Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: had a horrible christmas !  (Read 12126 times)

rustyme

  • Guest
had a horrible christmas !
« on: December 26, 2007, 11:58:55 pm »
the title of this post is'nt wrong , it is how my christmas has gone. Today I had to bury my lovely English Springer Spaniel Ghillie. She died last night at 9.25. She had been ill for some time and this is one christmas I would like to forget , but I Know I never will be able to . I still have 4 other dogs  ,but they are all my family and the loss of one cannot be made up by the others. We will all miss her  terribly . I do hope everyone had a really great time and I am sorry to bring things down , but thought I better say what has happened , just incase any of my posts seem a bit gloomy .
 
Russ (Millie , Steve , Arnie , Al and Ghillie)

Hilarysmum

  • Joined Oct 2007
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2007, 01:54:21 pm »
Rusty Me, I can say all the usual things said at these times, sadly they wont help.  Time really will ease the awful pain you are feeling at present.  Ghillie is at peace, out of pain, there is something to hold on to.  Pain dies, love never dies, in time to come you will have wonderful and hopefully pain free memories.  We lost our beloved old collie 4 years ago 23rd December, it takes a long time to be able to l ook back without the tears, it does happen, be kind to yourself.  HM

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2007, 04:03:53 pm »
Many thanks HM , I know exactly what you mean and the kind words are very gratefully received.
 At time like this the world seems a very cruel place , without any feeling , but as you say time does heal ,and there are the other dogs ,all lovely , to look after . I am sorry for your loss too , anytime, to lose a friend, is the wrong time ,but at christmas it just seems so cruel . Still time to feed the others , little monkees.....Thanks again for the kind words.  Russ.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2007, 05:34:05 pm »
Hi, Russ

Sorry to hear about Ghillie. There isn't anything I can say except that I've been there too and my thoughts are with you.

Dogs and cats just don't live long enough, do they? It took me ages to get over the death of our first cat, even though he was old and sick, but that was mostly because he had such a horrible life before he came to us. Ghillie had a great life with a great pack - so don't beat yourself up and you'll soon be able to remember the good times.

Rosemary

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2007, 07:06:13 pm »
Hello Rosemary,
                  thanks for the kind words , they do help . We all know when we get dogs or cats , that this will happen at some time , but when it does, knowing it doesn't help at all . It still rips your heart out.  The sudden shock is like being hit with a sledge hammer. But , life kicks in and there are other dogs to feed , horses to feed and a hundred other jobs to do . So in reality ,most of the time I am getting on with life ,but then BANG ...the sledge hammer hits again and back to tears and lots of tissue .....playing with the boys Al ,Arnie and Steve (Ghillies sons) and Millie (Ghillies partner in crime) makes life bearable , and things like the farmer dropping a very heavy large round bail of haylage , right in front of the gate to the land . Try as I may I can not push  it out of the way to get the 4x4 past, I can't use the 4x4 to pull it with a chain as it just pulls it more into the way. So will have to just use some of it and then when it gets lighter , put the poor old back up against it and try pushing again....Oh the fun of being a smallholder lol. I have now ordered a hand winch off of ebay now . It is a 4 ton one for ten quid, so although it won't help this time , it will be handy for next . Bugger ...sledge hammer time again ....and the dogs want a walk.  Russ

Tony J

  • Joined Dec 2007
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2007, 10:14:34 am »
I know how you feel always a sad time when you loose one of the family, thats why I always insist we have a young dog with the older ones, it keeps the older ones young, and helps when you loose a friend. Keep busy & love the others.

Townie

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Fife
    • http://www.townie.wordpress.com
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2007, 11:45:04 pm »
Hi Rustyme...

So sorry to hear about Ghillie my heart goes out to you.  Take care

Townie

jan

  • Joined Oct 2007
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2008, 04:15:01 pm »
Hiya Russ, so sorry but I have only just come across this thread. I am dreadfully sorry to hear about Ghillie, was it old age? We lost two of our dogs within four weeks of each other in Sept-Oct and as a behaviourist I do come across this very sad time quite a lot. I have just applied to become a 'bereavement befriender' to people who have lost their dogs where I would have to do a six month course but hopefully can help people through their grief in the end.  I have to say dogs are my life (apart from immediate family of course), I work with them, read about them, do courses on behaviour, and live with three little Jack Russell Terrorists.....honest they are!!  I hope time helps you feel a little better Russ, be gentle on yourself, Janx

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #8 on: January 03, 2008, 06:54:39 pm »
Hello Jan,
           lovely ole Ghillie was only 9 , so not old at all really. I am sure it was poison , I think she must have picked up some dead animal around somewhere. I do watch out for the dogs doing that , and stop them if they get something , but they do still find stuff and hide in the bushes till it is all gone ....mostly everything is fine , but this time not so... Although I have 4 other dogs , I miss Ghillie terribly , she was with me all day ....I still keep looking for her or calling her now. That is very painfull , that moment when you realise what you are doing ...and that she isn't going to be there.  But after a couple of very sad moments when Millie (my Weimaraner and her closest friend)   was looking for her ,I am starting to feel a bit normal again . Going over to her resting place and just telling her about what we are all doing helps a lot too. Below is a link to a video of Ghillie only about 5 weeks ago.Take no notice of the commentry , it is just to show someone how I was getting on with putting up a shed they bought me for my 50th birthday. Lots of other pics of the land on there to .Anyway like all horrible things such as losing muched loved pets , you do carry on ,and time does really heal .

Many thanks to all for your kind words and thoughts. I am so glad I have some video clips of Ghillie to help with the hard moments.....just need lots of tissues to hand before I watch them ..
 Cheers Russ....

stephen

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Kent
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2008, 08:46:26 am »
hi, so sorry to hear about your dog, theres nothing i or anyone else can say that will make it better / easier, but it will get easier with time


pigsatlesrues

  • Joined Oct 2008
  • Normandy, France
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2008, 09:27:08 am »
What lovely dogs you have and a lovely way to remember Ghillie. We have five dogs now, and lost out black Lab a few months ago. We rehomed him aged 16 years old - he was left behind by his English family when they returned to UK. We were blessed with Henry for about two and a half years and loved him so much. It broke me when he passed away and although we film our animals regularly I was horrified to find that Henry was in hardly any of the footage - he slept a lot at the end, so not out and about so much,  so not sure how we missed that.
I wont make that mistake again, so with him I just have to remember all those wonderful times we had with him and how blessed we were to have him come into out lives.
So sorry for you loss.

Kate
Bonjour et avoir un bon jour !

jan

  • Joined Oct 2007
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2008, 02:11:59 pm »
Nice video Russ and the girls look very happy on it. Wish my terrorists would keep still long enough for me to video...but thats terriers for you, always on the go ooooooo. Janx

brittanyalex

  • Joined Jan 2008
  • Brittany France
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2008, 07:01:23 pm »
I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, Russ.

After a week of not eating at all, and being on a drip at the vets without them really knowing what the problem was, my little grey cat, Gracie, was finally put to sleep today.  I started my hello introduction this morning saying I had seven cats and had to change it to six later. 

She was a lovely little cat, a really wild and feisty stray who took ages to settle down, but would finally sit with me and purr when I stroked her.   I feel so upset and although I'm getting on with my day, I can't seem to stop crying.  I'm just so glad I had her, even though it was for less than a year.  Two of my other cats are sitting with me all the time today as if they know that I need them to do just that.
Alex

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: had a horrible christmas !
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2008, 07:27:17 pm »
Hello Alex,
             thanks for the kind words, I am sorry to hear about your cat ,Gracie.....It really is very hard after losing a friend. I still talk to Ghillie everyday, tell her all about what we are doing and so on . Sounds mad I know but it helps . It is such a strange thing, how animals can get so ...into our lives and our hearts. Still I am glad I had Ghillie as a friend and that I have the others ,Al ,Arnie, Steve and Millie, to keep me company and we can all help each other through a horrid time .  Many people on here have suffered the same sort of loss and therefore know exactly how you feel Alex, as do I. Your other cats , I think , really do know that you are upset and need support . My dogs all knew things were wrong and acted very different to normal .Things are slowly getting back to normal now, it is just the times when I turn and call her name , god that starts things off again ......Still keep busy and love the others and it will get better soon.
 
cheers
 
 Russ

 

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