My Girlkin spaniel mix --Ysabelle

[bethmarie]

I lost my Bernese Mtn dog mix a few years ago. At 70lbs, he was a shrimp next to a true Berner, but he looked exactly like one. At 9 am one morning he was fine and frisky, and by 5:30 he had died. My vet suspected a ruptured tumor, and internal bleeding. We were stunned and devastated. He was 8 years old.

I've fostered several dogs over the years. The one who was hardest to let go, the one who still haunts me at times, was Boone, a boykin spaniel mix who, at a mere 6 months of age, knew how to chill for hours on the couch at home and gallop around like a madman when the opportunity presented itself at the park. As a puppy, he already lived by the maxim 'when in Rome...'

God, I miss that dog.

Eighteen months or so after Ramsey's death, I took a deep breath and started searching for boykin spaniel mixes in shelters and rescues.
They are pretty rare, since the population of boykin spaniels itself is pretty small.
I found one, though. About 7 months old, a female. Only she was in South Carolina. 6 hours away. That's ONE way.
I wheedled middle son, teen-aged at the time, to come along, brought my stalwart border collie mix, Yoda, to make sure he could tolerate her, and off we went.
Six hours is a long time to wind up in the parking lot of an institutional looking building with a lot of nothing-else sprawling in all directions around it.

We went in to meet our maybe girl, dubbed Jarvis by the shelter staff. Who calls a girl Jarvis?

She thought Yoda was just fine, and he didn't get that long suffering look in his eyes like he had with some of my fosters.

We loaded her up and brought her home, and, crazy as the whole thing was, it has worked out just beautifully. She's the girl in my life, a little Yin to balance the wonderful, but sometimes overwhelming Yang of my 3 now grown boys. She has energy that won't quit, but she's somehow geared herself down to be my constant companion when I go through stretches of ME/CFS that keep me bed bound.

She's smart as a whip, eager to please, fanatic about fetch, sweet and steady, but not needy. She's my gal.
I just wish Ramsey and Boone could have met her.

Pictured are:
Ramsey
Boone
Yoda
And my girl, Ysabelle

[DeaC]

Wonderful tale(tail!) of what sounds to be a very happy,busy homestead. Thought I was fairly breed-informed but boykin is a new one. I can tell how much you all love each other and how special of you to be fostering. TY for sharing.

[jkofferdahl]

I'm not sure if I'm more fond of dogs or of people who love dogs. Congratulations on your beautiful new girl!

[Mountaineer370]

Beautiful dogs, past and present. Yep, when you decide you want to adopt a dog of a certain breed or type, and that happens to be a Boykin spaniel, you are definitely in for a challenge! I'm so glad you found her. It sounds like Yoda and Ysabelle are both wonderful companions.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Wonderful dogs you have there. Oh I do hear ya about the one that got away. I have one that still haunts me as well. The others oddly enough have come back to me years later. Most recently Trixie.

No you do not see a Boykin every day. We have a pure bred one that comes out every year during hunting season. Her owner uses her to bird hunt and babies the heck out of her. It's very cute how much he loves his dog. I do love to see that.

[Leafmite]

So glad you found her!

[camille1585]

What a great story! I don't have any furbabies because doctors say there's too much of a risk that I'll become allergic (had guinea pigs for 5 years, and became allergic...).

I had never heard of boykin spaniels before, though they do look similar to several french/european spaniel breeds I see around here. I've always heard that aside from being great hunting/birding dogs, they are amazing and loyal companion dogs.

6 hours one way is a long trip (for me that distance automatically means going to a different country- even passing through 2 or 3! ) for a dog that you had no idea if she would be a good match for the family. Now you probably think it was the best decision ever!

[katrina]

Beth, the same thing happened to my Zoe (shep/husky mix) in '09! We never knew it but she apparently had a tumor on/near the heart and it ruptured one morning. She went from perfectly fine that morning to being really sick by late morning. We rushed her to the vet's who did some Xrays and then sent us over to MedVet for further scans and evaluations....they sad it was a tumor that had ruptured and she had blood filling the sac around her heart...there was no treatment to be had. She was 8 and had - up to that point - been the healthiest in our pack. Like you, we were absolutely devastated.

We lost Huey (our last in the pack) Christmas weekend '15 and after having lost several dogs in what felt like too short of a time period...we opted to wait awhile before bringing in another dog. We now feel ready and are in the process finding our next fur-baby...working w/the group Mastiffs to Mutts. Our hopes are for an English Mastiff but we fall in love w/just about any giant so we are probably going to be open to any big lug that needs a new home and who can live peacefully w/our crazy kitties.

All your babies are super cute and your new girl...she has a very ornery glimmer in those eyes. Like our Huey (Newf) had...great dog, sweet as sweet could be...but full of ornery. Congrats to both you and Ysabelle on finding each other!

[No-Pro-mwa]

I've had it happen also. It's horrible to see them in so much pain. That, I can't stand.

Camille I am very allergic to guinea pigs also and rabbits.

Katrina good luck finding your new giant, maybe a Neo? I would so like to have one of them. But not like the ones they show now. Good lord they are ruining that breed as well. Way to baggy.

[katrina]

Who knows... .our first choice is the English but, yeah, maybe a neo. Def not the super baggy though...not at all fond of the look and I imagine the skin issues would be awful.