Unknown - 04/08/15
Human family: Ruth
Photo(s) of Smudge (1)

Smudge

Last night my precious furbaby Smudge lost his fight with cancer and he crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 11.40. He was about 13 years old. We loved our other dogs but Smudge was something special from the beginning. He came to town as a stray. He had his own little daily routine where he went from place to place to be fed. My daughter Sabrina would often pop into one of the local shops and buy him a packet of meat or dog food and a pint of milk and feed him. When he first hit town he had a bit of rope around his neck and was covered in scars. A local council worker got the rope off his neck. Sometime later I was able to get a collar with my phone number onto him. It was still impossible to catch him properly though. One day I was travelling to see my mum and I was delayed for some reason. As I drove through town I spotted a car and trailer in front of me. I got as close as I could and knew then it was Smudge in the trailer. I followed that car all the way around town blowing my car horn. The car eventually stopped. I asked the driver was it his dog and he said no. It was a stray and he was the dog warden. The dog had been reported as being a nuisance. He asked me if I wanted him and of course I said yes. Needless to say I didnt visit my mum that day. He tried to escape every chance he got. My husband came home that evening and sat on a bench in the back garden. Smudge crept over to him, climbed on the bench and put his head in his lap. For a long time Smudge was afraid of tall men wearing dark clothes. That is why it was so amazing that he took to my husband who is tall and was wearing dark clothes at the time. Smudge continued to try to escape for the next few days. Then one night my husband took him for his evening walk and they went into a field. There was a tractor working in there. Smudge was afraid of the tractor and ran away from my husband. He came straight back to our house. I knew then that Smudge had finally accepted it as his home and us as his family. Things only got better for him from then. He continued to be afraid of tall men for years and would cry if he saw them and go behind us. Osteosarcoma took him from us in 6 short weeks. We finally had to call our vet last night and say goodbye to him.

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