Meg (29/10/99 - 24/12/16)

It’s January 2017 and the holidays are over.  December was a particularly difficult month in that our elderly Cocker Spaniel, Meg who was 17 yrs and 3 months old, suddenly started to go downhill.  She had been suffering from Dementia which up until earlier last year I didn’t even know dogs could suffer from and was getting more and more confused, walking around in circles and generally becoming disorientated. She suddenly lost a lot of muscle strength in her back legs which meant she had trouble standing up and balance was becoming an issue.  

Meg was the first dog I have ever known properly and the first dog I have ever lived with.  She helped me through a really difficult time in my life by becoming a companion on long walks and someone to talk to when others didn’t want to know.  She was also my first ‘photographic model’ if that is a term I can apply to a dog.  It was through her I learnt that animals can portray different expressions and I learnt to look more closely at her and to the wider world around me and see things in a different way.

When I first met Meg photography was not a part of my life, beyond taking photo’s on my phone.  I know that my interest and encouragement in the subject really had developed from her showing me what was possible to capture.  I remember trying to photograph her as she would run towards me with her ears flapping away and her tongue hanging out and trying to figure out when I got home why the images were blurry or the focus point was off.  This is how I have taught myself, trial and error and even this morning with our other dog, Gemma, I am still learning.  I guess you never stop.

Meg was a wonderful dog and a good friend helping those around her, notably our friend Lynette who used her as a test subject for her Myotherapy training and exams.  I am sure she didn’t know herself how she was affecting those around her but she will always be remembered by a lot of people for many different reasons.

So on Christmas Eve 2016 after a sleepless and restless night, she was having difficulty getting warm, couldn’t stand up and for want of a better expression, just ‘gave up’.  She had had enough of fighting the illness.  The glint in her eyes had gone and we know it was time.  Oak Barn vets in Shalford were amazing with her and us as they always are with all our animals.

Meg was cremated on the 28th December and is now back home with us.  It has taken a while before I could bring myself to write about this as we miss her a great deal and I am sure will continue to do so for a very long time, even the loud snoring that often kept us awake!  In the week before she left us she was still going for 20 minute walks and managed to chase Gemma out of the bedroom growling at her, just reminding her that she was the boss.  A funny brilliant dog.  Gone but never to be forgotten.

So I feel that I owe it to Meg to continue on this photographic journey that she started me on, to see where it takes me and enjoy every minute I can with the amazing animals I meet on my travels.  We still have Gemma to keep us busy and she seems to enjoy being a photographic ‘model’ although her black and white markings make for a more challenging task.  

Funny thing is, what are we left with at the end of the day?

The photographs of Meg that I took over the years.  

Photography of our pets is so important as they really grow fast and are not with us for that long.  It’s all we have left when they are no longer with us.  So while our loss is painful to process, it is also a great comfort to look through the photo’s and remember all the places we went and the good times we had with her.

Miss you Meg, 29/10/99 - 24/12/16, RIP.