“Hi Janetta, would it be possible for us to have a chat on the phone please?”
When I read Sandy’s message I lowered my eyes and knew.
Sandy has never asked this before. Since I adopted Susie-Belle in 2011 we’ve been in regular, occasional contact and met in person a few times at walks. But when I moved to France the chances to meet up became rare. We’ve never spoken on the phone.
Our connection is through Susie-Belle. It’s a strong one, bound with strong emotions and many memories. Sandy’s dog Patti was Susie-Belle’s foster sister in the summer of 2011. They were in rescue at the same time, traumatised and harmed by their experiences as breeding dogs. It’s not known whether they were taken from the same puppy farm, but they both had cataracts and went through surgery together. Then weeks of recovery with Janet, their foster mum. It was with Janet that they learned what it is to be safe, cherished and loved.
Patti left Janet and went off with Sandy and Kevin to begin her new life in the New Forest a couple of weeks before Susie-Belle came home with us. To continue the work started with Janet and her resident dogs, Susie-Belle had Renae to teach her everything she needed to know about living a normal, regular life. It was Renae who Susie-Belle leaned on for comfort in her early months with us. Renae taught Susie-Belle how to enjoy her life as a family member, a dog who could be herself, and loved for that, not someone’s commodity.
It was Evie, Sandy and Kevin’s other miniature schnauzer who took this role for Patti. They quickly became close sisters. Without Evie and Renae the adjustment to life outside the breeding industry would have been tougher for Susie-Belle and Patti.
The summer after Susie-Belle died, I was at an event at the rescue centre. I knew it would be an emotional time, seeing people who had known Susie-Belle in her early weeks out of the puppy farm when she was very unwell and frail. While Susie-Belle flourished with us, only having four short years of health and happiness felt unjust.
That year was a hard one. Not only was I grappling with the long grief of losing Susie-Belle, my dad had died in the Spring. After giving myself a talking to ahead of the event, I was determined my inner upset would not show publicly. I was doing ok, or so I thought, and then I saw Patti. Beautiful, beautiful Patti held in Sandy’s arms, coming to say hello. Patti’s liquid brown eyes so full of trust and love reached deep into me, past my defenses and out my sadness tumbled. All the love that Susie-Belle and Patti had shared, the bad things from their lives before, how that was all firmly behind them, pushed away by the love they experienced once rescued. It all came together in a flood of sadness. With the reality that Susie-Belle was no longer with me.
It was to happen again. Each time I saw Patti, as the years passed but the feelings stayed strong, my emotional response rushed in. It always took me aback but I came to accept that it was nothing to worry about. I learned to stop thinking, and embraced and honoured the emotions instead. The love which Susie-Belle and Patti shared in foster undoubtedly helped shape them for the rest of their lives. Adopting the foster sisters triggered a change in all our lives. This was to become a major force in mine. Of course I would feel emotional.
For 13 wonderful years with Sandy and Kevin, Patti was put before everything. She was loved as much as it was possible to be loved. Sadly, Sandy’s phone call was to tell me that Patti had died. The call drew to a close this chapter in Susie-Belle’s life. But it is something that I will forever be grateful to have been a part of.
As soon as I saw Patti’s photo on the rescue website, I fell in love with her beautiful face and she stood out to me from all the other schnauzers. On the day we brought her home she was a very timid, nervous little dog and although she had been safe and loved in the rescue with Janet, it was obvious that it would take her time to adjust to family life with us. We gave her the space she needed and pretty soon she decided she was going to be my dog. She learned the routine and how to be a family dog from Evie and in time her character and her personality began to shine. She never lost all of her anxiety, but she adjusted over time and we know she enjoyed her time with us. Sadly we lost Evie in July but Patti coped well with being an only dog in the final months of her life. She was resilient and never ceased to amaze us, reaching 17 years of age. We will never forget what a special little dog she was, and we will always treasure the memories and the time we had with both her and Evie.
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