One year on from losing our beloved Snoopy! Where are we now?
It is a year to the day that we lost, very unexpectedly our beautiful Snoopy, he was quite literally here one day and gone two days later and to this day I am not sure that either myself or my husband have quite got our heads round it.
What was Snoopy like? Who was he?
Snoopy was 9 years old and up until this time as a beautiful, fit and active dog, always referred to as cute but who had a fiery character as befitted the Chihuahua type! He was a Chorkie – chihuahua cross Yorkshire terrier. Quite a feisty little character and most of the time had the attitude of a shrunk Rottweiler but once you got past the hard exterior, he was the most adorable and lovable little soul you could ever want to meet.
He was a massive part in our lives and wherever possible he came with us, no matter what we were doing, holidays in the Uk were almost always inclusive of him, dinners out were also at dog friendly pubs, we had membership at the Kennels, and he had a dog bowl big enough to have a bath in!
How we lived?
With the exception of holidays abroad he always came too. When they happened, he went to his home away from home in Lancing. We would travel there and within about 750 yards of Rowan’s house he would whine and be up at the car window. He knew where we were going, on arrival – she would open the front door and in he would run. He would stake his claim – lining the other dogs up and ensuring everyone knew he had arrived.
From Day 1 he and his mate Rocky ruled the roost, overseen by the most amazing lady Rowan and her wonderful family who cared for him as if he was their own, he ran with the whippets and greyhounds and no they didn’t chase him – he chased them!!!
He slept on Rowans bed, jumped on her lap at the first opportunity and if one of the boys happened to leave their bedroom door open, he would be in there too looking for tlc and some attention.
How have we moved on?
Honestly, it has been tough, we have both had a variety of remedies and for the first few months it was almost in a state of disbelief. We reeled from one emotion to another for several months, tearful and then relieved and then shall we get another dog to no, its not right. It was swings and roundabouts probably until about March/April.
We looked at other dog types, spoke to the vet, the amazing Francois at Countryside Vet, who was totally shocked by the news of Snoopys passing, we spoke to some different breeders and looked at numerous puppy adverts and rescue dogs.
There were pros and cons to it all and so many different factors to consider – we have young grandchildren and also an adorable grand dog who we also look after from time to time. Rescues were ruled out as we could not meet the criteria – we can’t reject our grandchildren for the sake of a rescue dog!!!
Puppies were then ruled out as we reluctantly had to realise that we are both over the age of 65 and putting it quite bluntly its like having another baby, not a lot of sleep for the first few months, bouncing puppies who need lots of time and energy and both David and I have our own health problems – David with his poor eyesight it would also be a huge liability and one we could not risk!
Bach Flower remedies and our thoughts?
We have both used the Bach flower remedies over the past year and had a selection of them all and I feel that we have both come to our final decision with the help of them.
Apart from the usual selection of grief remedies such as Star of Bethlehem for the shock, Gorse for the despair, Cherry plum for the loss of control of emotions, Holly for the anger and internal envy for everyone else who had their dogs with them, Elm for the overwhelm of loss and Impatiens for the frustrations of life, we also used Scleranthus when we were struggling to find our answers, we used Rock water when we went through the self-blame, Willow for the resentment as to the loss – and in searching for something we could look to blame – there was no one!
And of course, Rescue Remedy by the bucket load especially useful when it came to visiting places where we had always taken him – so every coffee shop, every walk, every restaurant where we went
Our final decision
No new dog for us! Sounds drastic but that’s the reality of it all. So, we joined Trusted Dog Sitters and will sit for people who need their beloved animals taking care of while they are away – we have a few friends whose dogs will also stay with us and that is where we will get our canine fix from.
There are huge advantages – no responsibility, no vets’ fees! No insurance fees! No additional worry and our time is our own except when we want to do otherwise. Trusted dog sitters allow us to travel around the UK looking after wonderful dogs and staying in lovely houses and enjoying the new areas in the UK.
We miss him dreadfully and will always miss him, but we are so thankful for all the joy he brought us. A day doesn’t go past when we don’t talk about him and the house is full of photos of him.
However, we are realistic – he passed away in the vets recovering from surgery to his tummy – the operation was huge and for a little dog the recovery would have been tricky. He would have had to spend many hours and days in a crate and kept quite – for those of you who knew Snoopy – this would have been tricky – if not impossible.
We have both come to realise that his recouperation would and could have been incredibly tricky and demanding and I am not so sure he would have recovered from it – it would have sacrificed his character. There are many times I think that he passed away at the right time for him knowing that he didn’t want to be caged for months and possibly inhibited afterwards.
This is a sad thought but a huge relief in many ways – we can remember him as the happy loving and beautiful little dog that he was almost until the day before he went to the vet and we hold in our hearts the joy of having had him.
As the late Queen said, “Grief is the price you pay for love” and it is so true. We had 9 and a half years of unconditional love for which we are so eternally grateful
