We're glad to see the back of August this year, it's been a month of 'goodbye's' so 'Goodbye August.....'
The most significant of our goodbye's was losing our dear friend Jenny. As with every sad event that happens we're trying to see the positives in the situation.
Our dear little Jenny chose us to be her family way back in 2008. If I'm being brutally honest, I didn't ever want a dog. It was just another element of chaos added to the list which I was already fighting to gain some form of control over. My late husband decided that our family needed a dog and he rather liked the idea of taking her to work with him. Of course the reality of the situation didn't ever come to fruition. She was of course a feisty little lady to whom in the early days behaving on the farm and in tenants houses would have been virtually impossible. She possessed killer instinct and in those early days when she exercised her own will she would chase virtually everything in sight!
We were instructed to collect our little girl at just five weeks. My heart ached back then....five weeks is just too young. As an attachment parent, I would have preferred it if she had of left her family when she had become a little more independent. It was not to be and in hind sight she did incredibly well. Having an extra 'thing' to look after was just beyond me. In a world where I was surrounded by family chaos, deprived of sleep and struggling to keep, afloat another element almost tipped the scales. I really disliked that dog for the best part of eighteen months! I know, mean. She was cute as a puppy but grrrr, the chewing, the pooping, the barking.......it was like having another toddler in the house. Of course the kids loved her and I sort of did too...
In 2010 we decided to breed her....well when I say 'we' it was actually my idea and dear darling husband was quite opposed to his little girl 'up the duff'. Finding a suitor was a challenge, all of the good looking potentials had had their tackle removed. I confronted many a dog owner on the street and even left a note under the collar of one unsuspecting pooch outside the supermarket! Eventually the guy that we bought little Jenny from came up trumps with Tiger (there's a blog all about puppies way back at the beginning of my blogging journey). Jenny gave birth to six puppies, four of which survived. Our puppy journey was an incredible experience for us all and one I shall never forget and little Jenny was a brilliant mother.
I love this one....okay dog, you can have the bed......
As the children became older and as Jenny matured, I loved having her around. Despite the barking (which incidentally became a blessing and alerted me to the presence of people), and the jumping up, she became one of the family and a loyal friend. She was trained to the whistle and would always return with a couple of toots. She retained her character.
Jenny loved coming out with us, loved travelling in the car, loved chasing things, loved catching rats (and the odd pheasant in her younger days!) and she had a passion for terrier racing. Only a month ago we allowed her ( we didn't have much choice. She knew....) to race at the fun dog show in Glympton and she still won all three of her races against all of the younger dogs.
It was with great reluctance that I took our dear little friend to the vets with a suspected bone in her throat. She was an incredibly healthy creature. I only ever took her to the vet for her initial puppy vaccinations and reluctantly to be micro chipped. They commented that she had lost a little weight since 2010! Anyway, the suspected bone turned out to be a tumour on her lungs and the vet wanted to put her to sleep there and then. I couldn't do that to my little friend....she left the examination room with perky ears and her tail wagging. I took her home.
Of course I knew that she was very poorly and I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let her suffer. That afternoon one small boy wanted to test out a boat he had made so with a trip to the river planned I asked our little girl if she wanted to come...of course she did. She wanted to be around those who loved her. She enthusiastically trotted to the hall to have her harness and lead put on and independently walked to the car. She was perfectly happy lying on a blanket with us watching the fun.
Little Jenny remained in an unchanged state for a further two days but on the Friday of that week you could hear the increase liquid on her lungs and I knew that the next day I would have to put and end to her life. The children all knew and had had time to adjust to the situation. She snuggled up with my lovely friend and I that night on our camp on the sitting room floor. She really snuggled up, she wanted to be in my arms. I stroked her and told her that it was okay to go......she fell asleep with my hand placed upon her peacefully. What a blessed end to a beautiful life.
Life is not the same without our lovely dog but we feel so blessed that she chose us......
Ed note: The lovely guy who bred Jenny also passed away in the same week. Our thoughts are with his family.
