My Munchkin Macy

I know everyone writing about their pet is going to say how much they love them and I am no different. I love my Shihtzu Macy so much and she is the light and joy in my life without a doubt.

Until a couple of years ago Macy was part of a duo as I had another dog named Raffles who was a black and white Shihtzu cross Maltese. Raffles was tiny, while Macy is a bruiser at eight and a bit kilos. Sadly, I had to put Raffles to sleep, aged fifteen and half in February 2018 as she was constantly getting sick. She was blind and had Pneumonia which prevented me from being able to walk her, which in turn made her muscles seize up and she couldn't walk. I hated to see her suffer and after treating her for eight months my vet finally said to me, " Jackie it's time."

I wasn't ready to let her go and I didn't want to put her to sleep in a cold, clinical vet consultation room so I brought her home, hoping to get through one last night with her. She was wheezing and crying in my spare bedroom so I wrapped her in my jumper to keep her warm and we went out into the garden and I lay with her on the earth.

I wanted her to feel the earth beneath her and for her to know she was safe and that she was going to a better place where there was no pain and suffering anymore.I had tried to give her the best life I could and I wanted her to know that.

I held her close and she seemed calm and able to breathe in the coolish night air. February in Sydney is still summer and it's hot but thankfully the night was fairly cool for her and not the usual heat. She sniffed the air and I knew she was thankful we were able to do this before I had to let her go.

I would never be ready to let her go. My two dogs were my life and no matter how much you know it's the right thing to do it is heartbreaking to have to say goodbye.

My gorgeous vet had told me when I picked her up from the clinic that evening if she wasn't ok he would come to my home to euthanize her. He told me he would call me at 10.30pm to check in. He called me at 11pm and I told him I didn't want her to suffer through the night. He arrived at my home at 11.30pm dressed in shorts and his thongs (flip flops) and Raff slipped away peacefully in her bed and in my arms late that night.

Macy unsure of what was happening was tearing around the apartment like a mad thing, maybe unable to cope with the fact that her companion who had always been there with her was now gone.

My vet lovingly wrapped Raffles in a blanket and took her away with him and it was now just Macy and I alone together, bereft without our beloved Raffles.

The next day I sobbed so hard as though my soul had been ripped out. Macy too was deeply sad and it took us both a long time to get over the death of our beautiful Raffles.

For the last two years, since Raff crossed the doggy rainbow bridge, it’s just been Macy and I and we both miss little Raff so much.

At first it was difficult to leave Macy on her own at home alone if I had to go out socially or go to work at my office. I felt so guilty and it was a huge adjustment for her. Given Raff was blind, Macy had became her protector. She would warn Raff what she believed to be a threat or danger, mainly other dogs, by barking at her. So with Raff gone, Macy no longer understood what her role was.

It took a while for us both to adjust to life without Raffles and Macy took some time to learn that she could relax around other dogs and after awhile started to make friends with other dogs in the neighbourhood and the local dog park.

So how did Macy come into my life? I was living with my ex partner of twenty years and we had three dogs together. A Shihtzu cross Poodle, a full Shihtzu and the baby of the group was Raffles.

After a horrendous couple of years with three of my extended family members dying in quick succession, sadly we had to put our Shihtzu to sleep. She was fifteen and was suffering from kidney disease. I was taking her for regular acupuncture to make her life as comfortable as possible but kidney disease moves fast. Two months later the Shihtzu Poodle had a seizure and passed away too after a few days at the vet. He and the Shihtzu were constant companions and he didn’t want to be without her. He was sixteen years old.

My ex and I had lived in London for three years and we had taken both those dogs with us to live in the UK and they had spent six months in quarantine in Somerset and a month in quarantine back here in Sydney when we returned home. They had been through a lot together.

When we returned to Sydney we also got Raffles and then had a brood of three dogs. When the two older dogs died Raffles was still only eight years old so we got Macy to keep her company. She was an incredibly cute puppy.

Raff was quite contained on her own but my ex and I were used to having three dogs. She didn’t really take to Macy straight away but after some time they soon became friends and would wrestle and play, which gave me a lot of joy.

After years of struggling to make our relationship work and four years of couples counselling, I decided I couldn’t be in my relationship anymore and I ended it.

It was a huge transition leaving a twenty year relationship, selling our house, moving into a small apartment and starting a new life on my own. Raffles and Macy were a huge part of getting through those very tough times.

For the first eighteen months of my split with my ex we shared custody of Raffles and Macy. I would have them during the week and my ex on the weekends. They always came back unsettled and it took me days to settle them down again only to have it happen again after the weekend with my ex.

I put it out to the universe to be able to have the dogs full time. The shared custody of the two dogs kept me tied to my ex and I wanted to break free of her completely. Even though on the surface we had an amicable split there was a lot of toxic stuff going on underneath.

By some miracle my ex sent me an email two weeks later saying she thought it would be better for the dogs if I had them full time as she didn’t think it was good for them going between two homes. The truth was she had started dating a cat woman who didn’t like dogs. She wasn’t a very good liar and I knew what was really going on.

I felt relieved as I could slowly extricate myself from her life and begin to fully move on with my own and have my babies all to myself. Jen, my ex still looked after them occasionally when I went away overseas or on weekends away but I hated leaving them with her. Slowly, she moved into a new relationship, she stopped minding the dogs and I was able to free her from my life.

My dogs meant everything to me. They helped me through all that and gave me something positive to focus on. It was not an easy time and Raff and Macy were instrumental in that period of my life.

I’ve been single now for seven years and Raff is gone so it’s just Macy and I now and most of the rough times have passed. I have had so much change over the past seven years since leaving my ex and Raff and Macy gave me so much unconditional love through it all. Couldn’t have got through it without them.

A year after Raff died I realised Macy was lonely and needed other dog company so I started to explore doggy day care options. I live in an apartment, was struggling financially and didn’t think it was a good idea to get a second dog. Doggy day care seemed like a good solution.

The same day I was researching doggy day care centres online, I took Macy to our local off leash dog park we regularly visit. There was a woman there I recognised who lived in my neighbourhood and we started chatting. She had five dogs with her and she told me she ran a pet sitting service.

She was going away on holidays to Italy in a few months and was worried about who would look after a seven year old Chihuhua named Gigi while she was in Italy for a month. Gigi came to doggy day care five days a week and her owner was deaf and so Ruth, the pet sitter wanted to make sure Gigi was well taken care of while she was away.

Like a light bulb going on, an opportunity opened up and I offered to look after Gigi. I could only afford to send Macy to doggy day care one day a week. Looking after Gigi, Macy would have company five days a week for a month.

The idea of starting my own pet sitting service a few days a week was born as I wouldn't have the full time responsibility of a second dog but Macy would have regular company.

I work locally and also work at a pet friendly office and go back and forth from the office to home regularly so Macy always has me around. Macy is not short of human company, just dog company. Pet sitting would solve that issue and make me happy knowing she would have doggy company again.

Before Covid 19 I was getting regular pet sitting gigs but that obviously dried up as everyone is working from home and no longer needed their pets minded.

One of my regular sitting client's is an eighteen month Cavoodle called Lettie. Macy and Lettie have become good friends. During Covid 19 I have been working full time at home and Lettie comes over two days a week (when I'm not doing client sessions online) for doggy play dates and Macy loves it.

She and Lettie run around the apartment and play and wrestle like she used to do with Raff. Macy is nine and Lettie is only a puppy so Macy runs out of steam way before Lettie does but that's ok.

As I sit at my computer and they wrestle around my office chair I smile and laugh constantly. Watching them play brings me so much joy.

Phillip who owns Lettie, his wife is stuck in Manila looking after her elderly Mother and can't return to Australia due to Corona Virus and they have a teenage son who lives here with Phillip. He's lonely trying to raise his son on his own and being separated from his wife through these trying times.

Phillip gets excited when he drops Lettie over for hers and Macy's play dates so by looking after Lettie I'm doing a good thing on many fronts. All around the doggy friendship makes two dogs happy and both us owners happy too.

Phillip always bring me small gifts like gourmet olives or caramelised BBQ onion relish as a thank you for making his dog happy. He and I have become good friends and he is elderly and has dementia so helping him with his dog is such a pleasure.

I can't put into words the joy Macy brings me and the guilt has eased now that she has a regular play mate. I know Macy wouldn't want Lettie here full time because of the age and energy differences. She also doesn't like to share me too much. She won't let Lettie sleep on the bed with me when Lettie stays the night, that's strictly her domain. Macy's place is tucked into my butt or sleeping on my legs and I have no room to move in my queen size bed.

Macy rules the roost and dominates my life as it should be.

I'll be going back to work from my office from the 1st July but I will make sure Lettie still comes over for play dates on my days off as it's been good for all parties concerned their regular romps.

Macy and I have just completed the RSPCA's Million Paws walk (which is an annual event usually held one day in May and is their biggest fund raiser) but this year due to Covid 19 we walked every day in May instead rain, hail or shine to raise money for abused, neglected and abandoned animals. She's such a good girl helping to prevent animal cruelty.

So how do you put into words the love you have for your pet or what they mean to you, it's hard to express but I know I couldn't live my life without my munchkin Macy and all her shenanigans and the adventures we share together. She makes my life all the richer and happier. I love you Macy so very much and I hope you know what you mean to me.