The family had decided that Spike would stay downstairs and not be allowed upstairs but he had a different idea.
He did not want to let his humans out of his sight.
Catherine said,
“The first time we had him, we closed the stair gate and went to bed. He whined for a couple of minutes before jumping over the gate in the dark and trotting up into my parents’ room and straight up on the bed! And that’s where he slept from then on.”
According to Catherine, Spike loves to snuggle and when he sleeps in bed with them he will try to push himself under the blankets so that he can be as close to his humans as possible.
For days after Spike’s second stroke, he could not stand on his own so the family carried him around the house. When he relearned how to walk he was still too weak to get himself up and down the stairs. For fear of Spike hurting himself on his trek up and down the stairs, the family set up the stair gate again. Another precaution that they took was to start sleeping with him on the couch so that he wouldn’t try his old trick of jumping the gate. Catherine said,
”This new schedule started while I was away at university, so my parents spent alternate nights downstairs with Spike. Since I moved back home, I’ve joined the rotation so all in all we get a bit more sleep between the three of us.”
Catherine’s dad goes the extra mile to make sure that Spike is comfortable and has everything he might need during the night. A true testimony to the old saying that a dog is a man’s best friend. She said,
”They’re inseparable. My dad calls him “old bean” and they’re always chatting away. My dad will also bring Spike his water and food to the sofa and feed him by hand to make sure he gets his medicine and keeps his strength.”
Catherine and her family document Spike’s life on their instagram profile: @spikethespringer where you can see just how loved he is and how many people have been following along. There are pictures and videos on his profile from when he was younger and full of life and also some posts where he has slowed down a bit but has not lost his love for chew toys. Clearly his health issues do not bother him. According to him, it’s only his humans that are holding him back. Catherine said of Spike that,
”We love our old boy so much and are so glad to have him in our lives. Hopefully, we have made up for his not so good start in life by providing all the love in the world.”
