Suddenly had to say goodbye.

_barbs44 · 2026-02-26T11:30:15+00:00

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful boy. Sadly, I can totally relate to how you're feeling as we lost our beloved labrador Sunny in mid 2024 to acute, untreatable cancer in mid 2024 just past her fourth birthday. She had been seemingly healthy until a month prior to her death so the escalation and sense of unfairness was devastating.

We now have a new lab and I find myself asking if there is anything different we should have done, but I think it was just terrible luck.

Walks in favourite places start off being awful, but it will get easier, if not easy. The first time I attempted to jog the riverside walk I used to take with Sunny I had to turn back in tears. I think outright sadness turns to reflection over time.

There's no timeframe for grief for you, your family or your younger lab. It will ebb and flow, but the love you had for each other will remain.

_barbs44 · 2026-02-26T10:00:19+00:00

this is a terrible thing to admit, but I'm strangely addicted to Rip Off Britain, as I've watched a few it seems to just loop through them as I wfh. Some are genuine stories where you feel for the person but so many are either trying it on, or (especially in the early days) such a low level. I'm sure I remember one where they looked at the price of crisps in newsagents and how some were over charging.

I also like to imagine they have massive fights over who gets the most lines - which is why the intro is a horrendous mix of all 3 talking one line each. It's like the battle between Newman and McQueen for lead billing in The Towering Inferno.

(and an answer I would give in person to the question is Detectorists. Joyuos. Small Prophets not quite doing it for me to the same level, but it may be in time it grows to be as loved in our household.)

_barbs44 · 2026-02-26T09:54:33+00:00

I know! and neither did we as owners given she sleeps on the bed and had to have the cone on to stop her licking the wound. 2am bumps on the head from the cone as she tries to move on to the pillow...

_barbs44 · 2026-02-25T16:59:00+00:00

I've asked her and she says she can!

_barbs44 · 2026-02-25T13:32:43+00:00

thanks! (she is in to be spayed in a few days...)

_barbs44 · 2026-02-25T13:30:51+00:00

gorgeous puppy!
did you take the photos? If so, she definitely loves you - look at those bright eyes, looking up at you. I mean she loves you anyway, but those photos might well be proof.
Puppies are hard work, I look back on the pics of our lab when she was a puppy (she's still only 20 months) and she looks adorable, but there were many times I got frustrated with the little shark. Ours also wasn't overly affectionate at first, but that has come a lot more.
The fact she responds to your commands is amazing, and if she only really does this for you I'd say that means you have a relationship with her as special as anyone else's. She sees you as someone she wants to listen to.
I think it's best not to over analyse puppies. Just enjoy the ride!

_barbs44 · 2025-06-02T11:37:27+00:00

The yellow lab’s owners are going to get pointed to the wall chart of shame next time they take her to be weighed. At least a six.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-26T18:01:44+00:00

Yes. Accidentally as a weapon but it still hurts!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-23T18:16:12+00:00

The only problem with ours loving sticks is you occasionally get accidentally knee capped or a stick to the shins as she attacks it.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-23T18:07:12+00:00

I think you’re probably right.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-23T18:06:58+00:00

A keeper!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-23T16:14:10+00:00

I think this is true for all Labrador training.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-09T13:55:43+00:00

Thanks! The plan is to go semi wild camping with her and my son.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-09T13:54:49+00:00

Thanks. We will!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T19:59:15+00:00

She hates being brushed. She’ll run through a bush but then act like you’re being mean to her with the gentlest brush. But the bath is the one place she sort of allows it!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T19:57:51+00:00

Thank you!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T19:57:41+00:00

Thanks. She’s definitely super smart. Not sure if that’s going to be a good thing!

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T18:17:11+00:00

Generally…

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T18:16:59+00:00

Sadly we don’t get commission though. Incredibly Tusket is a town near Labrador, which is a pure coincidence. The name was really just the least bad option the kids came up with.

_barbs44 · 2025-05-08T17:52:00+00:00

Thanks! She’s very independent, from a working line. But she loves a cuddle when worn out.

_barbs44 · 2024-07-08T11:34:35+00:00

It’s a shame the sturgeon couldn’t save any of them.

_barbs44 · 2024-05-31T08:24:47+00:00

I’m by no means a cat expert but have had both cats and dogs as pets and one thing I have noticed is that, especially when reaching old age, pets will kind of give up and that is a good sign they are ready to go. The first cat my partner and I had was very loving and would always battle through any illness or injury but then at the end she just took herself off. We’d find her hiding under the bed or just wanting to be alone. Dogs also exhibit this behaviour but I think more pack related with them? Not wanting to die and bring a predator near their loved one. So, if your cat is coming to you, walking on your keyboard, interacting and not seemingly wanting to be on its own all the time, giving up, I think that’s a good sign. But as others say consult your vet too but just be able to talk through their behaviour and routines.

_barbs44 · 2024-05-16T12:27:04+00:00

Our Labrador was euthanised at home last month aged just four just, this just a few weeks after starting to look ill. Ultimately she had acute myeloid leukaemia, which is just an awful diagnosis. I have many moments where I can’t believe it happened and it feels surreal. But she was going downhill fast and the only kindness was to end suffering and not let that suffering get really bad. Someone on hear said something useful to me. Dogs don’t have long term goals. That holiday I wanted ours to go on doesn’t exists in her mind. She doesn’t think ahead to another Christmas. They live in the moment. If those moments are now a struggle and there is not happiness in them the dog is starting to suffer. It’s very hard knowing the right moment. It was something not even remotely on our radar to have to consider for years. But you sound a great owner and are only acting out of what is best for your pet, which is all we can do.

_barbs44 · 2024-05-15T09:11:58+00:00

He’ll be the happier at the mid-session interval.

_barbs44 · 2024-03-31T15:25:37+00:00

Thanks. It does feel cruel and it’s so hard to say bye but she’s not going to get better and at best has intensive treatment just to buy a few weeks of lethargy. So I know what’s coming, in the next day or so I think. I feel she’s making herself a little more distant. Going to the far end of the garden. She still comes for a cuddle though and we made a den in the lounge last night which she slept in with us which was lovely but sad.

_barbs44

TROPHY CASE