A month ago on returning from a trip to Jo'burg we found my poor William had passed away. It seems that it had only happened in the last few hours before we arrived home, as Lindo, our gardener said to Johan the following morning that he was still fine late afternoon when he stopped work for the day.
I cried all night long as guilt at leaving him for two days ate away at my conscience. He had been blind for a number of years and it worried me that moving him down would cause him stress, even though his first home was back here.
I remember Johan surprizing me with him one day....it was totally unexpected and just more than a month after my birthday in 2004. I have always loved cocker spaniels, they are my favourite breed of dog and with the children being older and knowing the right way to handle dogs, Johan felt that the time was right to spoil me with a puppy. He was a pedigree and had been born at the beginning of May but for obvious reasons had to stay with his mum and siblings until he was weaned.
At the time Johan was driving back and forth to Pretoria and William was the first of our dogs that I allowed to lie in our room next to our bed....even at times letting him climb on the bed!!!!!!
Some months later, at the end of February 2015, William traveled up in the back of the bakkie together with Neo and Trinity, our two Great Danes as we journeyed towards our new home. I was following behind the entire journey and I remember that for most of the trip the rain was pouring down around us and the wind was blowing fiercely making it difficult to drive. At one point in the dark of the night, I saw something flying from the bakkie and my imagination thought it was William flying out through the open window, ears flapping in the strong winds. In shock I grabbed my cell phone and dialled Johan's number. Between sobs of a certainty that William was gone forever I told Johan what I had seen. He pulled over to the shoulder of the highway and in the pouring rain dashed out and had a look in the back of his bakkie. I had pulled in behind him and waited with baited breath. Still in the pouring rain with the cold wind beating around him, he ran to my car and as I cracked the window just enough to keep the rain out but open enoufh to hear Johan speak, he assured me that William was still in the back with his two mates and companions. I know I saw something blowing from the bakkie and after checking what was strapped on the roofracks, realized that it must have been a piece of cardboard packed between things that with continuous flapping eventually ripped off and blew away. To say I was relieved was an understatement and over the years the story has been regaled with much mirth by my family.
For many years William had a whale of a time on the plot....chasing the wild rabbits and buck through the long grasses. I can still see him running and bouncing up in the air with his ears flapping out at the side of his head. He was never quick enough and was always outrun by his 'prey', but he never gave up the chase.
In the last 3, maybe 4 years, he lost his sight and for his own safety we erected a fence around the back portion of the house so that he was enclosed and wouldn't wander off losing his bearings. He spent most of his time sleeping in his bed in the kitchen before we moved back down here. He learned a route from his bed, along the edge of the kitchen cupboards and out of the back door. With time he walked less and stayed close to the back but he had a love for us all that he never lost. His food bowl was always in the same place close to his bed and he knew exactly where the water bucket was situated on the back verandah. Once we decided to move back we talked many times about whether we should bring him with us or whether we should put him down. Being blind he would have to learn his surroundings again but neither Johan nor I had the heart to take him to the vet. He was my baby and I just couldn't do it. In the first week here after following me around the house from the back to the front, he frll into the swimming pool. Thank goodness he has always been a good swimmer and as he swam around trying to find a place to climb out, we reached in and pulled him out. He didn't seem any the worse for wear but after that incident, we closed up the back verandah on the pool side so he couldn't get close again. He needed to be reassured we were close by though, to hear our voices and movement on the verandah and the kitchen otherwise he started to stress. This is why I felt so bad when we arrived home after two days away to find he had passed away. Although Lindo was here, William I am sure knew we were gone and that was just too much for him.
My boy held a very special place in my heart. I will not forget him for a long time. I hope he was as happy with me as a parent as he made me as a parent. Love for a pet is a special kind of love....an unconditional love...RIP William.
