Dude had just this
'look' and from the time he was
a small puppy, his wise intellect and
connectedness to human beings was apparent
in the way he continually sought human eye
contact. While his siblings
were playing and tumbling around in the
grass, this grandson of an Irish Water
Spaniel infused bitch would leave the group
to come and sit at your feet, shaggy little
face uplifted, eyes keenly seeking your own
and tail softly wagging. He knew even at
ten weeks of age, when you were happy and
when you were sad.
Wayne and his wife Lisa
lived in Melbourne,with their two daughters,
and had an early generation 3yr old RM
Labradoodle called Chloe. Lisa ran the
first ever website dedicated to Doodles and
called it "Chloe's World". In 2003 Wayne
called me
with the tragic news that Lisa was suffering from a rare
congenital disease which was debilitating
and fatal. There was no known cure, and it
wasn’t known how much longer the girls would
have their mother, and Wayne his wife.
Chloe was typical of
the Labradoodles of the day and was
energetic, exuberant and a bit strong
willed. She had become difficult for
Lisa to manage in her frail condition and so
she couldn't come inside as she used to do.
Wayne told me that Lisa was badly
missing canine companionship and asked if we had an
adult Labradoodle available who would be a
more gentle and intuitive companion for Lisa.
Dude was still a young
dog and had only sired a couple of litters,
and I had kept a young male puppy called
Rutlands Magnum. After much soul
searching and prayer, the decision was made
to desex Dude and give him to Lisa. Wayne
told us that we would need to move quickly
because Lisa would not be able to travel by
car for very much longer and he wanted her
to meet Dude before they took him home.
The day that Wayne
brought Lisa and one of their daughters, Kaylinda, to Rutland Manor was one
I will ever forget. Lisa was sitting on
the sofa in the kennel kitchen when I
brought Dude in on the leash. As we
entered, Lisa was experiencing an episode
and was screaming and punching the air
whilst Wayne held her protectively and
lovingly in his arms. Kaylinda stood
nearby.
Dude
walked unhesitatingly to Lisa, put his front
paws up onto the sofa, and pushed his head
underneath Wayne’s arms. To avoid Lisa’s
flailing arms he buried his big head in her
chest and shut his eyes. He stood there in
this position without flinching until Lisa
eventually calmed down and then he lovingly
licked her cheeks. From that moment on he
was her inseparable companion.
Wayne
kept in close contact with us over the next
two years and relayed many heart stirring
stories of Dude’s faithful devotion to his
self imposed duty of soul mate and protector
of Lisa. One of the most memorable was an
occasion when Lisa had an episode inside the
house while Dude was outside in the yard for
some time out. Dude trotted agitatedly up
and down for a few minutes, and then
unhesitatingly launched himself through a
plate glass door, and ran whimpering to her
side. As always, his close presence calmed
her as he knew it would.
Lisa spent her last few
weeks on this earth in a major Melbourne
hospital. Wayne visited her daily.
She was weak and not always coherent and she
seemed restless and unhappy. She
communicated to Wayne that she needed to see
Dude. In Australia hospital visitation of
dogs is not as prevalent as it is in America
and some other countries, and Wayne had to
get special permission to take Dude into the
hospital to see his dying mistress.
The following day,
Wayne and Dude went up to one of the higher
levels of the hospital in the elevator. As
the doors opened, Dude pulled the leash out
of Wayne’s hands and went skidding and
running down the polished floors of the long
winding hallway, his leash wrapping itself
around his legs and tripping him up as he
went. He had never been in the hospital
before but he ran unerringly down several
corridors and straight into Lisa’s room,
where he put his front paws up onto the bed,
just as he 
had
done on the sofa that first day they had
met. He kissed her cheeks softly as he
had then, his brush of a tail gently
wagging. Wayne told us that Lisa wrapped
her arms around his big shaggy body and that
the first smile anyone had seen from her in
many days lit up her whole face. The
following day she passed away.
Several months later,
Cool Dude disappeared from Wayne’s back yard
whilst he was at work. He posted the sad
news on the Labradoodle chat forums, but
Dude was never found again. Was he stolen?
Or did he set out on a journey to try and
find his beloved mistress. We will probably
never know.
In
2005, Wayne called us once again with tragic
news. One of his two daughters had the same
illness that killed her mother. His other
daughter Kaylinda who so recently lost her
mother and would now lose her sister, badly
needed a canine soul mate. Did we have
another wonderful adult dog who would be her
friend? Dude’s grandson Rutlands Magnum
was still in his prime as a Stud Dog at
Rutland Manor. But we were also raising his
son Rutlands Kelby, so history repeated
itself. Magnum was desexed and given to
Wayne where as at August 2006, he is the
comforter and friend of Kaylinda and kisses
away the salt tears that flow.
