By this point, Cwtch had done a full 180 – she had become a completely different puppy, and we had no clue why! She was insistent on me not leaving Tom, and insistent on Tom getting no rest – little did we know why.
It was only until the following week that everything started to fall into place. We were out taking photos with Cwtch at the lake by our apartment, and apart from Cwtch’s usual odd behavior, everything was fine – that was, until we returned back to our apartment. However this time, it wasn’t Cwtch who was the problem, it was Tom.
Soon after we had returned home, I ended up having to rush Tom to the hospital after he had developed a severe headache, which led to him crumpling to the floor, hardly able to move.
It was that day that we found out that Tom was having a stroke – everything made sense from that point on. Cwtch knew something was wrong with Tom all along, and she was trying so hard to warn us.
Cwtch laid by Tom’s head every night until he was healed through craniotomy; she knew that he was well again, and just like that, she changed back to the pup she was before.
This experience has made us realise just how clever – not just Cwtch, but – all dogs are. They know when we are upset, they know when we are unwell, they know when we are unsafe, and they do everything they can to help us when we are. It is up to us to listen to our dogs, and to appreciate these truly remarkable skills that they possess.
Tom credits Cwtch to his recovery; she kept him positive, she kept him playing, she made sure that he got fresh air each day through walking her. She never left his side, leading to his motivation to recover being higher than it ever could have been.
Cwtch has changed our lives, and in the words of Tom, “I didn’t realise you could love a dog this much!”.
