Garden of Remembrance

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 Stella came to live with us at the age of 9.  Stella was nicknamed by the family as Custard Cream because she was always first in the queue when a biscuit was on offer.  Even at the age of 9 we did question whether this age was right because she had such a zest for life.  

Never slow at coming forward when the lead was taken off the hook to take a walk round the village and meet all her doggie friends and their humans who nine times out of ten had a biscuit in their pocket for her which she would happily try and find.

Stella loved the water and could often be found swimming in Whisby Lake .  People would be astounded because if there was a ball sent deep into the lake Stella was always willing to go and retrieve it.  Stella also enjoyed her trips to Fraisthorpe whenever a meet up of other Labradors was organised, there again she would try and chase every ball, coming back gasping for air, but wanting to go again as soon as another ball was thrown.

Stella will always be remembered for her lovely temperament  walking at the speed of the person in charge of the lead.  We are lucky enough to live on a lane and only need to walk one hundred yards before her lead could be removed and she would be free to frolic or sniff to her heart's content.

Lynda & David

 A cherished dog that is going to be sadly missed by all that knew her. I'm proud of my parents for giving her such a wonderful life in her senior years. I know equally they felt very lucky to have been matched with such a loving natured dog. 

Sally

 Today we said goodbye to the legend that was Billy Beans 🐾🖤🐾

We first visited Billy on 11/6/2018 knowing that we were never going to say we didn’t want to adopt him & we picked him up on 28/6/2018
He was the shiniest gentlest soul who loved to chase a ball & eat every bit of soggy used tissue or cardboard or cat 💩. Able to sniff out a discarded banana skin at 20 paces. As he got older he became far more tolerant of other dogs & never raised a muff.
Everyone who met him loved his gentle face & nature & waggy tail. Home already feels wrong without him but we’re so grateful for every moment we had. He was special.

He was 6 when we adopted him & he managed to make his 14th Birthday in March this year-a good age for any Lab.

I’m proud he was ours & I hope we gave him the best life. You were so loved Billy Beans & will be missed more than words can say.

Sleep easy my friend-go find Jack & Bruno. They’ll take care of you.

Finally thank you Labrador Welfare for matching us to him-he was one of the best 🐾

🖤🐾 17/3/2012-27/4/2026 

 It is with great sadness that I am sharing the news that our beautiful American Labrador Lilah crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 23rd March, after an illness of a few months.. we adopted her in June 2023 when she was 8 years old, and has been a constant joy to us, which is a testament to her previous family and how they raised her.. 

We are going to miss her so much.. ❤️❤️❤️ 

“In loving memory of Dylan I will not stop loving you.  You are pain free now.

We will meet again at the Rainbow Bridge 💖💖💖”

 “I said goodbye to my beautiful Ollie on 22nd April 2025.

My late brother and I adopted Ollie in February 2019 when he was 3 and a half .

Ollie always had a smile on his face and was friends with everyone – human and dog. Unlike some he loved and fussed all the post people.

Despite his size Ollie never growled or confronted another dog. If the smallest Chihuahua grumbled at him he would run away.

He loved to play and loved having the dumbbell filled with small treats so he could work at getting them out.

Ollie was my constant companion.

No matter where I was in the house or garden or walking Ollie was there.

Ollie slept in my room and his favourite position was laid on his back on the sofa or on my bed.

Ollie was ill for around 3 weeks when he was then diagnosed with a liver tumour and nothing could be done.

Thank you Ollie for being in my life and for all the happy memories.”

 “We adopted Willow or Willy as she became known as back in Nov 2011. A handful pup who had no manners knew no boundaries and the eating habits of a piglet. When we first went to meet her with our other two labs the first thought was OMG she’s going to be a handful the second thought was what the heck … she needed a home and we needed a friend for our two - perfect. Life with Willy was full of challenges due to previous home and the impact it had made on her. We all enjoyed holidays to the lakes and Scotland and various other places.

We did do the dog training and quite often with head held high we’d leave the class at the end of each week with Willy having wee’d on the instructor’s shoes, done laps of honours around the room and begged and scavenged every treat possible for other unsuspecting dogs and their owners.

As she started to age her eye sight deteriorated, her hearing became more selective and the back leg joint that was damaged in her previous home began to give her trouble. Hydrotherapy was the answer she loved it and she would be so excited when she knew where she was going. 

Eventually she needed medical intervention and after a few weeks she settled into the life of an OAP (old aged pet)

Finally, on the 29th April 2025, her back end finally gave out. We were all there for her at the end and she went peacefully to find Tetley and Cookie.”

“It was 11 years ago when we were very lucky to find Rango. It was love at first sight when we went to see him. There was this hairy, smelly brown bundle of joy – we knew immediately he was coming home with us. 

It has been a brilliant journey. He visited every corner of the UK – not bad for a dog with car anxiety matched only by his anxiety of going to the vets. Like every lab he just loved the great outdoors, rivers, lakes and canals but his favourite was the sea. The only water he didn’t like was rain and the bath. He was the kind of dog that people just couldn’t ignore. He was constantly given compliments and he certainly drew the ladies. His temperament was second to none – not a nasty bone in his body but he could stand up for himself when needed. Of late Rango had begun to show his age; he had really bad arthritis in his left leg which, in the last few days became unbearable although, in a way, helped us with our decision which is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do.

I always say I’d take the heartache every time for the years of love Rango gave us. 

He was a beautiful dog in and out, always quirky, never quite predictable but I’d have him for another 11 years if only it was possible. He is and will be missed – he was the dude. We loved him and he loved us – we got a star the day he came into our lives. " 

 “I remember our last moment, right before you said goodbye I looked at you and you looked at me before tears filled your eyes 

I know it’s hard to understand I would have loved to stay 

But at some point our name is called and mine was called today I’m so grateful for your loving care until the very end 

Your choice, however difficult, proves you were being loving and so kind For nothing speaks of tender love and sacrifice to me Than one whose

heart was crumbling but you still set me free The human term of “putting down” is so wrong it is a release.

You gave me such a precious gift when you granted me peace. 

So I will wait at the Rainbow Bridge until we meet again.

Then it’s licks and tail wags for you - my Dad and my best friend.

Captain you meant so much to me. I miss you so much - you would have been 6 on 2 August 2024. You will always be in my heart and I have such lovely memories of you both good and bad but you were the most loving dog I could have ever wanted and I’m missing you so much.

R.I.P. Captain

From Dad, Mona & Rumpole ”

 “It was August 2016 when we drove to Sheffield to meet the 42kg chunk that was Oscar! June had done her magic and he was a perfect match for us and our (rather reactive) choc girl Rosie. we were as smitten from
the off and our Rosie was taken with her new ‘little’ brother.  

He was the perfect gentleman and jumped into
the back of the car before we could lower the tailgate!

He has been a dream dog… easy-going, friendly ( with people and dogs) and very trainable as he would do anything for food… we will skirt around some of his more disgusting scavenging habits! Rosie and him were real pals , she was the boss and he was happy to go along. When Rosie died he was alone for a while but he soon took Olive ( 18 month old working black lab)under his paw when she arrived from our local rescue, very nervous and never having lived in a house.  

We could take him anywhere and he always made friends...he was a comic to his last day.

He started going grey when he was only 8 and occasionally non-lab folks would ask what breed he was ‘he's a Belgian Hug-Hound’ we’d say ….quite a few fell for that!!  He has left a huge hole ( only 34kg now!) in our lives and little Olive is looking lost. It was his time but it doesn’t make it any easier.  

Thanks for giving us 8 wonderful years with our boy.

Helen and Paul xx