PLEASE HELP Bulldog stolen from Barby area today

[Tuscan]

So sad , but your mate is fortunate to have you as a friend

[Barry]

I feel very sad about the death of Hugo.

 

Starry you did what you could, in the best way you could, as fast as you could. I'm willing to bet that it won't be long before your friend realises that.

[DaveGood]

A few weeks back we lost one of our two cats.

 

Our elderly, neurotic, petite cat forced her way out of the cratch one night and we never

saw her again.

 

A week later I learned she had been fished out of the canal hundreds of yards away.

 

She died struggling,alone, in fear and darkness. A tiny scrap of life who wanted nothing more then to spend her days as close as possible to me and Betty Boo.

 

Too this day my reaction is one of grief, loss, and rage.

 

I look at our other cat, who came from the same litter, who is a clumsy sod and goes into the water once every three weeks and am mentally bracing myself for the same thing. He is too small, old and thin to survive a dunking this coming winter but I don't have the heart to confine him to the boat thereby making him miserable.

 

Grief, loss and rage.

 

None of it aimed at you Starry, you just happened to be in front of your friend when it hit.

 

Regards

 

DaveGood

Edited June 14, 2014 by DaveGood

[DeanS]

Starry. So sorry. What a lovely dog. Your friend must be taking the loss hard. Well done for all your efforts. You did your best....and way more than most may have done in the form of help.

[MtB]

I agree with DeanS.

 

Without you posting and taking the flack, he would probably never have found the body and would have spent years searching fruitlessly and wondering if he was still alive.

 

You're a Good Friend to him and he will come to realise...

 

MtB

[alan_fincher]

Starry,

 

So sorry to hear all this. I can understand (obviously) why your friend doesn't want to hear this news, but what a shame you are in the firing line after giving it your all.

 

Just to be clear, is now believed to be just a tragic accident, rather than anything more sinister, please?

[Starcoaster]

Yes, it seems likely that he went in shortly after he was found to be missing, being as the body was right where he was last seen.

Being a bulldog of his build, he is unable to swim and would have sunk like a stone. The timeline makes sense for him to have just come back up- Terence also spotted him and contacted me via Twitter today.

I haven't seen the body, but I certainly have no thoughts to the contrary.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Starcoaster

[craftycarper]

Yes, it seems likely that he went in shortly after he was found to be missing, being as the body was right where he was last seen.

Being a bulldog of his build, he is unable to swim and would have sunk like a stone. The timeline makes sense for him to have just come back up- Terence also spotted him and contacted me via Twitter today.

I haven't seen the body, but I certainly have no thoughts to the contrary.

. Really sorry for you and your friend

[Starcoaster]

Thanks all. I've just spoken to the owner again and passed on everyone's well wishes. He is now just very sad. He's wrapped Hugo up and taken him to the vets, where he will be sent for cremation.

It is always, I think, much better to know for sure what has happened, even if it is bad, than wonder; his owner agrees.

Thank you all very much again for all of your support, and for taking the time to keep a lookout for him, which ultimately let the body be recovered and give the sad saga an ending.

[DaveGood]

RIP Hugo,

 

A life well lived that touched more then he, or his owner knew, or ever met.

 

Regards,

 

DaveGood

[DaveGood]

Oh, PS.

 

Starry, we've never met, perhaps we never will.But it is clear to me you have accumulated an impressive collection of emotional bruises over the course of this thread.

 

You have behaved with dignity and compassion throughout it.

 

As far as I'm concerned, anyone you count as a friend is a very lucky human being.

 

Regards,

 

DaveGood

Edited June 14, 2014 by DaveGood

[hopefulboater]

So sorry to hear about this sad ending. Truly awful. As others have said dont take your friends reaction to the news personally, heartbreak makes people quite unreasonable and we tend to take our pain out on those that can take it and forgive us for it. You are obviously a fantastic friend and you did all you could to help. Everyone could do with a few friends in their life like you.

[Pykebird]

So sorry to hear the bad news, was hoping for a good ending. But you did all you could for Hugo and your friend, having fished Barney out more than once, I now never let him out of my sight..

As has been said before although your friend is hurt and angry now, at least he won't torture himself with what if's.

I know how I would feel if it was one of my guys.

[Neil2]

What a crying shame, I was keeping out of the way on this thread but hoping and praying for a happy ending.

 

A few years ago we were moored up on a warm summers day and I left our oldest dog tied up outside on the towpath while I took the other for a walk. My wife was still on the boat but while I was gone the old fella somehow managed to get himself trapped in the canal between the boat and the bank, though he could swim he was upside down and would have drowned were it not for the quick thinking of a guy in the next boat along who noticed the dog was no longer where he should be and came to his rescue. I can still remember the name of this gentleman's boat "Travelling Light" and he not only saved the dog's life he saved mine.

 

I've imagined many times how I would have felt had the outcome been different, so I can, in a way, empathise with how your friend feels right now. There's nothing really anyone can do, I just hope he gets another furry friend soon

 

 

 

 

[bigcol]

Been following this post, the wife and me

And devastated to hear the news

Lovely pics, just make us all more aware, re our dogs it only takes a minute for something like this to happen.

 

 

So sad

 

COLIN AND SHARON

[Starcoaster]

Thank you everyone for your support. My friend and I are now just very sad, but at least we know what happened.

In the three days since I posted, over 500 people shared the appeal on Facebook, a great many on Twitter, and boaters all across the area kept a lookout for him thanks to the forum. Everyone we met on the towpaths looking was empathic and helpful too, and having never had to search for a lost pet before, I have felt really encouraged by the amount of people who have cared, and offered support, even many who really don't like dogs at all and would likely have shit their pants to see Hugo wandering around on his own.

Ultimately, the forum network meant that SSScruddy spotted Hugo, and was kind enough to try to recover the body, and had the presence of mind to get a picture and let me know asap when that wasn't possible. I really appreciate that, and I can imagine how horrible it was to find the body, and then have to work out how to let me know about it.

 

I very much appreciate the help and emotional support offered, and on behalf of Marcus the owner too, thank you all for your help and care.

 

 

Hugo was much loved, well supervised and had lived on a boat since he was eight weeks old; there was nothing that could have been done to prevent this accident. However, in closing, a word of caution; Hugo, being a bulldog, could not swim, and likely sank as soon as he (presumably) fell in, and despite there being people really close by, no one knew at the time due to fact that he was likely gone without a trace in 30 seconds.

Please remember that some dogs cannot swim; this article, while grammatically imperfect, covers this in more detail. Can your dog swim? Do you know this for sure? If the news that some dogs cannot is a shock to you, please look into it and find out for sure.

 

Once again, thank you all, and while I would never wish a lost pet on anyone, I will of course be front of the line to offer help in the future should such a misfortune fall upon someone else.

[scrunch]

Really sorry to here the sad news horrible to lose a much loved pet.

 

Clicked on the link and suprised to find Staffs as non swimmers, we had one who could swim like a fish canal and sea.

[Ssscrudddy]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hadn't read the thread, but once I saw him I remembered the thread title & had a look as soon as I could just in case. I once had a dog nicked by gypos as a kid.

My condolences to all who knew him, especially the owner.

[hopefulboater]

Really sorry to here the sad news horrible to lose a much loved pet.

 

Clicked on the link and suprised to find Staffs as non swimmers, we had one who could swim like a fish canal and sea.

it all depends on body type, so while a slender staffie might be able to swim for britain, a stockier dog would not be so lucky. I care for a french bulldog who can swim, gets tired quickly but can swim. As a breed they are in the non swimmer camp.

[Ange]

Such a desperately sad outcome, but, as others have said, at least the owner doesn't have to spend years wondering what happened to his beloved pet.

 

Sincere condolences to the owner and well done Starry for your sterling efforts.

[waterwitch]

I am so sorry about this outcome. We lost our beautiful English Bull Terrier twenty years ago in similar circumstances The very first time she was without it she fell into the water and sunk like a stone.

 

It's heartbreaking.

Without her lifejacket is what I meant to say.

Edited June 15, 2014 by waterwitch

[MtB]

I occasionally see dogs wearing life jackets. I used to think it was the owners being rather precious/silly as all dogs can swim (or so I thought, not being a dog person).

 

As a result of this thread I have had one of those "180 degree turn-arounds" of my opinion, that life tends to hand out occasionally.

 

MtB

[Guest]

I occasionally see dogs wearing life jackets. I used to think it was the owners being rather precious/silly as all dogs can swim (or so I thought, not being a dog person).

 

As a result of this thread I have had one of those "180 degree turn-arounds" of my opinion, that life tends to hand out occasionally.

 

MtB

Simon fell in within 5 minutes of the first time we took him to go boating.

 

My attention to his predicament was drawn by the splashing sounds of rather poor attempts at swimming. Luckily I had put his lifejacket on him before he even set foot out the car.

 

Dennis fell in a couple of times without a jacket on and did bob back to the surface almost immediately but I doubt he would have been able to keep himself afloat for very long, luckily on both occasions I was able to yuk him out swiftly as being very short legged compared to his body size he did seem to be struggling, and probably would have gone under in a minute or so.

[Jerra]

My friend has a Malinois (about 28 KG) which always wears a life jacket, not because he can't swim but experience has shown he (the dog not the friend) is almost impossible to lift out of the cut without the help of the "handle" on the life jacket.

 

My thoughts are with Hugo's owner.

[Paganboat]

Sorry to hear about the dog, I wasnt meaning to cause any offence, I dont know why people thought I was

This is a sad story