I know most of your already know, but for those of you who do not I wanted to inform you of my loss of Havey. Although he was not a doodle, but rather a Havanese, he attended every doodle romp that my doodles attended over the last 8 years ... from the beach romps to park romps to my own backyard romps. He often go in the photo shoots. He had a persoanlity like a big dog. Here is what I wrote about him on another site.
It is with a very heavy heart and tears in my eyes that I write to share with you that my smallest 'Bright and Beautiful' Therapy dog Havey lost his brave battle today with Cancer.
I could not have wished for a more wonderful dog. Please excuse me if this is too wordy, but I feel that all my words cannot adequately express how wonderful he was.
Havey was a big hearted, calm, laid back happy 'go lucky' Havanese with a bouncy gait. He was very loving, affectionate and cuddly. He had all the wonderful qualities of a large dog in a tiny package. He loved babies, children and adults and had an amazing nurturing nature with other animals.... large and small, domesticated or not.
He took care of the rescued pets that joined our family by protecting them when they were fearful or unhappy and teaching them how to play. It did not matter that these other pets were 4 to 5 times his size, but they would hide behind him when frightened. If any of these other animals were unhappy about anything, Havey's empathetic nature would try to fix it, by signaling me clearly about what I need to do.
Havey also helped save the life of one of my other dogs by signaling me when the other dog had life threatening seizures that required quickly administered glucose. On a few occasions Havey ran barking from one side of the house to the other to get me and have me follow him to where the other dog lay. He would also lie his 15 lb body next to this 130 lb dog to help steady him.
Havey possessed extraordinary intelligence, eye contact and intuition. A trainer allowed him to start obedience classes at half the required age because of his keen observational skills and eye contact. At times I felt that he could definitely read my mind.He had a very large word comprehension that included all my good friends names. He never forgot a loved one, even if he did not see that person for 7 years.
Havey never had any fears at all, until 2011 after undergoing painful life threatening surgery he
became fearful of animal hospitals. In November 2012 he was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had surgery again, hospitalizations, chemo and radiation. In spite of his fears and pain he always totally cooperated with every procedure, every exam and all the prodding, staying perfectly still and never ever showing any aggression. .... until the day he died.
Havey was a Bright and Beautiful , Furry Angel, certified Therapy dog from 2008 until the present. Over the years he visited and shared his love with residents in group homes for disabled adults, patients in nursing homes and rehabs, children at libraries and with physically or emotionally ill individuals in their own homes.
Havey was easy to raise and train and although his illness was torturous to me, he made me not second guess my final decision for him. Although the Vet thought I should wait at least another day until blood test results came back, when I saw that he was rapidly failing and suffering I could not wait. As we entered the animal hospital today for him to be euthanized, he peacefully and naturally died in my arms before the Vet came into the room.
I will tremendously miss him; it is hard to imagine not holding that little angel next to my heart ever again , or sleeping or being awake without him next to me again. However, I am so thankful to him for the 14 years of joy and love he brought to me and others, and for giving me the opportunity to feel the wonderful feeling of unconditional love.
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