Fwd: About Springer - for wider circulation among dog-lovers

[Elizabeth Braun de Torrez]

Hi all,

The following is an email from a friend of mine who is looking for a home for an old silky terrier named Springer. She and her husband were house sitting when the owner passed away. They have since kept Springer, but will have to return to India at the end of the summer and is concerned about how Springer would do on the long trip. Please contact Preeti Rao <preeti...@gmail.com> if you are interested.

Thanks!  Liz 

Springer is a silky terrier and is 13 years old. His formal name is
Sir Christo Tugwell Springer. That may be missing one name. His
parents were champions at the Westminster Dog Show. He is named after
them.

He doesn't act like his age though and is always looking to eat. When
he goes for a walk he can't walk slowly like he should at his age. He
goes too fast and then ends up limping because he has arthritis. He
also has cataract in his eyes but he can still spot the car getting
into the driveway through the window glass and he can follow the treat
I throw in his direction. The vet saw him a few months back and said
he is very healthy and will almost surely live for another 2-3 years.

He is low-maintenance and is used to staying alone the whole day (he
sleeps on a couch next to the window). He has spent a lot of his time
sitting/sleeping next to his ex-owner who couldn't walk much. We
started taking him for walks and he enjoys them. He likes human food
(esp. Indian bread!), perhaps because he wants variety in his food
like humans do.

Springer got attacked by a neighbor's dog twice and has survived 2
surgeries so he's a pretty tough guy. Perhaps he had so many doctor
visits that he  developed a phobia for traveling in the car - keeps
shivering most of the time. But once he gets out of the car and
realizes that he doesn't have to see the vet, he is more relaxed on
his way back.

We are thinking of taking him to India but I am not so confident about
Springer traveling for 15-20 hours. I think I would prefer it if he
gets a good home here in Boston where he's been all his life. While I
write this, he is next to me snoring away in his bean bag.

Anyway, thanks for reading this!
Preeti