Goodbye Rufus whose age and heart finally caught up with him, the 99 lives that seemed never ending ended, and we had to give him that final gift; being put to sleep at the vet's to save him from suffering. He'd had enough. After 15 years, it seems impossible to not have Rufus around any longer. He was always here, the oldest dog I've ever had, and the one that seemed to get through absolutely anything that life threw at him -with the samme happy disposition all the time. One in a million. He will be so much missed.

Lorphil Ludo 26/2 1995 - 28/4 2010. 15 years, 2 months and 2 days old.

This was Rufus' page.

Rufus

LORPHIL LUDO

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog

d.o.b. 26th of February 1995 -Yes he is 15 and still with us!

Blenheim

Sire: Lorphil Lladro Dam:Tubbilys Berenices at Cotterlee

Breeder:Lorraine Gillhespy

KC Good Citizen Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.

Photos by www.photocat.co.uk

My daughter Rebecca's funny card about Rufus. All her own work -card and ratings!

FROM PUPPYHOOD UNTIL NOW:

4 months old playing with Leo the Golden.

I got to know Cavaliers already when I was about 13 years old,

as two of my friends each had one. One of them made an unforgettable

impression on me. Ada, a Blenheim bitch, who belonged to my best friend Gunvor Lundblad (now sadly dead)

and this incredible little dog was in fact a Swedish OBEDIENCE CHAMPION.

Although Golden Retriever was my breed, I knew for many years that one day

I would want a Cavalier as well.

The Cavalier is a big dog in a small package, capable of MUCH more

than many think !

One year old playing with puppy Dandy.

With Elsa circa 1999.

Fun loving Cavaliers and cats one christmas

One of Rufus's specialities when younger was to attend Companion (fun) dog

shows, where he took part in classes such as "waggiest tail".

He has frequently won the Fancy Dress class -

dressed as KING CHARLES.

Young Rufus

Rufus was and is my first Cavalier, and one incredibly special dog.

Always happy, always eager to please, cheeky and cheerful -and greedy !

Rufus loves obedience and passed his KC Good Citizen Bronze award at 9 months

of age. We still do advanced obedience at our local dog

training club. Rufus is not always very accurate, but enjoys

himself so much that you can't help but laugh -like when he is so

eager to come to me really fast during a recall, that his furry paws slide all over

the floor and he ends up colliding with my legs !

He also loves agility . He is always smiling like this old picture shows !

In the Spring of 2002, Rufus suffered from a problem with

a disc in his neck. We had to give up obedience.

He recovered, but then in early 2003 developed a really bad case of MVD -

Mitral Valve Disease which basically all Cavaliers will develop at

some stage in life. Rufus was clear until 8 years of age.

Rufus had to go on heart medication for the remainder of his life.

Rufus 9 years old, end of March 2004.

For a while, Rufus was very unwell and not very happy.

Our vet was very pessimistic of his chances -and still is.

 

Rufus IS a very sick little dog.

HOWEVER, Rufus was so bored just staying at home, that we decided to bring

him out of retirement in the autumn of 2004.

Yes the risk is that he has a heart attack, but we reasoned that we would

prefer he was happy for a shorter time, than bored for a long time.

Rufus went back to dog training.

WITHIN THE SPACE OF JUST ONE WEEK,

HE HAD PASSED BOTH HIS SILVER AND GOLD GC TESTS !!!!

Aged 9 years and 8 months !

Years after he last did ANY training!

What a dog he is !

Alli, Rufus and Casey

At the most, I had 4 Cavaliers. Now there is only Rufus here.

Scarlet the Ruby bitch died just a year old,

Alli another ruby bitch did not get on with other small dogs and was re-homed,

and Casey is happy living with John's mum after she lost her elderly dog.

Rufus and Casey still meet at times.

(Yes Casey has got rather fat ! He is also clipped short as John's mum is disabled and cannot groom him.)

 

Like all the other dogs, Rufus will wait to eat until told. Which is hard as he is VERY greedy !

Recently, Rufus has become incontinent.

It just got worse and worse, with our vet unable to do anything to help.

Rufus was forever soaked in urine, needed baths 3 times a week -and let's just not talk

about the smell in the carpet !!

We didn't know WHAT to do. Rufus is still VERY happy, and there was

NO WAY we would consider having him put to sleep simply becase he was incontinent!

Ruth who owns his grandfather then suggested something I'd never heard of before: BELLY BANDS.

A Belly Band is a strip of fabric that goes around the stomach of the male dog.

You put a sanitary towel inside it, and instantly you have a doggy nappy!

Not being any good at sewing at all, and never having seen these in the UK,

I ordered Rufus's belly bands from the US.

PEKE A TZU Rescue is a wonderful place that recues and re-homes Pekingese, Shih Tzues and

other small breeds of dog.

They have an online store with all sorts of wonderful dog related items,

and the belly bands are just one of them.

They do pants for bitches as well!

Peke A Tzu were INCREDIBLY hepful and made Rufus's belly bands to order,

in his size and in the colours I chose.

I paid with PayPal and shipping to the UK wasn't expensive at all!

The belly bands arrived very quickly and our problem was solved!

Rufus does NOT mind wearing them at all, and he now stays DRY!

Please note: Belly bands are NOT cruel and do NOT stop the dog from urinating AT ALL -despite rumours from high places in 2009!

I would heartily recommend these belly bands to anyone that has a dog with incontinence problems -

and Peke A Tzu proved to be much cheaper than other sources, AND the profits ALL go to rescue!

Click on the logo below to go straight to their belly band page!

Rufus did make it to his tenth birthday!

OF COURSE he had to have a cake.

He thought we were very cruel to make him sit and wait before he could eat it!

At last!!!

I have a new friend!! June 2005.

July 2005.

Rufus made it to 11!

He had a birthday party, of course.

Ripley and Bobby shared the cake.

The cake sliced up. "Oh come ON, PLEASE tell us it's okay to eat now!"

AT LAST!

Rufus in March 2006.

Rufus and Bobby acting as Santa's reindeer with Benjamin 2006.

Rufus' eyesight is getting rather poor now.

With Melanie February 2007.

2 days before his 12th birthday and Rufus is really looking rather old now.

Rufus 12 years old ! 26th of February 2007. Who would ever have thought he'd make it ?!

Once again posing with Bobby and his cake. "Go on, let me eat it !"

"This is getting silly, HURRY UP with those photos!"

AT LAST !!!!

Bobby just got his normal food so wants to share the cake -complete with 12 chews as candles.

Then all of a sudden -GATE CRASHERS !

Carmen the Maine Coon and Prince the Persian wants to join in.

And here comes Hazelnut the Exotic

Bobby ran off to eat his chews in peace.

Almost all gone.

With his best friend Bobby

Rufus in July 2007 -12 years 5 ½ months old

Rufus Christmas Eve 2007.

He may be old, deaf, blind and with a bad heart -but he still wants lots of food, at ANY cost !

(And that is a tall table!)

-Oh I VAGUELY remember this. Wasn't it called snow? Rufus January 2008.

RUFUS IS A TEENAGER !

13 years old on the 26th of February 2008.

"Every year I have to pose in front of my cake and wait forever to eat it!!"

Then I have to pose with my party guests

AT LAST !!!

YUM

There were two visiting puppy guests as well,

but they had to eat in the hall as they haven't learnt to be polite and wait to eat until told, yet

A nice birthday walk. This is a rare picture as Rufus normally doesn't feel strong enough to go for

proper walks. The fact that it was a cold and windy day actually helped. Heat is worse for his heart.

A bit of a rest during the walk

-Did you say something?

Here's a nice and sunny spot

My birthday present -a meaty bone !

(It has to be pointed out that Rufus does NOT get locked inside this tiny cage ! He sleeps in a St Bernard sized one

and is only locked in at night. This little one is for small pups at night but he likes to sleep in it with the door open during the day.)

A little Papillon face looking enviously at the bone !

A good day all round ! Happy 13th Rufus !

The humans went to a dog show, and Melanie bought chews for Rufus, the 3 Papillons and Kiara.

Guess who stole them all?! April 2008.

With all his Papillon friends 3rd May 2008

Looking decidely more tired than back in February

 Another Christmas!! Despite everything! 2008 !

Guess what? RUFUS MADE IT TO 14!!!

Happy 14th birthday Rufus! Photo taken 26th of February 2009.

Thinking of the birthday cake to come soon -yum!

Posing with yet another birthday cake -14 "candles" this time.

Rufus and his Papillon friends eating birthday cake. A dog version, of course.

Ringo the Maine Coon cat wants to join in

Little Abby the smallest Papillon (left) knows the bigger dogs might steal her piece of cake, so she picks it up.........

............and runs off with it............

...........jumping inside the toybox with the cake, safe! "Nobody will get it from here".

 

The day after his birthday Rufus had another stroke -he's had a few before. We feared the worst as he was really unwell, and even when he managed to get to his legs after just over 2 hours he was lopsided and unsteady. However he has continued to improve and is now 95 % back to normal again. What a miracle dog he is.

June 2009. It got a bit hot and Rufus' long ears and featherings kept getting matted and it's difficult for him to be brushed, with his bad heart. So I gave him a trim -NOT on the back of course (Cavaliers should not be clipped, it ruins the coat), just where there was long feathering.

Doesn't he look like a puppy? A 14 years and 4 months old puppy!

Rufus June 2009

A walk on Christmas Day 2009

January 2010 -too much snow for my liking says Rufus

26th of February 2010: Rufus' 15th birthday!

Posing for photos

It wasn't entirely easy to get the birthday photos as the flash makes the eyes funny, and his headshakes makes every photo taken without a flash blurred. It was raining a LOT outside so we had to do it indoors. 

Posing makes me tired

Wow! A REAL cake this time! No dog food at all! Sponge, cream and jam!

The batteries in the camera failed just as the cake was dished out to everyone, so I missed the best shots.

Here's Rufus, Peanut the Papillon puppy, Abby and several cats finishing the last crumbs. (The cats were UNinvited guests!)

The other Papillons took their pieces in the other room to eat in peace.

Ginny's come back to see if there is any cake left

A present from Granny all the way over in Sweden

Mmm smells nice. (Yes, it had treats inside it.)