The tributes have been coming in thick and fast. I thought I'd share a couple with you written by SHAK Volunteers. Its amazing how these dogs touch your life.....
Harlie (with an i e)
and me
I had been volunteering at the kennels for a few weeks and
gradually had my confidence built up by walking the easy dogs like the Scrap
Yard twins, Bodie and Doyle,, Storm and Sam.
I had been aware of Harlie the Rottie girl with the muscle
wasting illness and a reputation for being a bit cantankerous at times and for
her “moods” as another volunteer described her occasional unwillingness to go
for a walk,grumbles and food guarding.
One afternoon Steve suggested I take Harlie for a walk but
to be a bit careful as she did have her “moments” which I assumed involved her
eating a volunteer if in a mood!
Anyway I went into her kennel slipped a lead over her head
with the aid of a liver treat and off we set for our first walk together in the
lanes around the kennels.
Harlie had a certain style of walking which involved many
pee stops, much sniffing and sitting down if she decided she had gone far
enough or if she sensed it was nearly dinner time and wanted to be back in time
or if it was raining or pretty much when she decided. On that first walk I
coaxed her along with many bits of roast liver and we made it there and back
without falling out.
Gradually over the following weeks we became friends .She
enjoyed the liver treats and I her rambling walking style – a welcome break
from some of the more vigorous dogs like Shane who seemed to be trying to set a
world record for the village and back route.
In truth we became best friends. Whatever her mood she
always seemed to cheer up when I arrived (with her liver treats) and I got to
love those slow walks with Harlie, chatting away to her and sharing the joys
and sorrows of my own life as we meandered from sniff stop to pee stop to liver
treat stop. Although she looked a bit strange with her sunken eyes and head
muscles I began to realise that despite her appearance and her “moods” she was
beautiful-well she was to me and her other human friends at Shak and God help
anyone who thought otherwise.
After many months of remission her illness came back a few weeks ago making it difficult for her
to eat although she remained in good form an indication of this girls
remarkable spirit.
Inevitably the phone call I had been dreading came and it
was time for her to be set free.
But the thing is this is not just a sad story –she was loved,
she had a good and kind death and two of the people who really loved her were
with her talking calmly to her and stroking her gently as she slipped away.
I for one will not forget Harlie. I will remember her with
love, affection, admiration for her wonderful spirit and with many smiles as I
recall our rambles together.
Of course I wish she had had a better life without her
illness and the behavioural problems that came with it. Of course I wish she
had had loving owners to care for her and of course I wish I had had spent more
time with her. But that wasn’t to be or at least not this time around so I can
only hope she is somewhere better now with an endless supply of liver treats.
Geoff.
Anyone who has had to make the decision to let an animal go,
knows how difficult it is to make. As a
rescue dog with numerous costly medical problems, in April 2008 I made the
decision to let my gorgeous terrier cross Jodie go at the age of 15 years and 3
months. She’d been a huge, huge part of
my life and had even saved my life on two occasions. I owed her everything. I know I said good-bye on that day for the
right reasons however and at the right time for her. It would never have been the right time for
me.
Steve has had to make the decision this week to let Harlie
go and I wanted to explain why she was such a special dog in my life too.
After Jodie died I wanted to do something in her
memory. Planting a tree or buying a
bench seemed the thing to do but wasn’t quite right. Then one day, I spotted an article in the
local paper that told the story of a 16 month old Rottweiler called Harlie. Following diagnosis of Masticatory Muscle
Myositis, Harlie needed an eye operation.
The article asked “can you help?”
This was the right thing to do.
Send some money to help to ease the suffering of another dog in the name
of my beautiful girl.
Steve sent me photos of Harlie after the operation. For me, Jodie’s memory lived on in a dog I
would probably never know. Or so I
thought.
After returning to the UK in 2010 following a spell of travelling,
I had some time on my hands and wanted to do something worthwhile. I did an internet search for SHAK, discovered
it was still going strong and dropped Steve an email. He rang and invited me to try a day
volunteering at the kennels.
It was an exhausting and exhilarating first day, kicking a
ball around with Doyle and meeting beautiful Harlie. I’ve been volunteering ever since in one
capacity or another, but my favourite role is hands on with the dogs. It’s an emotional rollercoaster working with
these animals – illnesses and deaths, recovery and joy. It’s the best job in the world! It doesn’t pay the mortgage, but it pays a
lot of licks and love.
Jodie lived on in Harlie and over time, she let me into her
life. Due to her condition, she could sometimes
suffer pain. This made her a little
unpredictable. However, everyone working
at SHAK was shown how to handle Harlie so she and the staff were safe and
comfortably. She allowed me to feed,
walk and even stroke her and in recent months she invited me in to rub her
tummy. She had the tiniest docked tail
that would wag wildly whenever Geoff, another volunteer came into the
kennels. You knew Geoff was about when
Harlie’s face lit up. She also had a bit
of a thing for Vicki, occasionally giving her a cuddle with paws up on Vicki’s
shoulders. Bit of a scary situation with
an unpredictable Rottweiler. But she
loved her dad Steve big style and would ignore the rest of us whenever he was
around. She’d been lucky enough to spend
a year living in Gregg’s home and thought the world of him too.
Harlie, seen standing on top of the kennel in run three,
sporting her red diamonte-studded collar was well-known and well-loved at SHAK. She competed with Bobby for the slowest
walker in kennels as she had to sniff every blade of grass en route. You had to walk at Harlie’s pace!
Thank you Jodie for everything you gave me and thank you
Harlie for introducing me to a world I love so much. Be happy beautiful girl!
Jill
