Goodbye my faithful friend

I am writing this post with heavy hearted. Today would have been Seagull's 11th Birthday ... 

Sadly, he crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge a bit too soon too early. Seagull has been very poorly for the last couple of months. He started being sick and diarrhea. We got that sorted but it kept coming back. He then lost control of his bowel, it was quite a mess and he kept producing bad smell; sometimes, I didn't know if the bad smell came from his bum or from himself. Numerous trips to the vet and we thought we got it fix but the problem seems to keep coming back again. Just the last 4 weeks, he got weaker, he can't even get out of his bed and hardly keep the food down. I can't remember how many times I have to clean his bed and wash him in a day. Suddenly, just two weeks before he passed away, he was good again. I thought we could have an easy Christmas with him. Then, just a few days before Christmas, he gone back to diarrhea again, poor boy. We just don't know what to do with him. 

We were away at my in law for Christmas, leaving him at home, a friend kindly offer to look after him. She was so good that she spent the day with him (he was sleeping all the time). We got back on Boxing Day and Seagull greeted me briefly and went back to sleep again. It was 10pm when I said good night to him leaving him in front of the fire and I didn't know the "good night" turned into goodbye. I woke up 6am to let the dogs out and went to check on him, he somehow has got out of his bed and slept on the floor and gone peacefully. 

I have never lost a "good friend" before in my life, I was shocked and unsettled for the last three days. I was very grumpy and unfriendly (according to people that came and visited me in the last few days). I am sorry if I have upset you.

Although Seagull has not done Agility or Obedience with me, but he was mine and Colin's great companion. He was always there unnoticeable. He's our little "German Shepherd", he's always alert and bark at anything and make sure we knew it. I missed that little alert bark. He was still barking on Boxing Day when he saw me coming home to him.

A lot of my new friends don't know him well but my old friends will know him very well. He wasn't an easy dog but we never give up training him and shower him with our love. He was a sweet little dog to me and Colin, his little crazy antics made us laugh ... such as walked into lamp post or park car while walking on the pavement on the way to Mitcham Common, that happened too many times! He will ran straight into the close French window and still keep coming back to ran into it. Poor boy! He loves sun bathing, the hotter the better. In the hot summer days, he spent most of his times laying on the grass, I was worried that he will get sun stroke but everytime you get him in, he gets out again. He will not want to go out at all when it's wet or snowing.

Goodbye my faithful friend! 

Sleep Tight, we will meet one day and I would like you to be my little guard dog again. 

this photo was taken in late October, is the only decent photo of him before he got very ill.

There were too many photos in the last nearly 11 years Seagull was with us. I don't know how to sort them out as every photo is a memory of him with us ...