My cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Henry, at about 5 years of age

On September 25th, 2009, our cavalier King Charles spaniel, Henry, died after a stroke at the age of eleven. Because it’s now September, he is very much in my mind. He was a sweet and lovable dog, very typical of the breed in that respect. I still miss him and think about him a lot.

We got Henry when he was 8 or 9 weeks old and we always had him with us, we never put him into kennels while we went away or asked other people to look after him. As a puppy, he was the sweetest little thing you can imagine. He was irresistably cuddly and it took a lot of will power to put him down once you picked him up.

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Part of being a writer is finding your own voice and letting it come through the written word. I have found this very hard to do. Part of the problem has been that my early writing was about antiques and collectables where I was commissioned to impart information about some aspect of the subject. My own feelings and personality were not expected to impinge greatly on the articles. This means that I find it easy to write in a comparatively detached and impersonal tone.

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My little dog, Henry, a cavalier King Charles spaniel, wanted to write his biography and include some of his opinions in it. We decided the best place for him to do this was on Squidoo as a lens.

The result is Henry’s Biography: A Small Dog’s Tale. Outwardly, he’s a very sweet, lovable dog but, reading this, we find out he has his acerbic side and quite a sharp tongue.

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Saffy, aged about 5 years, running as usual

Next month Saffy, my springer spaniel, will be 12 years old. Springers live for about 14 years and she’s already looking like an old dog. Her face has a lot of  grey hairs among the red-brown. She’s got arthritis in her hips and can’t jump into the car anymore. She can put her front paws on the seat and then I have to hoist up her back end.

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