FOR THE LOVE OF TILLY.....Cont'd


According to expert advice – nothing in life is simply black or white, there are areas of grey. Said areas of grey can come in the form of a huge crevasse in which one can throw themselves physically and mentally into when everything they believe in comes into doubt and turmoil by hitting an area of fabled grey.

Isn’t it appropriate then that Weimaraners only come in, supposedly, one colour – Grey!

Its coming up to a year since we re-homed Tilly and I think you will remember my excited description of her arrival as well as describing her appearance as a delicate “Twiggy” like dog. If only I knew that “Twiggy” bore more than a passing resemblemance to Beelzebub with the tendencies of Hannibal Lector I would of tempered my enthusiasm a bit more.

She has taken Hector, Colin, my mum, my friends my vets and various “experts” to the limits. The worst resulting in both Colin and I (and nearly my vet) being in tears as both her and Hector were admitted for repairs after Hector dropped from his first epileptic fit and Tilly tried to take him out. I don’t mean have a dig at him, I mean a full detach the jugular from the body for main course and lets see if I can get the eyeballs at the same time type of decapitation job whilst he was out of it. The best being her no longer viewing the back of my van as an enclosed area of threat and jumping into it happily in anticipation of her exercise. Both reactions opposite ends of extreme, but the word extreme was made with dogs like Tilly in mind.

She has made me question my beliefs, capability and above all, my commitment. At times this little girl has put me to shame with her trust that, together, we could bring her out of whatever dark place she was in and can still slip into occasionally. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy as she is not my first Weimaraner and not even my first rescue and I always said that however long they were in unsuitable circumstances you can at least double that before you even start to put right the wrong caused to them. Even then I was being optimistic as I know realize there is no specific time to apply the salve of healing

Please, don’t get me wrong, even though a steep learning curve, Tilly has been one of the best things I have ever done. The other three have been having Jazz, Beau and Hector - Oh and after a thump from the husband reading this over my shoulder – marrying him! Of course Hector deserves what ever he desires in his doggy dreams as through out all this he has had to overcome with his own problems, he is still there like a shot if he ever so much as thinks his Tilly is under threat and Tilly relies on his support when in doubt.

To show you to what extent Hector takes his duties seriously when it comes to rehabilitating Tilly he killed a “Henry” Hoover! I was walking with my two nephews and four Weims (summer holidays and recent terrorist threats – long story) over the headlands. Hector was doing protector and leader very seriously and was slightly ahead of me, but not out of our safety zone. Come our approach to the model airplane runway Tilly took fright at the open back of a white van. Hector immediately reacted and went to her aid. This resulted in loads of growls and one poor man headbutting the ceiling of his van. Hector had looked in the back of the van as to what was threatening Tiilly and seen a Henry Hoover. Ever seen one of those Henry Hoovers?

They are small and round and brightly coloured with a bowler type hat painted on top of a smiling face. Hector through it was real and killed it much to the fright of the poor bloke sitting in the front trying to eat his sandwiches in peace. Either the bloke had a great sense of humor or was too frightened to say anything as Hector pissed up his hoover as a parting shot. Mind you, his van was now surrounded by all of us two and four footed and we might have just resembled something out of Deliverance!

Hector does this after Tilly has put him in the vets twice for serious injuries and still continues to temper his responses to her with patience and understanding. Now what does that say for this wonderful dog and the lesson he can give to us humans?

She, in herself, has rewarded us with laughter in two different ways. The first way by reducing us to hysterical laughter. She is outside in the sun when all of a sudden she comes flying into the sitting room as if the Devil himself is after her. Colin, Hector and I are trying to not only catch her, but the furniture she is knocking about in the process. It takes a rugby tackle to bring her down and still we cannot see what the cause of this performance is, is until a strange smell makes us turn our heads to the relevant end. Grassy poos – need I say more?! A grassy poo has frightened out “Dills” and needs removing…eurgh…but worth the laughter it brought into our home. The second way was the laughter of happiness when she tried to tell “Daddy” that she had a thorn in her paw and knew he would make it better. That type of laughter you cannot buy, the laughter born of trust.

She adores Hector, “Daddy” and my mum but can find me threatening. She has no reason for this and I found it hard to accept at first, but had to realize all this was not about me, but about Tilly. I simply have had to take a back seat in her affections until she realises I give love as well as confidence born of being safe under my “command”. She now thinks before she reacts. Colin likes to say that she is more like me than I realize as I use the powers of my mouth before my brain at times! She was not born aggressive but used aggression as a tool as taught. She just has to learn and has done, that there are different and better options.

For me personally the worst time was being in hospital being stitched. The best was her achieving  KC Bronze obedience standard something I have never done with the three before her. Like the credit card advert says – priceless and it was until she broke that in vet’s fees as well….

As you will be well aware by now I am given to waffle and could keep you up all night till dawn about this remarkable little dog. Could we not all do the same about all our treasured and unique grey ones?

What I want to say is the next time someone quotes the areas of grey to you, do not be down hearted as the one thing Tilly has taught me is that sometimes you can start at the area of white and hit the depths of the black before you discover the grey. It’s neither a bad colour nor a bad place to be, especially if you are doing it for love and I am still...