A six-year-old boy from Howdon is spreading kindness in his community after the sudden loss of his beloved puppy. Trey Clark was heartbroken when his one-year-old miniature dachshund, Maple, had to be put to sleep on Tuesday after becoming paralysed due to intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), a condition affecting the discs between the backbone vertebrae.
Gifting toys and treats
With the help of his mum Nicole, Trey decided to do something positive in Maple's memory. The pair are now gifting toys and treats to local dogs, which can be collected from a box placed at the gates of The Family Tree Day Nursery in Howdon, where Nicole works as an apprentice and Trey attends the out-of-school and holiday club.
Nicole, 27, from Howdon, said: "We put the basket outside the nursery with a picture of Maple and an explanation of why we were doing it and it's unbelievable how many people showed up. We put it out at about 10am yesterday and this morning were all gone."
Community response
The gifts received such a positive response that nursery staff had to visit a shop to buy more balls to fill the box this morning. Dog owners are now sharing photos on social media of their pets with their new toys, allowing Trey and Nicole to see the impact of their random act of kindness.
Nicole added: "Trey's absolutely loved it. He's been sitting at the fence and waiting until the dogs come over. He's been sitting stroking the picture of her [Maple]." She also said: "Trey's absolutely besotted by the photos. He keeps asking to see them. He loves seeing all the dogs playing. He keeps asking how many likes the post has too."
Remembering Maple
Nicole said Trey loves dogs and has already asked for another pet. While the family are not ready for another dog at the moment, she took Trey to Build-A-Bear, where he chose a dog teddy. He called the teddy Maple and has been "taking it everywhere with him", Nicole added.
