Remembering Stanley

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” –Winnie the Pooh

As much as we hate sharing heartbreaking news, we wanted to inform everyone with the deepest sadness that our Man Stan gained his Angel wings and accepted his position as lifeguard at the swimming pool in Heaven.

He left this earth on his own terms, peacefully in his sleep knowing kindness, compassion, love, dignity and a smile on his face.

Stanley was a ray of sunshine here at Paws Give Me Purpose; he made us smile – when things got rough, and many days are, all you had to do was glance over at Stan and you’d instantly feel better. 

There was something very special about Stanley, we have no doubt a very special soul was in that ancient body and we believe his purpose, to bring a ray of sunshine to bring us some happiness during often difficult and heartbreaking work – now we wonder, will there be smiles again?

Stanley arrived at our Sanctuary back in September of 2021. Shelter records had estimated his age at that time to be around 12, but our Veterinary Team believed that he was really much older.

He was blind, suffered with serious double ear infections, eye infections, was diagnosed with canine vestibular disease, severe periodontal disease, and because Stanley was unable to close his eyelids his eyes would get extremely dry.

We knew that we could not erase his past, but we did everything in our power to make things better for him – and he learned what it is truly like to be loved and you could feel him love you right back. 

Was Stanley a lot of work? Absolutely. Eye drops 3 times a day, ear cleanings and drops every night, cleaning him up after vestibular episodes became messy, the list goes on and on, but his life mattered! And after having been let down and mistreated by humans then tossed away, Stan healed here at Paws Give Me Purpose – mentally, physically, spiritually and then spent his time here enjoying life and in turn helped heal us daily.

Stan loved water, bubble baths, swimming pools, and even daily dips in the water bowl. If there wasn’t water everywhere his job was not done. We learn a great deal from every dog that comes through our Sanctuary doors and perhaps Stanley’s message to us all is to ALWAYS BE HYDRATED.

Our man Stan enjoyed the finer things in life, including home cooked meals and treats. We often pictured him as a high class gentleman with a glass of wine next to a good meal or maybe a good cigar or after dinner drink – he just had very special mannerisms and seemed almost human. 

He was truly a gentle Shitzu who gave the best hugs in the world but for some reason would never sleep in any kind of bed – he preferred the floor. But what was most interesting to us was his last month of life here at the Sanctuary.

Stanley began sleeping in dog beds and began acting like a better version of his already amazing self. His vestibular episodes came to a halt and he suddenly seemed to no longer be such a special needs dog except for his lifelong blindness. It was something we never witnessed before, but now that he’s gone we wonder if it was some kind of clarity before leaving this world. It was like a switch was flipped and he was just completely healed. 

When we noticed Stanley’s initial behavior began to change, we thought he was leaving us then, but it was merely what we now believe to be a start of a new chapter for him, and perhaps a preparation of sorts for his new job as lifeguard at Heaven’s newest swimming pool – at least that is what we like to believe. 

Stan literally spun his vestibular ways into everyone’s hearts and the heartbreak he has left behind is beyond measure. He has left many wet paw prints on many hearts both human and dog alike. 

And the answer to our own question of will there be smiles again? Yes Stanley, there will be smiles every time we fill a water bowl, bathtub or swimming pool, there will be smiles because you brought us that gift and it will remain a part of our Sanctuary forever. 

For now, the sunshine at the Sanctuary has turned to clouds of sadness, and it will take time for us to heal. We miss your presence and thank you for allowing us to love you with our whole hearts. You will always live on in our hearts and within the walls of Paws Give Me Purpose Sanctuary.

We would like to acknowledge Stanley’s generous Sanctuary sponsors for assisting us with his care and helping give us the ability to provide him with everything he needed and then some. On behalf of our Man Stan, we thank you from the bottom of his little heart and ours. It is supporters like yourselves that are the driving force behind what we do.

To all of our followers and supporters, thank you for caring and for being a support to us during this difficult time.