I have owned many dogs in my life and loved all of them without exception however there have been only two with whom I have had that extra special soulmate connection. The first dog was a childhood pet named Patches who has long since crossed over, more than 40 years ago now and the second one is my 9-year-old golden retriever, Paddington. The reason I bring the subject up, is that last Friday Paddington had a stroke and the 45 minutes that it took us, from the time he collapsed to when we were able to get to the vet, were terrifying for all of us. Terry driving stony-faced, me on the back seat with Paddy and poor Ruby (our black Labrador and Paddy’s shadow) sitting still and frightened right at the back of the car. The worst thing was, I had absolutely no idea what was happening to my dog and whether or not he was going to die in my arms right there in the car. So, if you own a dog, I encourage you to read here so that you will be able to recognise the symptoms if your pet ever has the misfortune to suffer a stroke.
Happily Paddy is recovering rapidly from his ordeal with his vet convinced he will make a full recovery. It was a shocking experience for me and a depressing and saddening realisation that my Paddy-Poops won’t live forever and one day I will have to say goodbye to my beloved companion. A good friend gave me very wise advice, she said “Thank God he is still with you, don’t linger on what will come, just love him and be happy with him whilst he is with you. That’s really all he needs”.
There you have it my friends, I said all that to say this, celebrate your pets life while you can and whether you own a DSLR, a little point-and-shoot or a cell phone camera, capture the memories so that in years to come you can look back on those images and smile!
Here are some of my favorite Paddy memories…
One day at a time…
All my love
moi ♥
moi du toi photography 
So happy to hear your Paddy is doing well now! That’s the bargain…we only get them for awhile and enjoying every moment and taking a lesson from them to BE in the moment is the best gift they give us.
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Think Uncle Pete and I will have to bring little Paddy a BIG bone when we come and visit.
EXQUISITE shots my friendy!
Have my Petie home until the 30th. 😀
Much love to you all,
🙂 Mandy xo
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I wish you would come visit for a night or two, according to the AA webpage it is 323 kilometres from Sundays River to Sedgefield. xxx
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It’s always just a timing issue with Pete – always so difficult to plan time away with all of his business trips. Promise we will be there as soon as we can. xoxoxo
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Enjoyed reading your post. Our utterly beloved Bertie died last night – very suddenly. He had a weak heart and it eventually gave out, although was rather unexpected, as he had been fine over the weekend. I look forward to the dogs of the future and agree that we must treasure our doggies while they are with us. xxx
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Oh Wendy what a shock and how very sad for you all, I am so sorry for the loss of your darling Bertie. I absolutely believe in life after death and I’m sure he’ll be there waiting for you with his cute face and waggy tail one day when your time comes to pass over. Lots of love ♥
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How frightening it must have been for all of you!! :.( Thanks for sharing the valuable info…good to hear that Paddy will make a full recovery! Sending our thoughts and love..a big fuzzy hug for Paddy too!! Barry & Char xxxx
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Thanks Char, thankfully he is doing fine and just as full of mischief as usual. Honestly if you could see how he is bouncing around you’d swear nothing happened to him at all…
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I’m so happy Paddy is recovering and all is well. I know first hand how terrifying it is when a pet isn’t well.
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Thanks TSC but really if you saw him this morning acting his normal clown self, walking perfectly fine, not off balance at all you’d say I made the whole thing up!
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