GOLDEN OLDIES – Lily Thomas
Lily lives in Hastings with her son Harry. We live on a holiday park with a garden and Lily & Harry wait by the picket fence for dogs to go by to bark at, which is often, so that keeps them busy. If I ever need to explain where I live, I just say ‘2 small white dogs’ and everybody knows (I should add noisy really). The 2 are inseparable and seem to constantly communicate with each other in their own special way. Lily is 13 on the 20th of December 2023 and amazingly fit as a fiddle. I give her a joint supplement, just because I feel I should and she is active and keen to go for walks. When Lily thinks it time for food (am and pm) she gets all excited and starts playing with Harry like a puppy, he doesn’t mind.
Lily was from my first litter and Harry (her son) was from my last litter. Lily used to be a show dog and has lots of rosettes including Best in Show at the Bolognese Club Show when she was just 20-months old. She also made a great brood bitch having 3 litters and was a great mum. Even now if Lily sees or hears a puppy she is desperate to care for it. I often see her licking Harry’s face or ears in a caring motherly way, he just sits there and accepts it.
Lily had what we thought was a stomach ulcer a good few years ago, we put her on medication and it all cleared up and didn’t return, apart from that and a couple of anal gland abscesses, she has been fit and happy. She goes to the vet every 2-months to have her anal glands emptied and that seems to prevent any issues. Lily shakes like a leaf at the vets, but they give her a treat afterwards and then she is relieved and happy to leave!
Lily has a toy platypus that she has had for as long as I can remember, when she thinks its bed time, she finds the toy and walks around for 10 minuets finding somewhere to put the toy to bed, after which she comes to me and I lift her onto the bed where she sleeps close to me and doesn’t move. Some times Harry goes off, finds the toy and brings it to me, which is very cruel as Lily has to go off for 10-mins and settle the toy again. Sometimes I get so fed up, I put the toy under the pillow, so neither of them can find it! When I’ve washed the toys, Lily cant find the platypus, probably as she can’t smell it and I have to help her find it. Sometimes Harry takes the toy in the garden and I have to go out in the dark to find it!
Lily seems to be able to tell this time. If she thinks it is breakfast or dinnertime, she follows me about and if I sit down she sits facing me and barks continuously until I fix her food! She waits till Harry has finished, goes over and licks his bowl round just to check he hasn’t left any. At home with me Lily is quite independent, settles on one of the 4 dogs beds, but if I have a visitor she hassles them for fuss, sits by them and paws at them till they stoke or tickle her. When I used to breed and people have to see the puppies, she used to be so friendly with everybody, they would say I want one just like her. Later I did breed with Lily, so people could have ‘one just like her’. Lily loves it when people visit, she is all over them…
I kept Lily’s coat long until recently, but she had some warts on her back and Harry kept licking them, so I wanted to put a jumper on her. She looked silly with the jumper and long hair, so it was clipped off. Now she wears different jumpers to keep warm and she looks cute in them too. The vet said her eye sight is not good now, but it doesn’t bother her, also she has had lots of teeth out, but again this doesn’t bother her either. I take her to stay with my daughter and sometimes to hotels and she is so good.
Lily is clever and knows the routine, she gets a small treat when I go out and as soon as she sees me get ready to go anywhere, she is following me about waiting for me to go, so she gets a treat.
