Zazie and Kristi are joined by Grant Hayter-Menzies to speak about his e-book, Freddie: The Rescue Canine Who Rescued Me.
By Zazie Todd PhD.
Watch episode 16 of The Pawsitive Put up in Dialog under or on Youtube, pay attention under or through your favorite podcast app (together with Apple, Spotify), or scroll right down to learn highlights.
About this episode
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On this episode, we’re joined by author and biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies to speak about his e-book Freddie: The Rescue Canine Who Rescued Me. We speak about how Freddie got here into his life and the necessary methods by which canine assist us, even after we assume we’re those saving them.
Freddie was a terrified rescue canine who took time to settle in, and have become so necessary to Hayter-Menzies. Hayter-Menzies tells us about how he wrote biographies of extraordinary girls, and Freddie’s affect led him to start out writing biographies of necessary animals, like Rags (the World Struggle 1 canine), Muggins (the Canadian canine warfare hero who raised funds for charity in BC), and Woo (Emily Carr’s monkey).
Then a take a look at on the vet confirmed Freddie had the most cancers hemangiosarcoma. We speak about how they obtained via this tough time, Freddie’s bravery, and the significance of memorializing pets as soon as they’re gone.
Having adopted Freddie as a fearful rescue canine, we get Hayter-Menzies’ suggestions for anybody contemplating doing the identical. We additionally ask for his recommendation on discovering the story when writing.
And eventually, we talk about the books we’re studying. This episode we suggest:
Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Right here and Hereafter by E.B. Bartels.
The Tune of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Rose Addams by Margie Taylor.
The books can be found from all good bookstores and my Amazon retailer.
About Grant Hayter-Menzies
Grant Hayter-Menzies is a biographer and historian specializing within the lives of extraordinary and unsung heroes of the previous, notably the position of animals in occasions of warfare. He’s the writer of 13 books, together with Muggins: The Life and Afterlife of a Canadian Canine Struggle Hero, Woo: The Monkey Who Impressed Emily Carr, Dorothy Brooke and the Combat to Save Cairo’s Misplaced Struggle Horses, and From Stray Canine to World Struggle One Hero: The Paris Terrier Who Joined the First Division. He’s additionally literary executor of playwright William Luce.
Study extra about Grant Hayter-Menzies on his web site or comply with him on social media:
Highlights of the episode about Freddie
This interview has been flippantly edited for content material and elegance.
Z: It is a actually beautiful e-book about your life with Freddie and the way Freddie helped you thru some arduous occasions. Can we begin with how Freddie got here into your life?
G: Properly Freddie got here into our lives in September 2010. My ex-husband and I had been searching for one other canine to undertake. We might misplaced our canine Jesse at 19 two years earlier and we felt like we have been on the level the place we may do that. That night earlier than we went to see Freddie on the BC SPCA in Victoria, Les referred to as me over to the pc. He was trying on the BC SPCA web site and there was this cute however terrified trying little foxlike canine, and his identify was Frederick. And Les stated why do not we go take a look at him tomorrow? And I stated he will not be there, he is too cute, he seems to be so in want of care and love. I imply any person’s going to snap him up. However we went as a result of we had some chores to do downtown and we obtained there.
And as I inform within the e-book, we could not discover him. We went round and round. And naturally the unhappy factor about making the rounds of the shelter is you need to take a look at all the opposite doggies which are there that you just aren’t there to see, they usually’re all taking a look at you pondering, “are you the one?” And I used to be so emotionally upset by this, by that point I stated let’s simply go. Les stated “No, I will ask the kennel attendant”. She stated, “Oh Freddie’s right here.” So we went into the again and there he was.
He was essentially the most terrified little canine I’ve ever seen in my life, and I in fact fell in love with him the minute I held him. He was shaking like a leaf. We introduced him house. He stood in a nook shaking with out taking a look at us. And this arrange an issue between us, as a result of I am very very similar to my late mom, I nurse grudges in opposition to individuals who harm animals or harm kids or anyone who cannot combat again. And I used to be doing quite a lot of, , violent issues in my thoughts to the individuals who had made this little canine into such a… he did not even know he was a canine. He got here out of a pet mill, he wasn’t socialized, he did not know how you can do any of the issues a traditional canine in my expertise is aware of how you can do. He did not even know what a toy was.
And as we obtained to the purpose the place he was studying how you can reside with out concern, we then needed to cope with the issue between us, which was he was afraid of me. I who beloved him and was very very sensitive feely, he did not wish to be close to me. He at all times ran over to my husband. So we lastly referred to as an exquisite animal therapist named Janet Parker who got here in. And she or he stated he is afraid of you since you’re holding on to quite a lot of stuff that he would not perceive, and you make some calls for on him that he would not perceive. You to start with must drop that stuff. But additionally you could construct belief with him, and the way in which to do this is to feed him by hand on the ground for so long as it takes. And it took about three months, and I describe what occurred in within the e-book when he, Freddie, made the choice that he may belief me. And after that we have been we have been quick pals via thick and skinny, actually.
He confirmed me that he may make his personal choices and that he was prepared to belief regardless of what people had finished to him to make him the way in which he was. And I simply thought that was wonderful and transferring as effectively.
Z: Yeah, very particular, a canine whose belief you needed to earn regardless that he was supposedly yours to start with.
G: Yeah. Like what provides, I am the one which does the whole lot for you?! However I used to be carrying quite a lot of stuff. And I talked to my mom about it, fortunately she was nonetheless dwelling then, and he or she additionally stated simply let him be, let him be, he’ll come to you. And she or he was proper as moms are [laughter].
Ok: So earlier than Freddie, you used to put in writing biographies of individuals. And I used to be tremendous as I learn your e-book to see the kinds of people that you centered on. I assumed these have been actually fascinating, numerous girls.
G: Sure.
Ok: How did Freddie change your profession in direction of writing biographies of animals?
G: Properly due to course I had a suffragette great-grandmother and I used to be surrounded by essentially the most wonderful girls all of my upbringing. I had a mom who I’ve simply described who was an unimaginable, compassionate lady. She battled bipolar dysfunction and different points that shortened her life, however if you happen to want a military to guide, give it to my mom as a result of she’ll win the battle. She simply could not deal with on a regular basis life.
And I wished to put in writing about girls who had made a distinction of their of their fields. And in addition girls who have been perceived as having gotten the place they have been via their husbands, and I assumed no, as a result of I noticed my grandmothers and my mom and aunts all sort of dancing on this two-step to make their husbands really feel like they have been really those that did issues, when it was the ladies who really ran the present. So that is what led me to to put in writing girls’s biography, however it was watching Freddie make this transformation of selecting to reside with out concern, of selecting to study and navigating people, all of the perils of an animal dwelling with human beings, that is all I can say.
And I assumed the most effective and most transferring and oftentimes tragic instance of that’s animals conscripted to warfare, inhuman wars that no animal ever prompted. And due to him I began researching Rags the World Struggle I canine, rescued off the streets of Paris and who turned a dispatch canine for the American first division, probably the one one. They did not have dispatch canine, the People. And it simply went from there, exploring how animals cope with all of the complexities of getting to reside in a human managed setting. Together with Emily automotive’s monkey Woo, who quite a lot of fairy tales have been written about however didn’t have a fairy story life.
So I wished to do that, and I devoted these books to Freddie not solely as a result of he was my authentic inspiration, however as a result of he would sit beside my desk and he would spend quite a lot of his time with me whereas I used to be working, and preserve me firm within the lonely enterprise of writing.
Z: I believe we writers all want that. It was actually within the final 12 months of his life that Freddie confirmed his actual bravery. He was extremely courageous, so are you able to inform us a bit about that? I do know that was a tough 12 months for him and for you.
G: It was, not least as a result of he was round 13 or 14, we by no means actually knew his age. He had a coronary heart murmur. It was really a coronary heart murmur that took us to his vet, earlier than the most cancers prognosis. That led to an echo cardiogram after which that led to a sonar and that led to discovering that he had hemangiosarcoma on his spleen, which is probably the worst place you possibly can have it since it is a vascular most cancers. And it spreads via the physique via the vascular system, and the spleen is a vascular organ. So we have been mainly instructed he might solely have just a few weeks, even when we do handle to efficiently get his spleen out at his age, and together with his coronary heart murmur he may not survive the surgical procedure.
And so we made the choice to go forward as a result of he so beloved dwelling. From all these years, it was his love of life that was so inspiring to me and his curiosity on the planet regardless of having been born in a field and introduced up in a state of affairs the place he wasn’t socialized or had any contact with the true world. And so it is like ought to we do that or ought to we do this? Properly I felt, and my accomplice Rudy felt, that we must always give it an opportunity, give him an opportunity to reside.
“They are not similar to stuffed animals that transfer round, they are not toys. They’re sentient beings.”
So we proceeded with surgical procedure. He really aced that simply superb. The surgeon stated he may not make it even now however he may. Do you wish to strive chemotherapy? We did that. He aced chemotherapy. He had his oncologist on the mainland, the place we needed to go for his therapies, in astonishment as a result of she had by no means seen a canine this outdated and with so many different points simply sail via. And issues have been trying like they might in all probability be okay. The guts concern obtained worse as one would count on, after which virtually a 12 months from the day he was identified with hemangiosarcoma, we would taken him into his vet right here in Sydney and it was decided he had lymphoma.
He nonetheless wished to reside. He was at all times taking part in, he was not giving up. And I assumed if he is not going to surrender, I am not going to surrender on him. So we went forward with chemotherapy. However the one glad factor about his passing which occurred in October 2021 is that most cancers didn’t get him, it was his coronary heart, his coronary heart was too… he could not deal with anymore. And it in all probability would have occurred that means anyway, so we have been instructed. He lived over a 12 months after a hemangiosarcoma prognosis which is sort of unparalleled.
Z: That is wonderful.
G: Yeah so it was in any case of that after which his passing, a part of the grief processing for me was to reread the diary I might stored over that 12 months. And what got here from that was, I’d have the ability to put this right into a e-book that may assist different people who find themselves going via the same state of affairs with their canine or cats or any animal.
Z: I am so sorry you needed to undergo all of that. I do know what hemangiosarcoma is like as a result of that is what we misplaced Bodger to, and Bodger lasted about 5 and a half months after the surgical procedure. Which in itself was wonderful. So for Freddie to handle an entire 12 months is simply unimaginable I believe.
G: Yeah. And I assumed I might be writing one thing about this. I assumed I might be writing a memoir of how he had made it via, he had survived the worst, and actually he did he did survive the worst it is simply his coronary heart was… What we guess is that his early trauma was, it had prompted some harm. The place the place he got here from, that the phobia he lived in, I’ve by no means seen a canine simply shaking and petrified of the wind blowing on his fur. And you’ll see why I used to be offended on the individuals who did this to him. However look what he did, he bloomed, he got here out of it and have become a contented wholesome inspiring little canine. He even chased a burglar out of our home.
Ok: And I believe there’s form of a way or possibly it is coming , now’s the time after we can begin to speak about grieving our pets in a means that I do not assume we may actually possibly 20 years in the past. And I believe it is good to produce other individuals’s phrases, to be like, I am not alone. I believe lots of people really feel sort of alone, they’re like “I am actually grieving” and it is virtually effectively you are going to come again to work tomorrow or one thing. I believe there simply is not essentially an acceptance.
G: You are proper, you are proper, and it is one thing that I wished to cope with within the e-book as effectively. As a result of I used to be introduced as much as deal with animals significantly, to take them significantly, that they are not similar to stuffed animals that transfer round, they are not toys, they’re sentient beings. A few of my father’s final phrases have been in regards to the love of animals in our household and he stated it is necessary to deal with them as beings, they’re one of many household.
And it is necessary to be allowed to grieve as my dad and mom allow us to do. We had a little bit place in our again backyard the place our pets have been buried. My father would make a little bit field, my mom would sew a little bit cushion and put it inside, after which that is the place the pet could be put. We have been inspired to weep and it was taken very significantly. And it is okay to do this, if individuals may simply let themselves do it. It is also honoring the animal.
One of many issues I did, not simply to put in writing the e-book however as a result of I had the means to take action, I had a a particular portrait fabricated from Freddie by an urn ceramicist in New York State who made particular urns with a portrait of the of the animal on prime. And she or he used pictures of Freddie, however she stated how would you want me to point out him, would you like me to point out him asleep or? And I stated I might like him to be proven as he was in his final moments, which was he was terribly unwell and we walked into the ICU. He was introduced out of the oxygen cage they usually held the oxygen to his nostril and he stood up for us. Did he assume we have been coming to take him house? What are you aware. However he stood up for us in anticipation of additional life with us. He beloved us and I wished him to be proven trying like that, standing up expectantly. And she or he did an exquisite job, it is a gorgeous factor.
I believe if you are able to do that or have footage round or if you happen to can, if you happen to can take a look at them, there’s so many issues that you are able to do. It is a e-book that I will speak about in a second by E.B. Bartels, she describes a number of the ways in which individuals have discovered to commemorate their pets who’ve handed on. Glad methods, it is not funerial in any respect as a result of they do not know, they [animals] do not consider demise that means, they reside within the now. They reside within the second of like proper now.
Ok: Yeah I’ve at all times thought that is form of, possibly not a blessing, however one thing that I really feel like I can study from animals particularly across the time after we’re saying goodbye,
G: Sure completely. The best way to say goodbye with pleasure. And that is that is what that is what Freddie did. I am going to always remember it.
Ok: So earlier than, you might have written principally tales about different individuals and different animals and that is very a lot a narrative about your self. How did it really feel to form of flay your self open or decide to to speak about your self on this means? It is very private.
G: Terrible. However I knew I needed to, there isn’t any different strategy to do it. I am used to being the stage supervisor who places the life on the stage and pulls the curtain and does all of the lighting. I am not used to being the individual on the stage of a specific e-book. However there was no different strategy to do it, significantly as I used to be utilizing so many diary entries from the diary I stored of that 12 months of Freddie’s 12 months. And I mainly needed to attempt to inform the story via my very own expertise, my very own eyes, however keep out of the way in which as a lot as I may.
“I wished to put in writing about girls who had made a distinction of their of their fields.”
However there have been so many tales about animals from my household, so many reminiscences from childhood. There have been quite a lot of beloved animals in my household and I wished to do justice to them as effectively. All of them mattered. And I am pondering of doing one other one really. Our Nico, our new adopted pup who additionally got here out of a pet mill, he has all of the traits of a kid that is been bullied. And I used to be that bullied baby in elementary college and up till highschool the truth is. That is what sort of made me right into a author. I sort of went off the overwhelmed path of my friends and selected a distinct sort of life, not a simple one however it made me into what I wished to be. And I am pondering of a memoir of coping with this little canine popping out of his shell and sort of the way in which I did as a baby via animals, an incredible deal on the time. So I’d do it once more however it’s gonna take some thought. However I needed to write this, I needed to do it for him.
Z: So that you talked about Nico. Inform us about Nico after which additionally I might wish to know what you’ll say to somebody who is considering adopting a fearful rescue canine?
G: So Nico additionally got here out of a pet mill hoarding state of affairs. He is about two. He is a Miniature Poodle combined with a few different like Havanese and Bichon I believe, however he is principally Poodle. I preserve saying to of us that ask about Nico, we could not have dealt together with his points with out having the earlier expertise of serving to Freddie. As a result of I imply had anybody else had this canine handed to them they could have handed him again in just a few days, as a result of he was unsocialized. A part of it’s because he got here on an extended journey. He is younger. He had been via quite a lot of experiences however it was very difficult for a few good month or two. And it could not have been attainable had we not discovered what we discovered from Freddie.
What I’d say to individuals, sure while you go to a shelter to have a look at an animal to undertake, whether or not it is a canine cat rat no matter it’s, there’s going to be the one which’s hiding within the nook and that’s afraid and is not operating round and leaping and taking part in just like the others. That was Freddie. And I’d counsel it is not straightforward, it is not for everyone, however I’d counsel give that little animal an opportunity. As a result of I picked the little scared canine within the nook and he modified my life, modified my profession, gave me a purpose for dwelling at a really low time. And that is what they do. And we modified his life immeasurably. So if you happen to can deal with it, give it an opportunity, give the little scared frightened animal an opportunity for a brand new life as a result of it will possibly change yours.
In regards to the co-hosts
Kristi Benson is an honours
graduate of the distinguished Academy for Canine Trainers, the place she earned
her Certificates in Coaching and Counseling (CTC). She additionally has gained
her PCBC-A credential from the Pet Skilled Accreditation Board. She
has just lately moved to lovely northern British Columbia, the place she
will proceed to assist canine guardians via on-line instructing and
consultations. Kristi is on employees on the Academy for Canine Trainers,
serving to to form the following era of canine professionals. Kristi’s
canine are rescue sled canine, principally retired and completely having fun with a superb
snooze in entrance of the woodstove.
Kristi Benson’s web site Fb Twitter
Zazie Todd, PhD,
is the award-winning writer of Wag: The Science of Making Your Canine Glad and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Glad. She is the creator
of the favored weblog, Companion Animal Psychology, and in addition has a column
at Psychology Right this moment. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, together with her husband,
one canine, and one cat.
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