The Little Bear Dog Blog

I lost a very dear friend yesterday. She taught me to ride as a nervous adult some ten years ago and in so doing, she taught me that I’m sometimes better than I often think I am. She taught me that love and gentleness are far more powerful than force.  She taught me about patience and perseverance. She taught me that life is sometimes best lived just for the sheer hell of it. She taught me to be joyful. In her passing, she taught me that I have more courage than I ever thought I possessed.

Some of the happiest moments of my life so far have been spent perched upon her broad back.  My darling Apache, a Rubenesque, tri-coloured Welsh Cob, slipped away yesterday in the Spring sunshine while I and her devoted owners whispered our love in her chocolate-brown ears and tried to keep the agony from our voices. I’ve seen her fall a thousand times since and my heart is breaking.

Another lesson was waiting for me at home. Little Bear and Annie, usually exuberant in their greetings were off the scale frantic. As I sobbed, Annie tried to super-glue herself to my lap, snuffling my hair and hurriedly licking my face and ears – something she never does. Little Bear ran around trying to find the right teddy to bring me, stopping to lick my cheek here and there while barking like a lunatic. Every sniffle since has brought a cold wet nose to my hand.

You can write it off as anthropomorphism, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the animals we’re closest to recognise human pain and do what they can to comfort us.  Apache once did the very same thing many years ago. Seeing me cry in her stable over my disintegrating long-term relationship, she walked slowly towards me, put her great head over my shoulder and gently held me there while I hugged her neck and sobbed into her mane. When I was cried out, she snorted the remains of her garlic laced dinner into my hair and then nose-butted me in the bum as if to say “Right then Lady, time to get on with it.”

Following the tragic deaths of Lance Corporal Liam Tasker and his devoted dog Theo,  there’s been much speculation  about whether animals can indeed die of broken hearts. To me it seems to be a moot point, maybe what we should be celebrating is their frequent and often overlooked ability to help heal the broken-hearted.