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This web site has been created to help promote the Spaniels Chat Forum and the Spaniel Trust.  The Spaniel Chat forum was set up with the specific aim of providing a meeting place for owners and lovers of Spaniels and to organise rallys and meetings for forum members.  The rallys and meetings are about bringing members dogs together for socialisation, exercise & perhaps a little training and some fun events.  To learn from each other's experiences and help us all to be better owners and give our Spaniels (and other breeds) something back for all the pleasure and happiness that they bring to us.

The Spaniel Trust was established to provide a rehabilitation centre for Spaniels where they could be retrained and rehabilitated so they could then be rehomed as opposed to the only other option available due to their behavioural problems.

Treacle’s Story

My interest in NESSR is the dogs in need of help, which I hope is the reason for you reading this, so when I’m asked to pick up a dog off I go ASAP.

A fortnight ago, I was asked to pick up a beautiful L & W bitch, Treacle from her second home, when all forms duly signed and ready to leave, the owner told me she “had a lump”! OK I should have said we’ll have to have a certificate from the vet to say she is healthy – I couldn’t! This poor wee girl lay in her basket in the hall and only came into the room when I called her, how could I have walked away from that? Would you? On the way home she gave a little whimper in the car, I wept and told her Auntie Cyn would make it alright, she was safe and somehow she just seemed to know …………

After discussing the situation with Cynthia, I had vets look at her and the prognosis wasn’t good ……….

My daughter and family fostered her and the whole family fell for this terrific character, a really gentle lady who brings her brush to get groomed, “smiles”, collects the dog bowls for washing and is the best mouser I’ve ever seen! She changed such a lot and really came out of her shell. Until yesterday ……… when we made the journey south …………. She had an immediate vet check and it was decided to operate today.

The rescue had had a very trying 24 hours, so on top of that we were all desperately worried about this wee girl. We knew we would get the call and were dreading it, but I can now let you all know that – she made it through the op! And it was a big one, a huge non-malignant lymphoma (size of small chicken) removed from inside her ribcage, spayed and mammary tumours removed – b*gger the cost - we know it’ll be a lot - but we’ll worry about that later. Treacle now has a life in front of her …………..

THIS IS WHAT RESCUE IS ALL ABOUT - so next time you look at the “Donate” button please don’t hesitate - remember Treacle’s story.

I suspect Treacle already has a potential home …………….

Treacle was adopted by her "failed" foster family

Pictures & Text - Copyright © 2007 Eileen Carson (aka Fifer) All rights reserved.

There is a lot of work involved in the running of a spaniel rescue organisation and without a doubt the logistics of actually collecting and delivering the animal can be one of the most problematic areas to get working smoothly.  Fortunately, most rescue organisations have forums which are the meeting place for all the people who are involved in a particular organisation and in most cases those who are providing the transport.  The forums by their nature provide a central repository for information about rescued animals with updates on their progress and re-homing situation.  Also, these places provide space for new carers to post information about their charges together with some wonderful photographs showing their spaniels out enjoying themselves in the countryside.

Quite a few rescued Springer Spaniels come with what people in the business call ‘baggage’ which means they have problems, usually associated with their previous home and is usually why they need to be rescued or rehomed.  Finding the right home for a dog can be quite difficult and in the case of Springer Spaniels can be difficult things to get right, but, the more experienced rescue centres are usually better suited to finding the right home, mainly through their years of experience in the business.  Also, most of the rescue and re-homing teams have Spaniels themselves and are aware of what these lively, energetic and faithful dogs require. 

In today’s world the Veterinary Surgeons bills are going to be one of the biggest expenditures in the Springer Spaniel rehoming cycle.  Nowadays most animals are spayed and neutered so they don’t inbreed and provide more potentially unwanted pets in the future.  Also, there are health and temperament benefits from having these small operations done.  Often Springer’s will be recovered from a pound or an organisation that cannot provide the re-homing service and because they have perhaps been recovered from the streets, they will come in with various infections and nutritional problems.  Veterinary bills can be in the region of £150 per animal and when you couple this with the out of pocket expenses of the home visit, retrieval and placement of the doggie in its new forever home the it adds up to quite a significant amount.  Another aspect of this voluntary service is finding long and short term foster homes.  Where a dog is placed in a foster home it is sometimes necessary to proved the food for the spaniel and this expenditure can mount up when added to the other expenses involved in rescue.  The rescue team members are experienced animal lovers, particularly for this breed and more often than not, they provide an appraisal of the dog, rehabilitation and re-training where appropriate.

Fund raising is the cornerstone of the finances necessary to be able to run a rescue service and although most recipients that provide forever homes for our spaniels do make a donation, it does not always cover the actual costs involved.   Without this vital aspect of the process, no rescue centre would be able to continually accept stray and unwanted dogs.  Sponsored walks, donations, auctions all help to add the coffers of the rescue organisations.  Members often donate their time and expertise to produce arts of work whilst other produce wonderful web forum graphics.

Most of the members of Spaniels Chat Forum have rescue spaniels and that is why this site and the forum were set-up.  Satisfaction, at the end of the day is, I’m sure, the main reason that most people are involved in rescue and the giving of forever homes to rescued spaniels do it. To see a poor ill-treated spaniel nursed back to health and then rehomed to a good forever home, and then to see it progress and regain its confidence must be one of the greatest pleasures in life.