Posted by
julieadmin
on Monday, December 05 @ 10:56:33 EST
Maple - Lab Of The Month
Well we have another delightful and deserving winner this month - i am happy to announce that gorgeous Maple is the winner of our Lab of the Month Competition.
Well done Maple!
Here, Maple's owner Janice tells us why Maple is so special.
Janice writes:
"
Dear Julie
I would like to nominate my Maple to be lab of the month please.
Maple was born on the 28th May 2010 and is truly my dog in a million and I would like to explain why. My two boys and I moved up to Cheshire just over 4 years ago due to domestic violence. We left behind everything and everyone we knew including my family for our safety. When we left we had literally £50 a suitcase and my elderly cavalier Rosie, we had no furniture, hardly any clothes, no toys or any of those special things that you collect along the way. We moved to a safe house, then to a house provided by Womens Aid, we had a starter pack of cutlery, crockery and bedlinen provided by Christian Concern and slowly started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. During this time sadly Rosie passed away so we bought into our home a Cavalier puppy called Alfie as we just couldnt bear not to have a dog in the house to love and make sure we got out and about. I sorted out a job at my youngest son's primary school, both the boys settled at school and gradually we started to put the past behind us.
We decided as a family to do something that I had always wanted to do, my Grandfather was registered blind and sadly passed away before he got to the top of the guide dog waiting list, he was like a father to me and I took his death really badly. As a way of dealing with my grief in a positive way, I decided to puppy walk in his memory as I has always loved dog training. So we had Osborn and then Usher arrive and they are now both fully qualified guide dogs. We missed Osborn terribly when he was taken into training so whilst we had Usher living with us we decided to have our own labrador to train, love and that we didnt have to part with. It was then Maple came into our lives last year.
We chose Maple as she came from a loving background, we saw both her mum and her dad and literally Maple crawled into my youngest sons lab and snuggled in like she had always been ours. This little red podgy pup had wormed her way into our heart before she had even come home. She is called Maple as after my Grandfather came out of the RAF (he was a navigator) he owned a commercial plant nursery and I spend most of my childhood riding in a wheelbarrow 'helping' him in his work. His garden was perfectly landscaped and full of red maple trees . My grandfather's brother lived in Canada and my grandparents went out there to see all the maple leaves turn red, orange and yellow in the autumn every single year until my grandfather passed away. Their house was even called 'The Maples'. Being a dark yellow lab, there was no other name she could have.
I have had several serious health issues due to having had my skull fractured and being beaten by my ex husband, the most recent has left me in and out of hospital over the last three weeks due to damage cause by a previous ovarian rupture. I am due to go into hospital next Monday for an operation that will leave me out of action until at least January. Maple has been even more attentive than normal, she has not left my side in the last three weeks at all, she has been like a shadow to me, laying on my feet, resting her head upon my knee and dropping her ball into my lab so we can play 'lounge fetch'. Even though she has had a dogwalker take her out she has behaved perfectly and the dogwalker has said that she is the best behaved dog she walks. In all the things this family has had to go through Maple over the last year, she has always been there, giving cuddles to the children if they are feeling low, playing with the guide dog pups to help them learn the manners and play that only another dog can give them and above all being by my side through thick and thin. She has got her puppy foundation and Bronze kennel club award and we have been working through the foundation agility skills course. Because she has had the same upbringing as the Guide Dog pups she is pretty much bomb proof and has fantastic recall even on the whistle. She loves Alfie the Cavalier, even though he is getting older and not wanting to play much anymore and she is very tolerant of our new rescue pup Sprocket, even when he jumps all over her and nibbles her ears. Even though she is only 18 months old and can be a fizzy, scatty, whirling dirvish sometimes, she is unquestionably loyal, forever cheerful and waggy tailed and just has that empathy to know when you are feeling alone, sad or worried. When the children are having to have their access time with their Dad she seems to understand how anxious I get and is my company when there is no one else to talk to and when I feel most alone, she makes sure I get up and get out and about. She is truely a dog in a million. "
Janice (JaniceH)
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