Being Sick is the pitts

When you are feeling sick, Josie and Caillee make the best companions to hang out with while you hang out at the sofa watching TV or resting in bed. I might sound a bit bias here but it’s ture.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

In Memory of Carrie Belair

You know what I truly miss about Carrie Belair… her straight shooting and “no word of a lie” style of talking. You always knew where you stood with her.

She could research like nobody’s business and her knowledge of the Bolognese was simply amazing.

She recognized the need for a Canadian Bolognese club and who “took that job by the horns”? Carrie of course.

In regards to the club, her doggie related legacy, we often joke how we worked so well together. She had the presence and spirit to move mountains and inspire others from every corner of the world. I followed behind her and tried to do all the paperwork. Oh, if you worked at all with Carrie, you would find humor in my last sentence. During Carrie’s ill spell, the club has been quite.

I had the privilege to meet her not only once but twice. She was gracious to help me cut costs by letting me stay at her home while I attending some technical training in Ottawa. I got to meet Carrie and her wonderful family: Rick, her husband; Sam, Joel, and Maxim, ser sons. I had a great time, learnt lots, and gained so much respect for Carrie.

During my second visit, I had come to complete the work started for the Pat Hastings’ seminar, the Puppy Puzzle. This is when we realized that we made a great team and the seminar was a great success.

I feel so blessed and luck to have meet her and to have meet her family as well.

Even when you know death is coming, it’s never easy. My heart goes out to Carrie’s family and I hope you can stay strong.


Carrie's Blog, her struggle and battle with cancer: Carrie's Bit

Carrie's doggie related legacy: Bolognese Club of Canada

Carrie's Obituary : Ottawa Citizen Obituary

We miss you and love you, rest in peace our dear friend....

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

The Blue Urn

Someone the other day asked me now that I have the ashes have I decided on what to do with them? A really good question and something I only thought about briefly. Originally I wanted to have a bit of a memorial and spread her ashes at a near by pond.

We walked by this pond occasionally and I had such fond memories of Hyacinth Bucket here. Many Canadian geese gather at his open area and it is a great place to practice distraction training. Hyacinth always wanted to chase them.

Right now is -32C with an expected high of -26C, with a wind chill warning across Manitoba. It is always a winter wonderland outside and the pond is most likely frozen over by now.

I think if I could have received her ashes before December, I still could have done this. A thin layer of snow wouldn’t have mattered. Right now, I don’t want to stand outside any longer than I have to.

Another part of me doesn’t want to do anything with her ashes until everything is resolved. Another part of me just wants to keep them.

I just sucks my fur baby is in this blue urn and not beside me.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - VI - Soul Searching

Everything about Hyacinth’s Saga has just been an emotional roller costar. Since receiving Hyacinth Bucket’s ashes, I have been trying to respond back to Norm. In doing that, I am been doing a lot of research. Some of which have taken me to roads not anticipated. I don't want to get into any details.

Besides researching, I have been trying to figure out what is the point. What is the point of all of this? I have finally put it into words: I want safty, compensation and closure. But what does that mean? It means so many different things to so many people so lately I am been doing a lot of soul searching and trying to figure out what that means to me.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part V - The other Havanese

I am saddened to say that my Hyacinth Bucket’s death wasn’t the first in Norm’s care; but I didn’t know. I regret I didn’t ask around about Norm. I am sure if I would have known, I wouldn’t have left Hyacinth in Norm’s care. C, another Havanese breeder, encouraged me to use Norm to have him show Hyacinth in the US so she could earn her American title. I trusted C, and she trusted him, so by association I entrusted my Hyacinth in Norm’s care. Ultimately, I feel betrayed.

The other dog that died over a year prior to Hyacinth’s death was also a Havanese, a male. He was six month old. I have no idea if he was at his first show or not. I understand the dog was being groomed on the grooming table and he was tied to the attached grooming arm. Possibly, due to miscommunication, who knows, no one was watching the six-month-old Havanese. Apparently, the dog jumped and strangled himself.

You hear these sorts of stories and think that yes, this could happen, but no one leaves dogs on tables unattended. It is like saying ‘be careful with that, you could poke your eye out’. No one accidently actually pokes their eye out while playing with whatever.

When I first heard this story, my heart dropped.

For the longest time I thought I was the only one who is going through or went through something so outrages with their dog. In one way, it is good that I am having so much trouble finding others who have gone through something similar to what I have gone through and am still going through; but in another way it sucks, as I can’t really talk to someone else who has been in my shoes to share feelings or share pain. I guess its true, misery does like company.

If the owner of the other Havanese ever reads this, you are more than welcome to share. Other people with stories are welcomed too.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Haycinth Bucket's Saga - Part IV - What Happened Continues

Previously:

• Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part III - What Happened?

Hyacinth

A few days after Hyacinth’s untimely and tragic death, maybe more, I can’t remember, I called C to chat, since she said I could call at anytime. C uses Norm as a professional show handler extensively and apparently lives very close to him. Her own daughter works for Norm. C, another Havanese breeder, was the one who insisted that I send Hyacinth to Norm so he could show Hyacinth in the states. C said that she went over to inspect his kennel and to talk to him. She told me more on what happen. According to C, Norm had done his morning chores in the kennel (I didn’t ask for any details about his morning chores) and that everything seemed fine. He left the kennel and went into his house which is on the same property to have some breakfast. She said that he said that he heard barking coming from the kennel and looked out the window. He didn’t see anything so he continued to eat his breakfast. He heard barking again and then proceeded out to the kennel to see what was happening. C said that he found her in another dog’s run, grab her and ran to the house yelling for help. When he reached the house is when they realized Hyacinth was already dead.

I didn’t hear this story from Norm, I heard it from C. It would have been better to have heard it from him.

C described the kennel, it’s an L shaped kennel. Norm keeps his own dogs in one wing and his client dog’s in the other wing. I have since learned that L shaped kennels often have dividers such as a door separating the two wings with a room of sorts between the two wings. I don’t know for certain that his kennel was set up the same way but most L shaped kennels are.

C kept going on about how his kennel is inspected every year and how clean it is. I don’t care how often his kennel is inspected or how clean it is, it is not like I am ever going to send another one of my dogs in his way to be handled again. My dog is already dead and therefore inspections and cleanliness is rather irreverent now. The conversion continued but that will be for another time.

So let us recap: First, Hyacinth not only got out of her run, somehow and unexplainable. Escaped not only from her run but also from her side of the wing into the other wing where she all of a sudden decides to pick another run to somehow and unexplainably escape into? Why? I remember Hyacinth being a bit shy to large dogs. So again I ask, why in the world would she try to get into another run while another dog, a Shar Pei (a large dog), was already in there?

• So between eight in the morning and two-thirty in the afternoon, why did it take so long to call me?


• How did she really get out of her run?


• Why in the world would she have gotten into another dog’s run in the first place? And all by herself too.

What happened?

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part III - What happened?

People keep asking me “What happen?”. How did your beautifuly Havanese girl die? The truth is I don’t know. I don’t think I will ever know what really happened and I have resigned to the thought, the idea, that I will never truly know. All I know for sure is that on November 11 at about 1:30ish pm central, 2:30 eastern, I received a call from Norm telling me that he has some bad news to tell me; it’s a phone call I won’t soon forget. Norm begins by telling me that he has some bad news. ok, I replied. He said that he that he didn’t know how Hyacinth got out of her run. My first thought was ok so go find her, then my thoughts immediately starting jumping to all sorts of possible conclusions to that statement. Ok I finally replied again. He then said he didn’t know how she got into another dog’s run. I was silent has my heart dropped and I braced myself for what could possibly come next after a statement like that. Norm carried on with his story; he said that there was a dog already in the run; a Shar Pei he added. The Shar Pei killed her he continued.

At that moment my world turned up-side-down. It eyes poured like Niagara Falls as I whaled with grief on the phone. He was silent as I cried uncontrollably. The phone call continued, he said that he would refund my deposit right away. He asked if I still have the mother and if she was still open; and that he would pay Hyacinth's stud owner for a repeat breeding, so I could try to get her back. Even then I couldn’t believe he would even talk or suggest any compensation after just telling me my dog died in his care. My dog died - give me a moment. Those sorts of conversions are best left for another day and not when someone is having an emotional meltdown.

Thinking about that later.... A repeat breeding? Try to get her back? What was he thinking? Hyacinth Bucket is no more and nothing is going to get her back. She was first my loving pet and a show dog second, and future breeding bitch. As an adult show dog with a successful show career with many health tests already done and passed; and a bright and exciting future ahead of her.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part II - Loved by

Previously:

• Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part I - No Name
  

The next part of Hyacinth Bucket's cremation certificate, from the Ontario Pet Cremation Services, is even more upsetting, it says “Loved and Cherished Always… Norm ~”.

The first part of the cremation certificate where it only stated “puppy” as the dog’s name instead of her name was already very upsetting. Then to see the handler’s name there instead of mine makes me mad. Norm only knew her for just over a week and a bit. He was to show her in the states so she could earn her American championship title.

He didn’t cherish her; he barely knew her. Hyacinth Bucket was just another client’s dog to him. She was my dog. I cherished her. I loved her. Hyacinth was “Loved and Cherished Always…” by me – Not Norm!

There was 50 days since the first and only phone call I received from Norm (where he told me Hyacinth died) and the arrival of my dog’s ashes; and I had not heard back from him. I had sent one e-mail message asking for details on what happen and two phone calls (I left only one message). I was getting tired of his silence so I sent him a registered letter where he had to sign for it so I could feel assured that Norm indeed received my letter. I believe it is because I sent Norm a registered letter that I finally received any response back from him, a letter within the registered package of my dog’s ashes.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Hyacinth Bucket's Saga - Part I - No Name

Hyacinth Bucket’s ashes are finally home, exactly 50 days since her untimely and tragic death. They arrived on New Year’s Day making the new year’s eve a bit of a solemn time. It arrived via Canada Post’s Priority Courier and a signature was required.

A card was inside from the Ontario Pet Cremation Services, their cremation certificate. The cremation certificate is worthless because her name was nowhere to be found on it: neither her registered name nor her even her call name, Hyacinth. Just “Puppy”, that’s all the certificate has for a name.

Besides giving the conspirators something more to talk about, I want to make it clear that she had a name: a beautiful name and a funny one too. Her name was Ch. Hydabrek’s Hyacinth Bucket and we called her Hyacinth. I sometimes called her Hyacinth Bucket; pronounced as “Hyacinth Bouquet”. She was five days short of reaching 15 months. Hyacinth had an amazing puppy career early last year: she won Best Puppy in Show twice, won Best Puppy in Group 12 times (should have been 13 times but that's another story), and won numerous group placements. She had starting obedience training and I had such high hopes and dreams for her performance career.

She loved sleeping on the bed with me, taking walks with Josie and my hubby, playing with Caillee, and torturing the cat. She loved people, car rides, bacon, balls, and anything that squeaked.

You see the word “Puppy” doesn’t due her justice, her name should have been on the certificate. Her name deserves to be said aloud. Her name was Hyacinth.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs