Long Shaggy Scruffy Coat

[t-time]

Sorry it's taken me so long to back

My boy Tully was from AWL in Qld. We purchased him at the time as "Border Collie X" :D He was desexed and 12 weeks of age.

Well, he was a dreadful sook when we got him home, HATED to be left alone even for short periods of time and after the first week, we thought "maybe we've made a mistake" he was beautiful but not behaving like the pup we thought we wanted but we persisted anyway. And he grew, and he grew, and he grew...

We took him for his last vaccinations (a little late at 16 weeks) and the vet said "There's no way this dog is 16 weeks old!!"

:D Turns out there are certain teeth that dogs lose at a certain age and he had NOT lost them yet! The vet said to bring him back when those teeth started falling out and then he'd give a final vaccination.

It took another 4 weeks so as it turned out poor little bugger was only 5 WEEKS when we got him from the AWL - plus he had been desexed, and that's why he was so sooky - he was just a wee tiny baby when we got him :D :D

He ended up growing to be medium sized - definitely not Border Collie size and there was definitely some wolfie in him there :D Perhaps the size of a large Labrador without the chunkiness :p (He was larger than my friends' Lab bitch who is at the top end of the standard).

He was always a beautifully well-mannered boy, docile, gentle giant a little funny with "radar" ears and a bit of clutzy clown - very sweet but seriously a beautiful nature Very jealous which I think came from his singleton upbringing but good with other dogs unless they were with "you". Excellent "teaser" for the bitches - always knew when they were coming in despite his desexing at such a young age!!

Anyway, I loved that boy...

He was diagnosed with chronic HD plus "twisted bones" in his knees at 3 years of age.

2 months later he went down with a paralysis tick and never recovered

I still miss him dreadfully

Since then I've had several reports of "Tully-like" dogs - people who saw him always thought he was quite unique and weird looking - he was known as "The Ancient Disney Dog" amongst family and friends because he looked like he should be in a cartoon!! :D

His coat was wiry with a thin soft undercoat - kind-of wispy and probably not such a thick undercoat as you describe in your dog...

Thanks for allowing me to remember

[eclecticgirl]

Thanks so much for sharing that t-time, I KNOW how hard it is. I lost my boy last March and there is not a day goes by that I dont hink of him

This boy is just as you describe your dog, to a tee! My family also reckon he is like a cartoon character, he is very goofy. We call him a gentle giant.

This is just so surreal.......

He is feeling sorry for himself tonight as he was desexed today. As soon as I saw a photo and description of him I knew I had to have him, I took him sight unseen and am so happy with him........he is such a big sooky bubba too. :p

Edited to ask what is chronic HD, heart disease??

Edited January 25, 2007 by eclecticgirl