GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE

All dogs love a nice garden and there’s none nicer or more peaceful and tranquil than our Garden of Remembrance.  Here, Labrador Welfare join with the wonderful people who have sprinkled seeds of love and care over all the dogs who have passed through our doors, to remember them with fondness as they take their leave to find lasting peace.

In a garden where only happy memories grow, we hope you too will join us in remembering these lovely dogs and that you will leave our garden with a smile on your face and gladness in your heart at memories shared of the happy lives these dogs have been able to enjoy in their new homes.

Although those lives may sometimes be all too short, memories of all our dogs will last a lifetime. So, if you’d like to share special memories of your Labrador Welfare dog, please do send them through to us either by post or email, perhaps with a picture too - and we’ll plant them for you with love and care in our Garden of Remembrance. 

Lilah

It is with great sadness that I am sharing the news that our
beautiful American Labrador Lilah crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 23rd
March, after an illness of a few months.. we adopted her in June 2023
when she was 8 years old, and has been a constant joy to us, which is
a testament to her previous family and how they raised her.. We are
going to miss her so much.. ❤️❤️❤️

Dylan

“In loving memory of Dylan I will not stop loving you.  You are pain free now.
We will meet again at the Rainbow Bridge 💖💖💖”

Ollie

 “I said goodbye to my beautiful Ollie on 22nd April 2025.
My late brother and I adopted Ollie in February 2019 when he was 3 and a half .
Ollie always had a smile on his face and was friends with everyone – human and dog. Unlike some he loved and fussed all the post people.
Despite his size Ollie never growled or confronted another dog. If the smallest Chihuahua grumbled at him he would run away.

He loved to play and loved having the dumbbell filled with small treats so he could work at getting them out.
Ollie was my constant companion.
No matter where I was in the house or garden or walking Ollie was there.
Ollie slept in my room and his favourite position was laid on his back on the sofa or on my bed.

Ollie was ill for around 3 weeks when he was then diagnosed with a liver tumour and nothing could be done.
Thank you Ollie for being in my life and for all the happy memories.”

Willow

 “We adopted Willow or Willy as she became known as back in Nov 2011. A handful pup who had no manners knew no boundaries and the eating habits of a piglet. When we first went to meet her with our other two labs the first thought was OMG she’s going to be a handful the second thought was what the heck … she needed a home and we needed a friend for our two - perfect. Life with Willy was full of challenges due to previous home and the impact it had made on her. We all enjoyed holidays to the lakes and Scotland and various other places.

We did do the dog training and quite often with head held high we’d leave the class at the end of each week with Willy having wee’d on the instructor’s shoes, done laps of honours around the room and begged and scavenged every treat possible for other unsuspecting dogs and their owners.

As she started to age her eye sight deteriorated, her hearing became more selective and the back leg joint that was damaged in her previous home began to give her trouble. Hydrotherapy was the answer she loved it and she would be so excited when she knew where she was going. 

Eventually she needed medical intervention and after a few weeks she settled into the life of an OAP (old aged pet)
Finally, on the 29th April 2025, her back end finally gave out. We were all there for her at the end and she went peacefully to find Tetley and Cookie.”

Rango

“It was 11 years ago when we were very lucky to find Rango. It was love at first sight when we went to see him. There was this hairy, smelly brown bundle of joy – we knew immediately he was coming home with us. 
It has been a brilliant journey. He visited every corner of the UK – not bad for a dog with car anxiety matched only by his anxiety of going to the vets. Like every lab he just loved the great outdoors, rivers, lakes and canals but his favourite was the sea. The only water he didn’t like was rain and the bath. He was the kind of dog that people just couldn’t ignore. He was constantly given compliments and he certainly drew the ladies. His temperament was second to none – not a nasty bone in his body but he could stand up for himself when needed. Of late Rango had begun to show his age; he had really bad arthritis in his left leg which, in the last few days became unbearable although, in a way, helped us with our decision which is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do.
I always say I’d take the heartache every time for the years of love Rango gave us. 

He was a beautiful dog in and out, always quirky, never quite predictable but I’d have him for another 11 years if only it was possible. He is and will be missed – he was the dude. We loved him and he loved us – we got a star the day he came into our lives. " 

Captain

 “I remember our last moment, right before you said goodbye I looked at you and you looked at me before tears filled your eyes 
I know it’s hard to understand I would have loved to stay 
But at some point our name is called and mine was called today I’m so grateful for your loving care until the very end 

Your choice, however difficult, proves you were being loving and so kind For nothing speaks of tender love and sacrifice to me Than one whose heart was crumbling but you still set me free The human term of “putting down” is so wrong it is a release.
You gave me such a precious gift when you granted me peace. 
So I will wait at the Rainbow Bridge until we meet again.

Then it’s licks and tail wags for you - my Dad and my best friend.

Captain you meant so much to me. I miss you so much - you would have been 6 on 2 August 2024. You will always be in my heart and I have such lovely memories of you both good and bad but you were the most loving dog I could have ever wanted and I’m missing you so much.

R.I.P. Captain

From Dad, Mona & Rumpole ”

Oscar

He has been a dream dog… easy-going, friendly (with people and dogs) and very trainable as he would do anything for food… we will skirt around some of his more disgusting scavenging habits! Rosie and him were real pals , she was the boss and he was happy to go along. When Rosie died he was alone for a while but he soon took Olive (18 month old working black lab)under his paw when she arrived from our local rescue, very nervous and never having lived in a house.  

We could take him anywhere and he always made friends...he was a comic to his last day.

He started going grey when he was only 8 and occasionally non-lab folks would ask what breed he was ‘he's a Belgian Hug-Hound’ we’d say ….quite a few fell for that!!  He has left a huge hole ( only 34kg now!) in our lives and little Olive is looking lost. It was his time but it doesn’t make it any easier.  

Thanks for giving us 8 wonderful years with our boy.

Helen and Paul xx

Rolo

 Rolo - November 12th 2009 - April 11th 2024.

We said goodbye to our beautiful Rolo (or Rolsey to us) a few days ago.

We spent 8 wonderful years with him and he reached a grand age of 14 and a half.
He was eating voraciously and enjoying life to the very last minute.  He fitted in perfectly with our family.

To him we say:

“Thank you gentle soul for your love and loyal companionship.  You will be forever in our hearts.
Now run free boy!”.

George

“We adopted George age 4 years, or maybe I think he chose us when he dived into our car as soon as he saw us back in May 2015 and since that day he has brought nothing but pure love, fun and happiness to our family.
In his later years a pal to our other dog who is missing him deeply.
George did find his forever home eventually with us and we as a family are grateful to Labrador Welfare for enabling us to spend our lives together.
He was the most handsome of dogs even winning best rescue and also ‘waggiest tail’ in the local dog show.

Everyone that met George loved him and he has left his paw prints on all our hearts. We will miss him forever.

Hero Harry

“It's with great sadness we let you know that Harry, (was Hero), our wonderful chocolate boy has crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

He started life 16/09/2012 and became part of our family 1/12/2016 with great thanks to you he brought much joy into our lives and will be sorely missed by us both and everyone who knew him leaving us finally last Friday, 1/03/2024.

He was such a gentle loving companion and we thank you for letting us have him in our lives.

Regretfully Steve and Jenny”

Teddy

We sadly lost Teddy at the end of November after a very short illness. We adopted Teddy on 17th January 2015. He was a Romanian street dog and had spent two days travelling by road to the UK. It took us three months to persuade him to jump into the car but after that the car was one of his favourite places. He was very suspicious of tractors and would shout very loudly and growl at them when they passed us. He enjoyed going away in our caravan, Teesdale was his favourite place. He knew our regular campsite well and he loved walking through the fields. Most of all he adored our grandchildren and they loved him."

Garden of Remembrance