My Best Friend....

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you know that I am going to be putting my modelling work on hold for a while. The reason for this is that my 5 Year Old Border Collie (Chester) passed away unexpectedly this morning from a stroke and a Heart Attack. I am in no frame of mind at this moment in time as we were both very close. He went from a fit and bounding dog 2 days ago to being a bit sickly last night to this morning us haing hardly no sleep and calling to arrange to get him to the Vets. Unfortunately, he passed away en-route in the car..... God, I miss him so much and he had such a short life to any normal dog......
I am in bits and there is a big hole in our house-hold and I have no appetite, a headache and most of all Heart-ache...... I keep seeing him everywhere.....

And, tomorrow I am going to bury him on the farm we shoot on next to another great dog that knew my Chester up until he was 6 months old....

Its going to take some time to sink in and swallow!

Here is a recent photo of him with me on the beach....



Thankyou for your time in reading this.

All the best

Andy

Hi Andy,
Sorry to hear your news.

I've only ever had a cockatiel as any sort of long(ish) term pet, but can understand your feelings.

Take your time, mate, and come back whenever you're ready.

Regards,
Ged

Sorry to hear about that Andy

It's just like loosing a family member, even worse at that age and unexpectedly.

I also echo Geds comment about taking your time.

Regards.
Mark.

Hi Andy,

I am so sorry for your loss. A dog is such a faithful companion that you live with and you take on walks, holidays etc. My wife and I know what you are going through as we've been there before. It never gets easier so take your time and at the same time remember the good times you had with him.

Take your time and come back when you are ready.

Regards,

Stephen

Andy
Ilma and I know how you feel as we have lost two dogs (Bracken a Golden Retriever and Sasha an English Springer Spaniel) prior to Rufus, and he too has now reached pensioner status. The time after their passing was difficult but time as they say can be a great healer. Please accept our condolences and don't feel under any sort of pressure to restart your MSTS work.
All I would say is take each day as it comes, and slowly learn to remember all the good times you've had with Chester. Certainly Ilma and I will often recall those moments when Bracken and Sasha gave us so much pleasure.
Take care, Alec

Hi all,

Thankyou so much for your kind words. I am in such a state and a state of shock to think that my beloved boy only 5 years old would pass away so quickly and especially as he was on his way to the Vet's! He was a healthy and bouncing boy and if any of you are on Facebook I have uploaded a video of what he was like 2 days ago.......

I don't think I am going to get much sleep; if any at all tonight as I have to bury him..... I m going to give him the one last kiss and cuddle tomorrow before doing so...... This is probably going to hurt more!

MSTS is going to take a back-burner until I feel such time that I have grieved or come to terms of him gone and his life cut so short and so unexpectantly!

We will get another dog eventually as I have always grown up with dogs...... But, this won't be until possibly sometime next year and in the meantime there is a hole in my heart and a huge part missing from the family home..... Such as walks etc......

Best Wishes all,

Andy

Very sad news. You have all my sympathy. There is a case to be made for making another dog happy by adopting him. Roderic

Hi all,
Firstly thankyou to each and everyone of you whom have posted a message to us. He was laid to rest today and although it is going to take sometime for us; especially me to get over this. It looks to have been a brain hemorrhage that caused the stroke and then finally the heart attack from the cause of this..... I still can't believe how quickly this all happened. I can be happy in the know that he wasn't in any pain and he passed away quietly with us all beside him until the very last moment. Unfortunately, there is nothing the vets could have done and although this is painful, we will get another dog eventually. I am going to take some time till probably after Christmas at which time I will look around for a German Shepherd. It is such an empty home without him, but I feel I just need some grieving time and remember all the great 5 years we had with him. Spoilt and loved beyond belief! This has really hit me hard and I will always Love and Remember my beautiful boy until my last dying breath! Love you with all my heart Chester! RIP my beautiful boy! ♥♥♥ xxxxxxx

Best Wishes all

Andy

Very sad, Andy. It will get better but cherish what time you did have. You'll know when you're ready to move onwards.

Thankyou Stephen,

I know it is going to take some time. But; I don't think I will ever come to terms with my beautiful boy's life ending so soon and so quickly....

I am putting together a photobook of his life and the love and the things we shared. Currently being upload to Facebook in readiness for putting onto a Flash Drive and getting them developed. My Wife used to say why do you take so many photos of the Cat (Pip) and the dog (Chester) - Now I think she knows why!

Here are a few photos I took of my beautiful baby boy over the past 5 years..... God, I miss him so much! Such a big hole has been left in our home!









I hope you all enjoy and thankyou for your time.... This is just something I need to do to get to a point of moving forwards...

Best Wishes

Andy

What a lovely dog, a really wonderful dog. No wonder you miss him. Eventually the good memories will go to the top and you will feel better. Very best wishes. Roderic

Thankyou Roderic.

He was a truly fantastic dog! I miss him completely.

Best Wishes

Andy

Following on from Alec's loss of his beloved Rufus and as long as Alec doesn't mind, I thought I would just post how we, especially I coped after losing our boy...

The first few weeks we found really hard and I think once you have a dog, you will always want a dog. In our home it felt lonely and empty and after 2 weeks we decided it would be best to go on the lookout for a new Puppy... After a long hard week of being picky and searching and being pushed by pushy breeders we finally come across 'Casper'.

He isn't a replacement or nor will he replace Chester.... But our home feels a lot fuller and certainly a lot busier since we got him...

I hope this is off some comfort and help and advice to you Alec. I haven't written on my thread to over take your thread as it isn't... I just thought I would post how we have dealt with it... All I can say is take your time. He will never be replaced or forgotten, but a new puppy or dog has helped a little bit.

Here are a couple of pictures of our new addition that we got 3 weeks after Chester....





Best Wishes

Andy

Casper looks like a fine dog and I wish you every happiness with him. In terms of our own future we had already talked about what we might do either in the short term or longer. Ilma is 78 and I am 68 and we don't believe that we can manage another dog, and in addition feel that that would not be in the best interest of any new dog. We have a number of dog owning friends and we are more than happy to meet and greet theirs.
I appreciate your sentiments based on your own recent experience and once again wish you good walking and playing with Casper.

Whatever happens Alec, I truly wish you all the best..... Have you both thought of maybe an older dog from a shelter as I know you would most definitely give an animal a really loving home? Whippets and Greyhounds make great family pets and those are just an example.

Give yourselves the time you need and then make a decision when you feel you are ready.

All the best

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the lovely pictures of Casper who seems to have landed on his muddy feet.

Stephen

That is good news. Casper is a lovely dog and he looks happy. Best wishes. Roderic