Our Dogs

ME is no longer with us :-(
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ME is no longer with us :-(

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Despite a time of profound love and togetherness with my family of people and animals, this has been a very uncomfortable and ‘challenging’ day.

Reviewing the pictures of our Meggie has reminded me of how multi-faceted she was. She took time to play, socialise and contemplate and she had a wonderfully uncomfortable ‘human’ look in her eyes every so often that just made you wonder for a moment … and then she’d present herself for a tickle on the tum and normal service was resumed!

As referred in a previous post just over a year ago about ‘The Question’, she got her wish, she wasn’t alone, but the pain … oh the pain of being there and having to make these decisions.

The tears, the wishes for everlasting recovery and health only to be faced with the reality that this was actually how she wanted it to be. For us to be together, for us not to have suffered enduring pain or discomfort or indignity. Just together, in love, supporting each other and … … it’s hard not to just go on. There were so many tears in ours but not in her eyes, I think she was grateful for how it was, being there with her favourite vet, Brendon @ Towerwood in Leeds. He was definitely on her side, helping us come to our inevitable conclusion. She was ready and ever patient with us to become ready ourselves.

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Meg was a tough nut, we both and some others have the scars to prove it, but five years ago, we had an ‘encounter’ and I made a promise never to give up on her, none of it was anger it was always in love and it seemed she made the same commitment to me. We reminded ourselves of this lying cuddled up on the floor of the vets earlier today and she reminded me to stay strong and make good my commitment and make the tough decisions we had to make.

Her reputation had gone before her and when Rachael prepared me for our first meeting, I was firmly instructed to sit down, not make eye contact and wait for her to come to me … and, boy, did she come to me! A fine example of unconditional love I have never before experienced, my heart is forever richer. I got her, and she got me.

Oh, Meg, I miss your cheeky face making sure I’d seen your mischievousness and I only hope I can quickly turn the ‘missings’ into ‘rememberings.

On Facebook, Rachael says:

“The words I’ve dreaded writing for many years.

My Meg has gone. The hell raiser puppy grew to be a month short of 14 and lived her life to the full.

She trained me to feed her treats, and I trained her to steal from bins, to run off with the prize, to bark at people until they sat down.

I said “in” and she would just stare at me until I said “out”.

Shopping bags contained monsters and everyone had to be protected from them.
When it was time to leave, she would want to stay. If it was time to stay, she would want to leave.

She brought Tellington TTouch into my life, with Turid Rugaas, raw feeding and Zoopharmacognosy. She put the “Me” into Mekuti and gave me a contented living. But most of all, most of all she put my heart back together.

We are finding the house oh so quiet without her, but do you know what? She’s still here. Close by. Twinkling. Waving her tail like she used to.

Thank you for sharing yourself so generously with us my darling Meggie. I’ll miss stroking that silky head and oh so soft ears if yours and our “interesting” walks is water.

I love you sweetheart.”

Demetri says:

“Sadly, we had to say our final goodbye to our Meg earlier today.

She had got seriously worse over the past few days and hadn’t been putting any weight on for quite a while. Finally, she couldn’t raise herself to walk and the look in her eye to us this morning was telling us she was ready and it was time for us to make our hardest decision.

I wasn’t ready and Rachael probably less so but there was a rapidly growing tumour inside her which gave even us no option even with all the love, pills and potions to hand.

We understood her pain and she in turn understood our pain and she made her passing as kind and loving as anything I’ve ever seen.
She was cheeky and mischievous to the end and was never ‘only a dog’ to anyone that she encountered.

Needless to say we have the smoked salmon, cheese and cava out this evening to remind us to live long to remember her.

D & R x x”

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Meg has something on her mind

Meg just loves getting her feet wet :-b

Meg just loves getting her feet wet :-b

Rachael’s post about Meg on Facebook recently:

Watching my beloved Meg get older (13 in November) is one of the tougher things I have to do. At the same point in my other animal’s lives I have established their ‘signal’ for when they are ready to leave and yesterday I asked her The Question.

Meg’s answer was simple; she just wants me there by her side.

Her mobility has been much improved since having McTimoney chiropractic but she’s clearly been bothered by something else. During our communication yesterday she went into a very deep sleep once she’d told me what was on her mind and has been much more her old self since.

What was bothering her? The thought of being left behind during holidays. She wants to come too.

The sense of relief for both of us is huge. Knowing the one you love is happy has more value than value itself.

I love you Meg. You are such a special being in my life; I hope we can make the most if the time we have, whether it’s long or short.

As a sort of bystander, watching Rach and Meg interact is pretty amazing on a number of levels.

For a start, I feel very privileged to have been ‘let in’ because their relationship is so obviously close and longstanding but mainly they do really communicate in a way I am not familiar with.

OK, I talk to Meg (everybody talks to their dog don’t they?) and occasionally I can sort of guess what’s she is willing or not so willing to do but Rachael clearly communicates with Meg, sometimes by herself and sometimes with the assistance of others. Her insights are … err … well, insightful! Not just like you may expect a dog to sometimes gives a different and surprising perspective of what is going on from 18 inches above the ground.

Sometimes I could say it is in a childlike way but that doesn’t demean the validity of her perception because by childlike I mean simple, uncomplicated and sometimes uncomfortably direct! You know, just like on the bus when your kid says, “Look at that fat woman’s funny hat!”

The other thing obvious about their relationship that has elevated me into my own higher level of thinking, is their honesty. Rachael’s post on her FB account shows exactly the sort of honesty I mean – it is open, truthful, necessary and above all else kind.

Her words created an interesting amount of thinking and contributions from some of her friends and even allowed some to also look at their animal relationships in a more open way, especially about, ‘The Question’.

Speaking honestly here … I not quite ready for that Question yet but I know I have people-people and doggy-people around me that will offer me help when I become more ready. At the moment I’m at the stage where I can take pictures that sometimes capture some precious moments, but I do find it difficult to look at them.

I have a lovely family.

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Meg’s gone camping!

"How does one get some food around here?"

“I say, how does one get some grub around here?”

Ever patient, our Meg is making it obvious that she’s next in line for the distribution of any leftovers.

She has always been an outside dog but ever since moving to Leeds opportunities for a bit of free roaming are few and far between … there are just too many potentially dangerous distractions and places to get stuck or lost which is a problem with all suburban living.

Here natural state though is as, I suppose, the natural state of all dogs since they first domesticated us humans and got us to feed and tend to them in exchange for a few scraps and the occasional woof at a passing stranger.

Meg’s favourite quote is, “woof”!

For those that don’t know, our Meggie is a springer collie cross (a sprollie) and is the ‘Me’ of Mekuti. She is also the reason why this all started … err … she has ‘issues’! More of that another time.