2017


Birthday boy (16 years old).

Bob's final year 2017
Life in France

As you can tell from the title this is the last chapter in Bobby’s story.

All seemed OK until February when Bobby went for his booster jabs. During the routine inspection the vet found a potential problem and an ultrasound scan confirmed that he had a large tumour on his liver. At the time the vet told us he had maybe a few days, maybe a week but definitely less than a month to live.

Bobby decided otherwise and to the surprise of the vet he stayed with us for another five months.

In regular checks with the vet we were assured that he was not in pain and that he was happy at home. He had all his wits about him so we were happy to nurse him as best as we could.

As his mobility reduced (due to the arthritis in his back) we used a harness to support some of his weight. Bobby took full advantage to climb into some of the places that had become inaccessible (leaving us at the other end of the harness to follow him and extricate him from wherever he became stuck).

Bobby also developed a series of ‘yips’. To our ears they all sounded very similar and could mean “I need a wee”, “I need the other”, “I’d like a drink” or just “Where are you all?” Of course he would always be immediately whisked outside, often to give us a very confused stare before we took him back inside for a drink.

Below are some images (not too dissimilar to other years) so that you can see that there were lots of nice times during the part of this year that he was able to spend with us.

Christmas 2016: Christmas did not quite make it into the 2016 update so it can sneak into 2017.

It started with Bobby wearing his Santa Claus outfit for the traditional walk to the bakers....

A cold start to the year: For a couple of weeks the temperature stayed below zero all day long. The morning walk was between minus six and minus eight degrees.
Winter coats: Although Bobby was not really keen on wearing a coat, even in the cold weather, we tried one and he tolerated it. Following that success a special new coat was made to measure for him. As soon as the temperatures improved then we trusted in Bobby's own coat again.
The art of keeping warm: In the colder weather Bobby made sure that he stayed warm.
Watering the snowdrops: Bobby has always made sure he was tucked away off the path to perform his necessary tasks. While the snowdrops were out he decided that he should climb amongst them whenever he needed a wee.
Pillows: Introduced to pillows by Tina last year Bobby received a pillow of his own for Christmas, but he wasn't averse to using any to hand.
Comfort and sleep: Bob had always been good at snoozing but given his reduced mobility he perfected it into an art form. It is quite clear that a dog's anatomy is far different to a person's as shown by some of his 'comfortable' poses - especially where he liked to dangle his head down.
Garden supervisor: Bobby always liked to supervise, especially when he could combine it with a snooze.
The bakers: Bobby came on the morning walk to the bakers each day, although he was carried for more and more of the walk as time went on. Each morning he got a big kiss and had his ears twiddled by Michelle.

Whenever there was a queue almost all of the other customers would say hello to Bobby (by name) as they came into the shop and give him a little fuss.

Sometimes, when it was quiet, Michelle would carry Bobby around the shop and show him all of the produce. Bobby's exceptional sense of smell allowed him to get excited about the (wrapped) sausages even though they were held a few inches away from him. This happened more often during the winter as Bobby was always very warm to carry.

One time, on hearing that Bobby was being particularly fussy about his food, Michelle dashed out of the shop and returned a few minutes later with some ham from the butchers van for him.

It was so exciting that Bobby managed to take bite from the wrapping as he was shown his gift.

It also did its job of stimulating Bobby's appetite ready to eat his normal food too...

Birthday boy: 16 years old! Bobby received another special birthday cake from Michelle at the bakers along with lots of other presents. Amongst the presents were some plants so that Bobby could sniff them while he was in the garden, and some new bowls for his food.

Some of the many walks in the area.
The morning walk: Every morning we took a 'walk' to fetch the bread and croissants. Gradually the walk to carry ratio changed in favour of carry, but the overall time for the 'walk' remained at about 45 minutes.
The lanes and fields at the bottom of the garden: We don't need to use any roads to get to the lanes so they were our most regular walks.
Mont Beuvray: One of Bobby's favourite walks was on the summit of Mont Beuvray. There's something about the air up there (just 3 miles in a straight line from home but over 1000 feet higher).
And here are a few of the many other places we've been for walks.

Visitors and Friends.
Athos is a little dog who is a new resident to Saint Léger and takes regular walks along the track at the bottom of our garden.
Nellie and Daisy came to stay for a couple of weeks at the end of June and beginning of July. Nellie is now 13 years old and she first met Bobby when she went to puppy class, they have been friends ever since.
ET came to stay with us during the day a couple of times while his owner was in hospital. Normally when we met ET he would not leave Bobby alone, but on Bobby's home ground he was very respectful.

As a precaution Bobby was put into protective custody in the garden but it wasn't really necessary.

Saturday July 15th 2017.

It was finally time.

On the Thursday afternoon Bobby suddenly lost the ability to remain upright as he lost control of his back legs. He stopped eating for a day and then when he did eat on Friday evening it gave him a tummy upset that stopped him from sleeping. His head was still with him but his body had given up.

We said goodbye to Bobby on the Saturday afternoon and he is now laid to rest in our garden. He is buried with his reindeer, which was the very first toy bought specially for him by Kirsty for Christmas 2001 (reindeer was played with extensively over the years but Bobby took care of his toys).

The hydrangea that Bobby received as a birthday present this year has been planted as a memorial and we can see it from our living room.

For a small dog he has had a big impact in many lives. He has introduced lots of people to the world of dogs, starting with I don't like dogs...but Bobby is OK and progressing from there. He has also been instrumental in our integration to life in France, making new friends for us right until his final days.

He will be missed by all his friends.

Back to last year (2016)... Return to the menu...

By clicking on the small pictures on this page you should see larger versions of the pictures (you can then use your browser 'Back' button to return to this page). The pictures have all been limited in size to make them quick to download and easy to see without scrolling. If you would like a copy of any of the original, higher resolution, pictures then please drop us an email and we'll post it back. (WebPics@bobbydog.org.uk)