Celebrating Bertie: Bill’s story

Sooner or later, every sitter (if they are in it for long enough) will experience losing a favourite animal. It’s really isn’t any different, or any easier, than losing a person we’re close to. 

My last sit, a repeat sit, was in Warsash on the South Coast, looking after a lovely cat called Jimmy and a lively Jack Russell named Bertie. I have always enjoyed spending time with these two, and Bertie, although getting on a bit, was still in good shape. Or, so it seemed...

Just two days after leaving the sit, I received a phone call from the owners, Barbara and Mike, telling me that the day they returned Bertie had suffered a massive fit during the night, and despite the vet’s best efforts could not be saved. I’m still in shock from the news; he seemed so well, and I haven’t stopped asking myself since: Was there something I missed? But the answer that keeps coming back is that, no, there was absolutely no indication of a problem. 

That doesn’t make what happened any easier, of course; grief is a difficult thing to make sense of. But what we can do is celebrate the life of this great and plucky little dog, that no doubt touched many other sitter’s hearts, just as he did mine.

This is Bertie’s story…

It started on a train, with the countryside rushing by and me with my Covid-safe face covering on. As John Lennon once said, 'Strange days indeed… most peculiar mama!'. A smile spreads across my face, as do the laughter lines where the memories of more than 70 sits are now etched, adding to so many adventures over a lifetime of travel.

Today, I am going down to the South Coast for a second sit with Bertie, a little Jack Russell with a BIG personality and I am so looking forward to making more memories with him. Last year we spent hours walking by the Solent estuary and along the foreshore of the Hamble River. He is a great ball chaser and swimmer, but his owners tell me he has slowed down a bit since then. ‘Well, haven't we all?’ I think to myself! 

This time we’ll walk down through Holly Wood, where Bertie is dwarfed by giant oak trees. I will be dwarfed there too, but there's nothing like walking in nature to get perspective on how small we are in the scheme of things, especially in these troubled times. Will he remember me? I hope so, but I'm not really sure how long a dog holds us in its memory. 

That said, he did! And yes, he looks a bit greyer, but then so do I. And yes, he still snores and wheezes like an old bike pump but all that does is make me chuckle throughout the first night. Of course, the week goes by far too quickly but Bertie and I revisited all those special places, plus a few more. He had slowed down but not so you would notice… eyes a little milky, but still interested in life and a ball! All too quickly I was spinning off on to my next sit pushing away the probability that I would not see Bertie again; its a thought I have pushed away many times now and while there have been some special dogs, none come close to how I feel about this little chap.

And then it comes… the phone call that was always coming, but for which I was never fully prepared. I hear from Barbara and Mike that little Bertie had suffered a seizure, and the vet was unable to save him. I could not get my head around it; only two days prior he had been walking on the beach at Titchfield, and the day before that eye-balling squirrels in Holly Wood. 

It's a few weeks now since I received the news, and it’s been hard. Lots of tears. I have stayed in touch with the owners and put some nice photos of Bertie in the post for them which cover his last few days; they were thankful for that. Putting this story together is hopefully a way to move on, but most importantly I write this because I wanted to celebrate Bertie and his life. He gave much more to me than I gave to him and for that I am happy and forever grateful. 

I am sure there are other sitters out there who have had similar experiences. For me, the sadness tells me that I connected in a very real way with that little dog and as we go to each new sit, that's what we should all aim to do. We make memories and form bonds that cannot be broken. Life is fragile, but in the company of animals, we are at the centre of life...

Bertie’s owners, Barbara and Mike, got in touch following Bill’s touching memoir:

‘We’re devastated at losing Bertie. He was such a happy, brave, and fun Jack Russell who didn’t have the best start in life… the void is just awful. But a thank you to Bill… he is an absolutely fantastic sitter who we will definitely stay in touch with. Just on a lighter note, we’re so pleased we joined TrustedHousesitters as we’ve met the most delightful, caring people, who’ve now become lifelong friends, so thank you.’

For help and support in dealing with the loss of a pet, please read our recent blog post on coping with pet loss.