The Dogs

It's all about English Springer Spaniels around here! Our favorite breed! Holly, Ivey, and Henry (left to right) rule the household. All are adopted through English Springer Rescue America, Inc. (ESRA), a rescue organization with which I was involved with for about 6 years.

Brian and I both grew up with Springers. Not long after getting engaged and buying our first house, we got our first Springer, Bailey. Unfortunately, she died suddenly one sunny Sunday afternoon when we were playing with her. (June 2000). She was only four years old and not ill at all! She just collapsed without warning in the yard. It was a tumor on her heart that we didn't know about. Just a couple of weeks after that tragedy, we found ESRA online and adopted Roscoe (below left) from a shelter. Roscoe died in early 2003 from lymphoma. He was a gentle, dignified, royal boy who was Brian's best buddy.

While Roscoe was still with us, we adopted Ivey in June 2001 , a silly, black and white girl who is still with us. 

In May 2003, I got an email about a dog that someone found behind a dumpster in RTP in Durham. He took the dog home and bathed and shaved him and sent me a photo. The address just happened to be on my way home that day... when I finally did get home, I had a liver and white "old" Springer in my car (much to Brian's dismay at first.) 

It didn't take long for Stu (left) to completely win my heart and Brian's. He blossomed into a goofy, sweet boy with gorgeous long ears and probably closer to my heart than any our of Springers.

Along the way, we adopted and loved Brody. He lived with us for 9 months in 2003. His owners relinquished him to rescue after keeping in the backyard alone for his entire 5 years. It was a strange year with Brody... good times and bad times. Eventually, with bad hip dysplasia at only age 6 and some major temperment issues that we couldn't seem to overcome, he went to the Rainbow Bridge.

In November, 2004, I traveled to Georgia to attend the national dog show for our favorite breed. While there, I went to meet a new arrival on the grounds, a little female Springer just bailed out of a shelter. Holly, as she was named by one of her rescuers, had glaucoma n her left eye and no vision in that eye which was bulging outward and enlarged. I headed over to the crate to check out our newest foster girl... I was mesmerized! I can't quite explain the feeling. Anybody believe in love at first sight? 

Holly had her blind eye removed to prevent further pain and injury. The vet did a very detailed exam of her "good" eye. Unfortunately he found very abnormal anatomy in the eye that means the glaucoma will almost certainly affect that eye too at some point. We don't know when that will be. Dogs don't respond as well as people to the drops to control the pressure of glaucoma. Holly has the personality and confidence to get through this! Dogs adapt much better than humans to blindness as their senses of hearing and smell are already so much more dominant than their sight.

Summer 2005 heralded a big crunch in Springer Rescue. The incoming dogs just didn't stop. Henry (right) and his pal Jeremy were tied to the fence of the Roxboro, NC shelter during the night. Jeremy was fostered in AL, then adopted back in NC. Henry went to Wake Forest for foster care. One day there, he "played" with one of the resident cats and had to be moved to another foster home. With nowhere else to go to, my husband reluctantly allowed Henry to come to our house for fostering and heartworm treatment.

It wasn't long before Henry and Brian were clearly bonded and we knew Henry wasn't going anywhere. We "failed" Fostering 101, as we call it in rescue.

Henry is the MOST laid-back Springer I have ever met. His favorite thing to do is snuggle close on whomever's lap is available. He and Holly are best buddies.

Sadly, we had to send Stu to the Rainbow Bridge on May 18th, 2006. I feel like a piece of my heart is missing. He had Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (like Alzheimer's) and Cushing's Disease.