Saying goodbye to Tinker
14 January 2021
Sade
Fifteen years ago today I collected Tinker from a dogs home near Wolverhampton. Today, fifteen years later, we have said our goodbyes and are heartbroken. I remember Darren, my Headteacher, allowed me time off school to collect her, she was roughly six months old and had been found in woods over Christmas. She had been living wild for some time, they thought on rabbits. We had to leave it 10 days before collecting her, in case she was claimed. In those ten days she had doubled in size with all the food they had given her. We realised that she had been treated very badly the first time we took her sailing. We lifted up a winch handle and she shook with fear expecting us to hit her.
Tinker wasn’t the easiest of dogs in those first few months. She chased bikes, she jumped up moving cars, she ran off, she bit other dogs and if she saw children playing ball she would drag me off my feet to try to get to it. So off she went to doggy borstal for a week. She came back a different dog and we were given a whole list of instructions and told that it was all our fault! Apparently we treated her too much like a child! I am afraid to say we never stopped doing that, but her behaviour improved and she became utterly adorable.
She has travelled to so many countries and had a really amazing life. In Brighton we had to do a midnight flit as a Libyan man on a very big powerboat tried to buy her for his daughter who had fallen in love with her. One day we couldn’t find her, and he had kidnapped Tinker and taken her to his boat. When we climbed aboard he had six different passports laid out and six different phones, we are sure he was some kind of gangster. He told us to name a price, but no way would we sell her and we decided to sail out of the harbour in the early hours of the morning, as we had a feeling that the next time he took her we would not get her back. She was an amazing dolphin spotter and got even more excited than me. In Spain she lay on deck one night with a dolphin sleeping in the water beside her. As we left the port the dolphin followed the boat out to sea for miles, with Tinker pining on the back of the boat. When ever we saw a dolphin we always asked her if it was her boyfriend!!
Tinker loved the Italians, we called her Tinker Bella, and often called her Bella, so when the Italians used the word ‘Bella’ she always thought they were speaking to her, and wagged her tail like crazy. In Albania she was a hit with the street children who called her name and wanted to play with her. When we sailed to London and walked her each morning to the Gherkin she was a great hit with the business men, who would share their croissants with her before starting their busy day. In the Greek islands the local restaurant owners would call her off the boat and feed her meat. The only trouble was that she expected it from them all!!
So it has been heartbreaking to watch her go downhill so fast. Ten days ago she was loving the snow but then she started to go off her food and struggle to breath. It has been terrible to see her decline so fast. The vet last week thought she was really fit for her age and thought it was just a tummy upset. A week later, she could not believe how quickly she had changed and gave us no alternative but to have her put to sleep. She was struggling to breath, and just walking the 10 steps outside to use the toilet caused her so much pain. This morning we knew it was time but had hoped to celebrate her 15th birthday of being with us. She refused to eat her breakfast this morning, but did manage half a packet of her birthday biscuits dipped in Jules’s tea. Her little eyes looked so sad, and the spark had gone out of them. Yesterday had been such a beautiful day, I sat and read and sewed with the fire on and she sat next to me with her head on my lap. We took her for a ride in the car, and she sat up front, which was always her favourite position.
It was beautifully done. The vet put a very long tube in her paw, so we could go inside the vets surgery and be Covid distanced. The vet stood 6 metres away and gave the injection through the long line. She fell asleep in Jules’s arms with us both sobbing and Patch looking on. We had a few minutes to say our goodbyes and left with heavy hearts. Tonight the house feels quiet and lonely. I would love to go to the pub with Patch and sit in front of a roaring fire sharing happy memories away from such a quiet house. Tonight I can put out my feet up on the settee, but I would do anything to have Tinker beside me.