Sprocket Jefferey

GOODBYE TO MY VERY SPECIAL BOY (24.10.2018)

On 24.10.2018, Steve and Pauline said their final goodbyes to their very special boy. He was almost totally blind and very deaf.

From the moment Pauline clapped eyes on his picture, she knew she wanted to adopt him but, with five other dogs, was it sensible? He went into foster in Bristol and someone showed an interest so maybe it hadn’t been meant to be after all?  But, then, the home fell through and it was all systems go. Sprocket needed to move foster homes because his fosterer was due to take on another new one so Pauline offered to take him thinking maybe things were destined to work out after all.

He moved to Radstock and, immediately, got his paws under the table so much so that Pauline said, within 24hrs “I can’t let him go”. That was her quickest failure ever!!!!

She told us “He was everything I had ever wanted from childhood. OK so he was actually a posh “designer” breed but, to me, he looked like and was the scruffy old mutt of my dreams ……… Lady and The Tramp had always been a favourite film especially the spaghetti scene.

He lived very happily with us for 4 years. Sprocket was cheeky and a bit nutty and he was the cuddliest dog ever. He had a heart murmur and troublesome ears, needing cleaning daily, which accounted for his deafness. He was also almost completely blind but nothing bothered him. If he bumped into something that had moved, he shook his head and tried again.

Like his dad, Pip, he was also agoraphobic so with a 5 acre field to run safely in, he was happier going as far as the nearest hedge, having a wee and a pooh, then running back to the van waiting to get back in. If he was walked on a lead to the far side of the field then he would carry on round running free with the others but, once close to the van again, he was always first back and looking to go home. He was a proper fun dog who was always game for a laugh and up for a spot of posing for photos.

A week before he passed, he had a massive stroke but there was still hope. Gizzie had got over something similar 16mths before within a week of Steve going to Australia for 3 months so everything possible was tried and it seemed to be working when he rallied a bit at the weekend but, then, he relapsed and, clearly, there was no more to be done”.

Alongside Gizzie, he was given sleep at home where he slipped away quickly and peacefully.

Pauline and Steve are very grateful to Nick (our Holistic vet) and to Roger (our conventional vet of some 40yrs) as well as the lovely people at Companions Haven Pet Cemetery who, as always, treated the boys with dignity, compassion and kindness.

People have been very kind, sending flowers, cards, poems and messages of support as well as personal gifts which will be treasured forever

To help with the massive sense of loss, Pauline needed to keep as busy as possible and also wanted to make sure her wonderful boys had a lasting legacy so that was how the idea of THE GIZZIE and SPROCKET MEMORIAL APPEAL started to evolve.

Pauline says “Our two amazing dog angels, who ascended together, for sure, are now at Rainbow Bridge, where they will remain together forever. No doubt, Pip was there to greet his beloved son as well as all our previous, amazing Jefferey boys and girls.

One day, we know, we will all meet up again”.

A WHITE FEATHER  (adapted for Sprocket 1.11.2018)

You’ve gone from me, I miss you so Your coat as white and soft as snow Your big brown eyes with gentle gaze Your loss has left me in a daze.

Just one more day with you I crave One special hug you always gave One more look I yearn to see One moment shared with you and me

My eyes well up, here come the tears Where are you now to quash my fears? I’d swap a fortune, that’s so true For just a little sign from you

I stand and close my reddened eyes I feel you near, I tell no lies On my face I feel your kiss Am I dreaming? What is this?

My eyes wide open now, I see A pure white feather sent to me I knew that you would send a sign Of love forever yours and mine

Gizzie and Sprocket, together, went peacefully to Rainbow Bridge on 24th October 2018.

Now reunited with other Jefferey boys  Ricky, Barney, Freddie, Danny and Eddie.

A FINAL GOODBYE TO OUR GIZZIE & SPROCKET

A heartbroken Pauline says “In a strange way, losing the two of them at the same time was less painful and it was quite reassuring that they would be making their final journey together.   It was on Wednesday 24.10.2018 at 10.00am that Steve and I went to Corsham, just the other side of Bath from us, to see Nick, our Holistic Vet, with Sprocket and Gizzie.   Poor Sprocket had suffered a massive stroke and, having relapsed after seeming to rally, he had to be carried into Nick’s consulting room. After a very thorough examination, Nick told us, reluctantly, there was no more that he could do to save him so, it was very clear, the kindest thing would be to say, “goodbye”.

Nick also checked Gizmo thoroughly and, although he felt he wasn’t in the same degree of distress as Sprocket, he did think we had exhausted every viable treatment. We all knew that losing Sprocket would tip him over the edge and keeping him alive for a few more days would be simply for our benefits. There was, again, only one viable option open to us.

Our dogs are always given peace at home so Nick rang Roger, our conventional vet for over 40yrs, and they talked through Nick’s conclusions. In the meantime, Steve and I solemnly drove home with the boys. As expected, Roger rang us within half an hour of arriving home.   We made sure the boys had their evening meal (their favourite Nature’s Menu Duck) and then they lay in the kitchen side by side together in the sunshine. The other four dogs said “goodbye” one by one then went out into the garden and, then, into our van in the shade.   Roger came straight from Bath within another half hour and, of course, he totally agreed with Nick’s opinion. So. at 1pm, Gizmo went to Rainbow Bridge first. It was very peaceful and he was, clearly, totally ready to go. Sprocket hadn’t even noticed, bless him, so he, then, quietly followed Gizzie to the Bridge.   After Roger left, the other dogs all came back in one by one to say a final farewell. This happened with varying degrees of interest. Georgie sniffed them from had to toe as did Rhani but Mossie and George were more interested in the sandwich in Steve’s hand ….so typical. Almost immediately afterwards, I walked down our back steps and there was the purest white feather. I knew, immediately, it was from Sprocket to let us know they were ok.   I rang Companions Haven pet crematorium and we booked to go there at 4.30pm. We took the other four dogs with us, in their cages in the van, and with the boys wrapped up together in the middle section. On the way, I realised I had to have a bite to eat (for taking my pills) so we popped into a small Garden Centre near the crematorium. I looked in my notes wallet and felt a lump in the back coin section, which I rarely use, and there was an old penny. It was, clearly, sent to me by Gizzie so I knew weI had his total approval too.

As we were walking out of the Garden Centre, I saw two lovely blue stars (Christmas decorations) so, of course, I had to have them. There were only two there!

The crematorium people were, as always compassionate and lovely with the boys. We hated leaving them but we knew they were in safe hands.

OUR FIRST DAY WITHOUT THEM

Thursday, 25 th October, dawned after I had had my first restful night for ages and it was a very different morning to my norm. There was much less food to prepare and a lot fewer pills and potions. It occurred to me just how much I had been working on automatic pilot doing so many things for my invalids but I didn’t begrudge a nanosecond and just wanted them back.. It did make me smile remembering us trying to race Gizzie out to the garden immediately after he had eaten before the turds appeared. Thankfully, eating bones had kept them hard as rock so the inevitable trail he left behind him could be picked up easily. I swear, Gizzie with his ever mischievous sense of humour, was laughing at us running after him with our plastic spades, kitchen roll and white vinegar. I also smiled when I thought each dog that goes to Heaven takes a huge chunk of our hearts. “It’s no wonder I have such a dicky ticker!!!!” The silence was deafening. All was strangely quiet even though, our usually noisy Sprocket hadn’t been vocal for a week since he had his stroke. Being almost completely deaf, he barked very loudly when he wanted something!  I reflected on how terrifying it all must have been for him with poor hearing as well as almost complete blindness. He didn’t deserve to suffer like that. He was too precious, too gentle and too adorable. That brought the tears.

I knew I had done my best for him for his last week but, in my heart of hearts, went we went to see Nick it was more for confirmation than anything. We both knew, this time, our amazing, super-intuitive Nick was not going to be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat for us.

We were pretty certain it was Sprocket’s time but there was still just an outside chance it was a very bad ear infection that was causing his head to tilt so strongly to the right. One of Spro’s many problems, a legacy of his hellhole life before rescue, was mucky ears that had to be cleaned virtually every day despite his really good diet making a world of difference, Sadly, his ears were fine and it had definitely been a stroke.

I had clung to the knowledge that, after all, Sprocket was still eating and drinking and peeing and poohing as normal as was Gizzie and, up to the time of his stroke, he had appeared to be very fit and happy and loving as ever. But, deep down, in my heart of hearts, I knew I was kidding myself. However, I had still gone with some hope of Nick performing one of his many miracles where conventional vets had failed. When we went Steve, I knew, being much more realistic, was more sure of what the outcome was going to be and, damn him, he was right. 

That morning, it also struck me how much Gizzie had gradually been withdrawing from being with the others, not just throughout the last week but it had been building up gradually over a few weeks. Gizzie had always been at the front of the queue for inadvertent droppings at breakfast time and for nutritional human food leftovers. When getting official tidbits, he was always on the left of the semi-circle of dogs patiently waiting for their share but then Gizzie whizzed round to the right of the half circle so that he got a second treat. He thought I didn’t realise and, of course, I always played the game for him. It made me smile again remembering his antics and there were many. He was ever the clown.

Suddenly, that morning, it became obvious. Gizzie, recently, had been holding back and staying in his bed much more. I think it was probably partly because his long, skinny legs did Bambi on the ice impersonations, especially on the kitchen floor, as he refused to walk slowly on it. I realised it had all built up slowly but he had definitely lost his confidence. 

Gizzie also had a tumour on his toe that was getting bigger and bigger and it had just begun to annoyi him. We had all agreed, at his age, almost 13yrs, an op wasn’t in his best interests especially as he had a stroke himself in June 2017. Miraculously, he had come through that relatively unscathed so I thanked the angels who had allowed me 16 more months with my wonderful boy. It was good to have a positive thought to cling on to I knew my lovely lad really had definitely come to the end of the road and he had been more than ready to go for several days but Gizzie had just been hanging on for my sake, patiently waiting for me to realise. He had been needing my permission for him to leave us.

I had been dreading the inevitable and, for months, post stroke, I had been readying myself for the upcoming heartbreak. Nick spotted it immediately and Roger confirmed it. My Gizzie was simply worn out and tired and wanted to leave this life, bless him. I reflected more and, of course, I had known our last visit to Nick was more in hope than expectation but he and homeopathy with him and our other wonderful holistic vets had performed many miracles over the years for us so we had to give it our best shot.   Of course, I had known the truth deep down but none of us want to admit the horrible truth. I had been refusing to admit it to anyone especially myself. I ran through everything in my mind, satisfying myself that I hadn’t actually been allowing him to suffer but I was as sure as I could be that he was always pain free. Well, after all, he had his DNA test done years before and it had shown he was 3/4 German Shepherd Dog. Gizzie, like our many GSDs before, was never the bravest of boys totally unlike our much more stoic Golden Retrievers who were, worryingly, always a dab hand at hiding their pain. 

I was going from emotion to emotion sorrow, guilt, even anger and the huge longing to have them back for just the one more day but, of course, that couldn’t be and how selfish were those thoughts unless they were miraculously younger and whole again.

I ran it all through in my mind.  Gizzie had always eaten like a goodun, almost twice as much as our much smaller Georgie and Rhani, so that was a good sign wasn’t it? The only reason for him taking a back step probably was, simply, that, being a pup at heart, he was hating life as an old fellow. I can concur with that feeling because “it definitely don’t come alone”.

It would be so hard, Gizzie had been my alter ego for many years so losing him has been saying “goodbye” to part of myself but I was starting to come to terms with things. The boys are suffering no more, that burden falls on us, and that is how it has to be.

Both Nick and Roger sent us condolence cards with heartfelt messages which we will treasure forever and we have been given wonderful gifts and beautiful flowers. Everyone has been very kind to Steve and I. Such caring is a great comfort when times are tough.

REMEMBERING THE BOYS

To honour the memory of the boys, we set up the Gizmo and Sprocket Memorial Fund with the emphasis of the fund being for disabled and poorly dogs initially as our poor Sprocket came to us virtually blind and partially deaf as well as possessing a heart murmur.

Over the years, we had also fostered and helped to very successfully rehome both blind and three-legged dogs. Helping the poorly dogs that needed extensive vet treatment was perfect and the sad loss of our boys would have some purpose. I have to say, the thought really raised our spirits.

As Gizmo was the IRR Pawet Laureat for many years, we decided an appropriate thank you to everyone who donated would be to send out pdf compilations of Gizzie’s pawitry and that of a some of his friends.

GIZZIE & SPROCKET MEMORIAL MEET

Gizzie was always very generous of spirit and he would have never wanted his friends to miss out on anything so the planned Sunday Get Together of his West Country mates went ahead as planned on 28th October but it became the Gizmo and Sprocket Memorial Meet

Everyone, as usual, was kind, supportive and generous and the very first funds were raised for the Memorial Appeal. Many remembered back to the previous Get Together on 9th September when both Gizzie and Sprocket had a whale of a time, mingling and being spoilt with dog treats.

Some of the humans there had their own recent bereavements to remember but it wasn’t a sad occasion as they congregated up by the memorial seat at the top of the field. Rather, it was a celebration of the lives of all their beautiful dog angels and, of course, the dogs that were there, as always, happily ran free and played together.

We all smiled as we imagined all the dog angels doing exactly the same at Rainbow Bridge. I do know for sure, Gizzie was at Rainbow Bridge spinning with delight and his loyal sidekick, Sprocket, was barking loudly on the sidelines to cheer him on.

THE BOYS ARE HOME (5.11.2018)

Gizzie and Sprocket, our lovely boys, have come home. Today, 5th November, we went to collect their ashes, their pawprints, their locks of hair and their memorial daisy which will go with them to the field when they are finally laid to rest there with Danny, Ricky, Eddie and my Mum who will be keeping an eye on them all for us.

LAID TO REST (30.11.2018)

The sun shone on us today as the boys’ ashes were placed under the memorial bench at our field. Forever, they will be able to survey the place they probably loved the most. Soon afterwards, we had a light shower of rain and then a lovely rainbow appeared.

SPROCKET’S SAD STORY

SPROCKET (was once Peter)

Peter, a 6 year old Goldendoodle and his brother, Paul, an 8 year old Golden Retriever, were rescued together with their late Labradoodle brother Patrick by Greenacres Rescue in Havordwest. Happily Paul and Peter, unlike Patrick, were basically healthy and IRR were delighted to be able to help by taking over their rehoming.

Peter’s first foster home was in Bristol where he was found to be extremely friendly with both people and other dogs and was a total joy to have around. He had no response at all to the name Peter so, due to his cute face and amusing ways, he was renamed Sprocket (as in Fraggle Rock). He is castrated, housetrained and travels well in a car but, so far, he is a bit scatty on a lead and has no real recall. As a bonus, he is extremely loving and is gentle and obedient in the house.

Unfortunately, through no fault of his, Sprocket’s prospective forever home fell through which meant, due to prior commitments, his first fosterer was unable to continue looking after him, so he has now made the short move to Bath.

REPORT FROM GIZMO (FOSTER BROTHER) 15.11.2014 

Gizzie tells us “Well, it’s been a very eventful morning so far……..

Rhani barked very loudly and woke Ma up so she and Ferdie went out in the garden to perform. I chose to stay in my comfy chair. To make life easy, Ma then popped them both in the van (they are always more than happy to do that). She came back in and insisted I had to go out and perform too but, by then, I had heard the van door going so I was out like a shot and poohing for England so I could also get into the van in anticipation of our pending journey to the field.

Things then took a slightly unusual turn as it became Georgie’s and Sprocket’s turn to come out. Last night, Sprocs had the honour of sleeping in my big crate but,  I was well pleased as I was allowed to sleep in Rhani’s spot in Pa’s big chair instead while Rhani snuggled in with Georgie in his crate. They often do that anyway with Ferdie choosing what we call the black chair. Sprocket was also fed in my big crate last night but, again, that was OK by me as I was promoted to what was once Eddie’s spot in the hall ….. Georgie eats in his crate, Rhani in the kitchen and, don’t laugh, Ferdie in the bathroom … his choice!!!! 

Anyway, I digress, back to Georgie and Sprocket this morning who, after peeing in unison, proceeded to do synchronised poohing. I must say, I was well impressed by the number of times Sprocks can twirl before releasing the bullets. I intend to ask him to teach me as I can only, competently, do one and a half meagre circles.

I was expecting him and George to join us in the van but they went back in the house (cos mum got caught short due to the funny pills she takes) and they went with her upstairs. Georgie sat and got fussed whilst Ma performed and so did Sprocks but then, apparently, he went off for a nosey round, pushed the bedroom door open and gave Pa a wash to encourage him to get up too:)))))))

Sprocks was a wee bit slow coming downstairs, apparently, as it was new to him but Georgie showed him the way and he is a quick learner. He then proceeded to sit in Pa’s chair, waiting for him to come down. Hmmm, unusual for a foster dog, that he is being allowed to get away with lots of things just like we forever dogs do?????????? At this rate, he will NEVER be able to find a new home!

After all that, Georgie and Sprocks joined us in the van so I knew we would be off soon.  I like Saturdays cos Pa comes to the field with us and I was thinking it should be extra fun with Sprocket today.”

SECOND UPDATE FROM GIZMO (FOREVER BROTHER) 16.11.2014

Yep, you read it right ………. forever brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This has to be a record even for my soft touch Mum but, I have to say my Dad was just as bad this time. They have both fallen in love with Sprocket’s mischievous face and appealing eyes (1st prize next Reunion for him!). With nobody else in the pipeline, they quickly filled out the form and now we have a lovely new forever brother … brilliant