Dudley
December
5, 1998 – August 28, 2011
After we lost our sweet Puff in April 2000, I was lost without
a dog. Because we were moving, I had to
wait to get another dog. Mike started
looking online for a Cocker Spaniel after the kids and I moved to Las Vegas
with him. He found a picture of a beautiful
2 year old male named Warm Springs Daring Dudley that the breeder was
selling. They had used him for stud
services and for whatever reason, they decided to sell him. We also saw that the breeder had a litter of
Dudley’s puppies, but that’s another story.
I immediately fell in love with the picture of this gorgeous dog.
We went to Moapa to take a look at Dudley and his
puppies. I loved everything about
Dudley! He seemed to like us, too. I wanted to take him home right them, but we
were still living in the rented townhouse and couldn’t have dogs, so we asked the
breeders if they could hold Dudley and the two puppies we bought until after
Christmas, when we would be settled in our new home. They agreed.
Rebekah and I went to pick up Dudley, Zoe, and Buster the day
after Christmas. It was wonderful having
three dogs. They were so beautiful and
full of fun! Dudley had more energy than
I had ever seen in a Cocker Spaniel! He
would run in the yard as fast as he could, around the yard and up and down the
hill. I was amazed at his speed.
I was sick when we got the dogs and then I got worse. One night I was lying in bed, delirious with
fever, when Dudley jumped up on the bed.
I thought he was an angel sent from God to usher me into heaven because
I was dying. Turns out I wasn’t dying,
but Dudley turned out to be every bit of an angel. He was a gift sent straight from heaven to
this family. Everyone loved him and he
loved almost everyone. He was the
friendliest dog I have ever been around.
Most dogs pick a human in the family and claim them as their own, but
not Dudley. He was happy to spend time
with each one of us.
There were only two people Dudley seemed to not care for: my
dad and my sister’s friend Jane. To this
day, we have no idea why. When they came
to our house, Dudley would hide. We
would find him peeking around corners looking at my Dad or Jane. He would go the long way around them if he
needed to go outside. My Dad would laugh
at Dudley, but I think Jane’s feelings were hurt. Dudley never did warm up to them.
When Dudley came to live with us, he was painfully
skinny. He would eat, but not gain
weight. After a few months, I found out
why; he had tape worms. All three dogs
had to be treated. Soon Dudley started
gaining weight. He was ravenous. Then he got fat, so we had to stop
free-feeding him and put him on a diet.
He was not impressed! He never
did lose much weight. That was my fault,
though, because I enjoyed giving him treats.
He loved his food and treats.
Our family tends to give our pets nicknames. Dudley had several: Lou (my mom liked that
one because her name was Mary Lou), Louie, Lish, Lish the Dish, Lou the Lip, and
Limmie. I insisted that no one ever call
him Dud because he was NOT a dud! As he
got older, I mostly called him Lou or Louie.
It just seemed to fit him.
Dudley had a habit that we never could figure out. He loved to lick walls! I would joke and say he had a plaster
deficiency or that he was getting plastered.
It might not have been so bad except after a while, the walls would turn
brown. I ended up putting up poster
board on his favorite spots after painting over the brown color, but he would
just find another spot. Before he died,
he decided on a spot under a cabinet in the living room and he would go under
there and lick away. I can’t bring
myself to paint over that area. Louie
loved that spot.
Dudley also loved flashlights and laser lights. He would go crazy when we shined them for
him. We called it ‘playing light’. He could play light for hours if we would let
him, but we realized that he got pretty obsessed by the light. He would pace and pant if we stopped. It seemed unhealthy for him. I finally had to forbid laser lights in the
house because he got the most obsessed by them.
Flashlights were only to be used for short periods of time. He still loved to play light up until his
death.
I mentioned Dudley’s love of food earlier. He was pretty funny about eating. I feed my dogs in the morning after I get up
and again around one in the afternoon.
At bedtime, they get a rawhide.
Dudley made sure that I never forgot to feed him. Mornings were never an issue because I would
feed them as soon as they came in from going potty. However, every day Dudley would start
stalking me around 11:30 a.m. until I finally fed him. Sometimes I would have to feed the dogs as
early as noon because Dudley wouldn’t leave me alone! I would try to ignore him, but he would be
right on my heels and I couldn’t get anything done.
Dudley loved to cuddle.
He would snuggle right up with whoever was watching television. In the evening, he loved to snuggle with
Mike. He would sit up beside Mike and
lay his head on Mike’s chest. Toward the
end of Dudley’s life, he spent a lot of time in the crate in my bedroom. We called it his ‘room’. If he came up missing, we would always find
him in his room. I guess he liked the
solitude and quiet.
Dudley started looking as though he wasn’t feeling too good in
2010. He had his checkups at the vet
with Dr. Jamie and she said he was doing well, for an old guy. Dudley and Zoe took it really hard when
Buster died in March 2011. I watched
Dudley’s health diminish over the months.
In July, we realized that he had cancer, like Buster did, and the vet
was not hopeful for a good outcome. We
watched his health decline, but we were in denial, because we did not want to
lose him; especially after having lost Buster earlier that year. One day Dudley would be sick, the next he would
rally and look really good. We let Bekah
know that he might die soon and we tried to prepare ourselves. One day, we decided that Dudley was suffering
and we were suffering watching him, so Mike took him to the vet, expecting that
he would have to be put down. It was
horrible. Mike was sobbing; I was trying
to be brave so Dudley wouldn’t be scared.
The vet gave Mike some medication for Dudley and sent him home. We were so relieved! The relief didn’t last long. Each day saw my little Louie feeling worse
and suffering more. I couldn’t stand
it. Neither Mike nor I wanted to make
the decision we knew was coming.
On August 28th, Dudley was having a bad day. I spent time cuddling with him and telling
him how much I love him. I got in the
shower and was crying and praying. It
felt as though God was telling me that we were being selfish, letting Dudley suffer
because we didn’t want to make a decision.
I got out of the shower and told Mike that we needed to let Louie
go. It was time. We called the vet and put Dudley in the
car. I held him and talked to him the
whole time. After he was gone, I cried
into his soft fur for a long time. We took
his body to the crematorium and the gentleman there was so kind. He lovingly took our boy out of the car and
placed him on the gurney. We made the arrangements
and brought our boys ashes home in a dog house shaped urn to place beside
Buster’s on the mantle several days later.
There is not a lot that is worse than losing a beloved pet. Especially one as sweet, gentle, and kind as
Dudley was. We were devastated. I came home that day and lay on the bed next
to Zoe and cried so hard. I told her, “You’re
the only one left baby girl.” I have
decided that we won’t be adopting any more Cocker Spaniels. They have too many health problems. Zoe has the same large tumors as Buster and
Dudley did and she spends a lot of time alone in my room, just like Dudley did
at the end. She will be twelve years old
in a few days and I worry about her. I
try to give her as much love as I can, when she lets me. Unlike the boys, she’s not a cuddler.
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