GOODBYE TO OUR GORGEOUS BOY (20.4.2017)

It came as quite a shock to us at IRR hearing about poor Eddie as he had always seemed like the kind of dog who would go on forever, bless him. Emma and Alan gave our lovely boy a wonderful life and a peaceful, dignified ending for which we thank them.

Emma told us “We are all absolutely devastated at the loss of Eddie. The 10 years we had with him were full of love and laughter. He really was such a special boy.

We think he was about 12yrs and, not unusual for his age, he had a few health issues like an under active thyroid and arthritis but these were controlled well with medication. His arthritis however, became a problem for him a few months ago as he was limping and unable to go on the long walks that he loved.

Recently, we arranged to see a homeopathic vet in the hope that with the combination of conventional and homeopathic medications, his condition could be improved.

Sadly, in the week before that appointment, Eddie completely lost his appetite, which was unheard of for him, and, to cut a long story short, after scans, it was discovered that he had advanced liver cancer and he had limited time left.

We brought him home and our daughters all came home to say goodbye. Two weeks later, on the 20th April, Eddie told us it was time and we said a last goodbye here at home. Poppy was here and seemed to understand and, though obviously missing her best friend, is coping well.

Eddie – aka Gorgeous Boy – has left a huge hole in our lives but we all thanked him for sharing his life with us. Everyone has been very kind and told us how happy we made him, but he also made us very happy. 

Thank you IRR for finding him for us – we will miss him forever”.

HISTORY

In 2007, Eddie was just a friendly, 2yr old labrador. He was surrendered to us by his owner because he was caught chasing sheep with another dog and the farmer was none too happy with them. They could easily have been shot. He was a slightly nervous boy but he came out of his shell during his 3 weeks in foster with Sandie in Ireland and she loved him to bits. He fitted in well with all her dogs. Despite living entirely out of doors beforehand, he soon became completely housetrained and he was also neutered by IRR.

UPDATE 16.03.07

Nicola (his fosterer) said “Eddie is not at all nervous, he is a really happy, contented boy, who needs nothing more than a comfy chair to watch the world go by in.

He is brilliant on a slip lead and does not pull at all, you can jog along and he just runs lovely beside you. He is fine off lead, although he will chase squirrels and rabbits if he sees them, but he always comes back. He has been fine with other dogs he has seen while out, and when Beauty (my Labrador) told him off he just backed down and walked away.

Eddie is not at all food aggressive with humans but can be if another dog is around. He loves men , women and children of all ages, shapes and sizes. He does not jump up or barge around so would be fine with small children or older people, all in all, he is just about perfect and, if crated or confined to a soft furniture free area, when anyone has to leave him for more than an hour, then that would solve his one and only problem (nibbling the arms of easy chairs) making him 100% perfect.

As you can see, Eddie is very laid back, bless him

EDDIE HAS A PERFECT FOREVER HOME

We had a good journey home with Eddie – he had a major bark from the back of the car at a motorcyclist behind us!!

He seems to have settled well and slept all last night in his crate as happy as anything! He woke us at 7 am to go out in the garden. We have taken him on the local ‘dog walkers’ walk and he has been fine. He does tend to pull us but that’s probably because he knows we are new to all this!

Hollie, below, goes riding at the local stables and we are going to take Eddie there this week to see what he thinks!

He already feels like part of the family and we love him to bits.

UPDATE FROM HIS FOREVER HOME

Everyone loves him. We have made so many friends while out walking him and he loves all the attention. He is always friendly and accommodating to other dogs and their owners. He has started to put on weight despite all the running around he does. Having said that, in the house he is very calm. We have only had one incident of him being naughty and that was when he stole a frozen vegetable finger off the worktop. After speaking to other dog owners and hearing about the behaviour of their dogs, we realise how lucky we are. Thank you for your help in finding him for us – we would be lost without him. Best wishes Emma Turner

PS. Here he is at full pelt, taking a breather and at the stables

UPDATE FROM MUM, EMMA

I thought you would like a quick update on Eddie. He is absolutely fine and seems to really enjoy life. He has come out of his shell now and is quite confident with other dogs.

Initially, he would go down on his tummy and wait for them to pass, but now he bounds up to them to say “hello”. He has most of his walks off the lead (away from the roads, of course) and he always sits at every kerb.

He does have his moments, though, he definitely has an objection to elderly men with hats(!) This can be embarrassing, though he is not at all aggressive, he just barks at them. We are planning on taking him to more training classes to brush up on his socialisation skills.

He enjoyed his first taste of snow (to our knowledge) catching snowballs in his mouth and snowploughing along. In fact he loved it so much that, even after an hour’s walk, he wanted to go out into the garden and play again.

UPDATE DECEMBER 2008 

Emma said,  “Eddie is fine – we are hoping to continue his training in the New Year to make him even more perfect(!)  He has had a bit of a  stressful time lately as we have another dog now – after lots of careful thought and research, we now have a miniature poodle called  Poppy.  It took a while for Eddie to get used to her (she’s 13 weeks old so a bit manic). 

 As you know he is so laid back, but he tolerates her constant attention very well.  Now, they are definitely friends but he does lay down the law when she gets a bit much!”

UPDATE MARCH 2009  

Emma said,  “As you can see, Eddie and Poppy are now best of friends.”