LOUIE
Three weeks ago today, our Louie passed away after a short illness. The loss of Louie has left a huge hole in our lives. Louie bowled into our lives in July 2011. We went to the kennels in Stoke to meet him, the lady brought him out to meet us, as he came under the counter he grabbed a bag of treats. We walked him around the field, sat down, he cuddled up to us, gave us kisses and stole our hearts. Louie quickly settled into his new life with us. He couldn't believe he could sit on the sofa, come into the house when he pleased and even sleep with us. Sometimes, well most of the time in the first month, you would wake up, open your eyes to find Louie standing over you and watching you intently with those large brown eyes of his. When you made eye contact, you got a massive, sloppy, wet kiss, this was his way of saying thanks.
Louie was a very loyal, trusting and loving boy. You could see the effects that being given up by his previous owner had on him, I don't think he ever really recovered from the hurt of that. He became a pet dog. We introduced Lola and Meabh and they became a close little pack.
In September 2013, we located to Dorset. Louie went to the beach everyday, his favourite pastime was beach combing. Out on our walks we would be stopped at least two or three times so people could make a fuss of him, this he really enjoyed, as he loved people. Louie loved his girls and always looked after them out on walks. Lola, the cocker spaniel, is an ex breeding dog and she was scared of everything when she first arrived. Louie would always stand between her and male dogs, out on walks to make her feel safe. When Lola had been with us for a month, she needed to be spayed, it turned out to be a difficult operation, due to all the litters she had had. That night, Lola slept downstairs, I stayed with her, so did Louie, every time she made a sound, he would come and wake me up to go and check on her.
Louie was a larger than life character, affectionate, loyal, with a great sense of fun and he lived life to the full. Louie may have gone but his memory will live in our hearts forever.
Paul and Michelle (27 April 2014)