Millie, we'll always love you
Yesterday under very tragic circumstances, we lost Millie our Jack Russell matriarch. A cobra almost 5 feet in length slithered into our backyard and Millie was bitten as she tried to protect the brood. This is a brief story of her, what she looked like, little things I remember about her and if I can, a small tribute to her brief life and an apology. She turned 4 in January this year.
Millie a.k.a. Stitch with her funny paws, oversized tongue and large pointy ears!
Millie came into our lives by chance in mid-2002. A family friend who helped get Rusty, our first Jack Russell, informed us he had found a female Jack Russell puppy that needed a home. My parents thought "Okay why not?" and "Rusty could use a girlfriend" so they drove 4 hours north to Penang to pick her up and then drove back another 4 hours to bring her home that same day.
Her origins are a little sketchy - she came with Thai veterinary papers so we know she came from Thailand, possibly Bangkok, and somehow made her way across the border by car. We don't know exactly where she was born or what her parents looked like or if she had brothers or sisters and we never really bothered to find out anyway. She was tiny and small, and all alone, and she needed a home.
As the official dog namer of the house, nobody questioned my choice when I came up with the name "Millie" (Her full name would be Millicent Goh). "Rusty and Millie" had a nice ring to it, I thought.
One of the first few days in our home. She arrived with little weights on her ears, I guess, to hold them down.
On the day they met, my mother took an instant liking to her. They formed a bond and Mum loved her all the same eventhough she looked a little strange. She didn't look very Jack Russell-ish like Rusty - she was tan and white but she had pointy ears and a very pointy muzzle and really strange looking paws. And as she got bigger, these features became very prominent. Whether she was pure breed or not was anyone's guess but she certainly had some distinct characteristics of a Jack Russell - she was bold, fiesty, stubborn and very bossy! She was a barker. She barked continuously as if she was trying to talk to you to get you to DO something. And if you were stroking her and you took your hand away, she'd put her head right back under your hand as if to tell you NOT to stop. She loved to get her belly rubbed. My Dad would say in a cute voice "Scratch your stomach, scratch your stomach" like a song as he rubbed her belly while they watched tv together.
Checking out her new home
She ruled the house for the first 2 years. She slept on my parents' bed when no one was looking and much to my father's annoyance, her favorite spot in their room was smack on top of his pillow! If you walked into the room, she'd dash off the bed and onto her own doggy bed on the floor. You'd smooth the sheets down but then find them crumpled again with little paw indents a few minutes later.
And if you couldn't find her, she was probably hiding between my dad and mum's pillow. She had her quirks but she adored my mother and father and they loved her eventhough she wasn't a "pretty" dog and she made a helluva lot of noise!
With her bed flipped over to make a "cave hideout"
Millie breaks her leg
As the darling of the house and the first female dog we'd had in more than a decade, Millie was carried around like a baby and spoilt rotten. But she could never keep still for more than a minute. One day while our helper, Marina, was toting her around the house like a baby, Millie wriggled out of Marina's arms and fell some 4 feet to the ground breaking her right hind leg. At first examination, our vet recommended putting a metal rod insert to straighten out the leg. "But she's only a puppy" my mother cried as the vet came to take her to his surgery the next day. My mother pleaded with the vet to give her a basic Plaster of Paris cast instead. With the cast, her leg would be a little crooked but my mum insisted this would be fine since she wasn't a show dog anyway! So Millie was spared surgery and hobbled around on 3 legs for a few days. The cast came off eventually and Millie was as good as new!
Mille with her leg cast and radar head
Millie becomes a Mum
As Millie grew up and came into her second season, my Mum supervised a mating session with Rusty. Several months after, she became noticably larger and larger around the belly. The vet confirmed she was pregnant. My mother expected she would have 1 or 2 puppies based on her small size but on the evening of May 28, 2004, she gave birth to FIVE puppies! The remarkable thing was no one had noticed she had gone into labour. By the time my parents came home, there she was with the five puppies, all licked clean and nursing. All 5 were unbelievably cute and only 2 bore a slight resemblance to her in terms of coat texture and muzzle. None had pointy ears or funny claws! They were solid, chubby, clean and very healthy!
Unfortunately with the birth of 5 puppies, Millie also lost her "roost". The puppies took over the house!
Millie as a mother
The Semi-D
With the addition of more dogs and the lack of suitable homes, Ginger and Pebbles came to live with me and Snowy, Lucky and Toby stayed behind. My mother arranged for a contractor to build a proper dog house in the backyard, complete with floor tiles, a proper pipe leading to the septic tank for any messes and raised platforms to sleep on. It was nicknamed the "Semi-Detached". Even the builders exclaimed it was fancier than their own homes in Indonesia.
When the house was complete, Millie was moved out to the backyard so that all 4 Jack Russells could hang out together. And after the experience of not being able to find suitable homes, Millie and Snowy were also neutered. Together, the four of them had a safe and fun enclosure to hang out, or so we thought.
Snakes
In the 20 odd years we have lived in our suburbian home, we've seen a number of snakes. At least five to ten, most of them deadly cobras. There is a fair bit of uncleared land nearby and the snakes quite possibly came from there. Our neighbor also has an unkempt yard which makes for a good hiding place. After each snake sighting, my parents go out and stock up on large amounts of sulphur to sprinkle around the perimeter. It had rained the last few days and the sulphur got washed away.
In Millie's lifetime, she was unfortunate to come into close contact with 3 snakes. The first slithered past her crate in the house but fortunately she was inside the crate and the snake knew better than to look for trouble. She alerted the whole family to its presence. The second time was about a month or 2 ago - this one she killed.
Yesterday her luck ran out.
The brave fight
According to my parents, yesterday afternoon, a snake had fallen from my neighbour's yard behind the Semi-D. It was a large cobra, about 4-5 feet long. The sun was up and the dogs were out in the yard resting. When they heard the snake, all 4 of them rushed up to bark at the snake which was between the wall and the back of the Semi-D. Millie was the first to get in there but unfortunately, the puppies followed closely. She was cornered and had no space to dodge the snake.
Dad and Marina heard the ruckus and called for the dogs to come. Toby and Lucky were first but Snowy and Millie were relentless. They refused to budge. By the time, Millie got out, my Dad noticed she had a deep bite under her eye and another on her back leg. It was bad. He called the vet, my mother and the fire department. Millie had trouble breathing and started to lose control of her bowels.
My mother rushed home from work straightaway and made it home in about 20 minutes. When Millie saw her, she got up and struggled to walk towards her. My mother scooped her up and cradled her and then she was gone.
My normally calm Dad called me crying. "We've lost Millie" he said.
After she passed
The vet arrived shortly after but even if he had been there at the very second she was bitten, the venom from the snake's first bite was so potent and she was so tiny there was probably little he could do. The remarkable thing was: she stayed alive long enough to see my mother, walk up to her and greet her before dying. It was as if she held on for as long as she could, just to see Mum.
The fire department said the snake was one of the largest they had seen. It seems they had found the snake half dead - Millie had successfully attacked it and nearly killed it.
Millie and Mum
Millie did what she did not only because as a Jack Russell it was in her nature to seek out trouble but also because she loved my parents and the rest of the brood unconditionally. She had a strong desire and instinct to protect everyone. It was one of the things about her that made her so special. She sacrificed herself to protect everyone. None of the other dogs were as bold and as brave as she was. She was a great mother and a great companion. She was fearless and loyal right till the very end.
Loyal friend till the very end
My parents let each of the puppies see her before burying her. Snowy tried to wake her up by pawing her and Toby and Lucky licked her face and barked but then quietened down shortly as if they knew. My parents then dug a hole in a spot in the backyard and buried her at dusk yesterday.
The grief and guilt is overwhelming. She left so suddenly and she died trying to protect the family. We miss her terribly. If there is an afterlife for our pets, I do hope Millie knows how grateful we are for what she did, how sorry we are that we couldn't protect her and that we really miss her. On a personal note, I'm sorry I yelled at her for barking and I'm sorry I never got to tell her what a good girl she was. I hope I see her again.
Millie a.k.a. Stitch with her funny paws, oversized tongue and large pointy ears!
Millie came into our lives by chance in mid-2002. A family friend who helped get Rusty, our first Jack Russell, informed us he had found a female Jack Russell puppy that needed a home. My parents thought "Okay why not?" and "Rusty could use a girlfriend" so they drove 4 hours north to Penang to pick her up and then drove back another 4 hours to bring her home that same day.
Her origins are a little sketchy - she came with Thai veterinary papers so we know she came from Thailand, possibly Bangkok, and somehow made her way across the border by car. We don't know exactly where she was born or what her parents looked like or if she had brothers or sisters and we never really bothered to find out anyway. She was tiny and small, and all alone, and she needed a home.
As the official dog namer of the house, nobody questioned my choice when I came up with the name "Millie" (Her full name would be Millicent Goh). "Rusty and Millie" had a nice ring to it, I thought.
One of the first few days in our home. She arrived with little weights on her ears, I guess, to hold them down.
On the day they met, my mother took an instant liking to her. They formed a bond and Mum loved her all the same eventhough she looked a little strange. She didn't look very Jack Russell-ish like Rusty - she was tan and white but she had pointy ears and a very pointy muzzle and really strange looking paws. And as she got bigger, these features became very prominent. Whether she was pure breed or not was anyone's guess but she certainly had some distinct characteristics of a Jack Russell - she was bold, fiesty, stubborn and very bossy! She was a barker. She barked continuously as if she was trying to talk to you to get you to DO something. And if you were stroking her and you took your hand away, she'd put her head right back under your hand as if to tell you NOT to stop. She loved to get her belly rubbed. My Dad would say in a cute voice "Scratch your stomach, scratch your stomach" like a song as he rubbed her belly while they watched tv together.
Checking out her new home
She ruled the house for the first 2 years. She slept on my parents' bed when no one was looking and much to my father's annoyance, her favorite spot in their room was smack on top of his pillow! If you walked into the room, she'd dash off the bed and onto her own doggy bed on the floor. You'd smooth the sheets down but then find them crumpled again with little paw indents a few minutes later.
And if you couldn't find her, she was probably hiding between my dad and mum's pillow. She had her quirks but she adored my mother and father and they loved her eventhough she wasn't a "pretty" dog and she made a helluva lot of noise!
With her bed flipped over to make a "cave hideout"
Millie breaks her leg
As the darling of the house and the first female dog we'd had in more than a decade, Millie was carried around like a baby and spoilt rotten. But she could never keep still for more than a minute. One day while our helper, Marina, was toting her around the house like a baby, Millie wriggled out of Marina's arms and fell some 4 feet to the ground breaking her right hind leg. At first examination, our vet recommended putting a metal rod insert to straighten out the leg. "But she's only a puppy" my mother cried as the vet came to take her to his surgery the next day. My mother pleaded with the vet to give her a basic Plaster of Paris cast instead. With the cast, her leg would be a little crooked but my mum insisted this would be fine since she wasn't a show dog anyway! So Millie was spared surgery and hobbled around on 3 legs for a few days. The cast came off eventually and Millie was as good as new!
Mille with her leg cast and radar head
Millie becomes a Mum
As Millie grew up and came into her second season, my Mum supervised a mating session with Rusty. Several months after, she became noticably larger and larger around the belly. The vet confirmed she was pregnant. My mother expected she would have 1 or 2 puppies based on her small size but on the evening of May 28, 2004, she gave birth to FIVE puppies! The remarkable thing was no one had noticed she had gone into labour. By the time my parents came home, there she was with the five puppies, all licked clean and nursing. All 5 were unbelievably cute and only 2 bore a slight resemblance to her in terms of coat texture and muzzle. None had pointy ears or funny claws! They were solid, chubby, clean and very healthy!
Unfortunately with the birth of 5 puppies, Millie also lost her "roost". The puppies took over the house!
Millie as a mother
The Semi-D
With the addition of more dogs and the lack of suitable homes, Ginger and Pebbles came to live with me and Snowy, Lucky and Toby stayed behind. My mother arranged for a contractor to build a proper dog house in the backyard, complete with floor tiles, a proper pipe leading to the septic tank for any messes and raised platforms to sleep on. It was nicknamed the "Semi-Detached". Even the builders exclaimed it was fancier than their own homes in Indonesia.
When the house was complete, Millie was moved out to the backyard so that all 4 Jack Russells could hang out together. And after the experience of not being able to find suitable homes, Millie and Snowy were also neutered. Together, the four of them had a safe and fun enclosure to hang out, or so we thought.
Snakes
In the 20 odd years we have lived in our suburbian home, we've seen a number of snakes. At least five to ten, most of them deadly cobras. There is a fair bit of uncleared land nearby and the snakes quite possibly came from there. Our neighbor also has an unkempt yard which makes for a good hiding place. After each snake sighting, my parents go out and stock up on large amounts of sulphur to sprinkle around the perimeter. It had rained the last few days and the sulphur got washed away.
In Millie's lifetime, she was unfortunate to come into close contact with 3 snakes. The first slithered past her crate in the house but fortunately she was inside the crate and the snake knew better than to look for trouble. She alerted the whole family to its presence. The second time was about a month or 2 ago - this one she killed.
Yesterday her luck ran out.
The brave fight
According to my parents, yesterday afternoon, a snake had fallen from my neighbour's yard behind the Semi-D. It was a large cobra, about 4-5 feet long. The sun was up and the dogs were out in the yard resting. When they heard the snake, all 4 of them rushed up to bark at the snake which was between the wall and the back of the Semi-D. Millie was the first to get in there but unfortunately, the puppies followed closely. She was cornered and had no space to dodge the snake.
Dad and Marina heard the ruckus and called for the dogs to come. Toby and Lucky were first but Snowy and Millie were relentless. They refused to budge. By the time, Millie got out, my Dad noticed she had a deep bite under her eye and another on her back leg. It was bad. He called the vet, my mother and the fire department. Millie had trouble breathing and started to lose control of her bowels.
My mother rushed home from work straightaway and made it home in about 20 minutes. When Millie saw her, she got up and struggled to walk towards her. My mother scooped her up and cradled her and then she was gone.
My normally calm Dad called me crying. "We've lost Millie" he said.
After she passed
The vet arrived shortly after but even if he had been there at the very second she was bitten, the venom from the snake's first bite was so potent and she was so tiny there was probably little he could do. The remarkable thing was: she stayed alive long enough to see my mother, walk up to her and greet her before dying. It was as if she held on for as long as she could, just to see Mum.
The fire department said the snake was one of the largest they had seen. It seems they had found the snake half dead - Millie had successfully attacked it and nearly killed it.
Millie and Mum
Millie did what she did not only because as a Jack Russell it was in her nature to seek out trouble but also because she loved my parents and the rest of the brood unconditionally. She had a strong desire and instinct to protect everyone. It was one of the things about her that made her so special. She sacrificed herself to protect everyone. None of the other dogs were as bold and as brave as she was. She was a great mother and a great companion. She was fearless and loyal right till the very end.
Loyal friend till the very end
My parents let each of the puppies see her before burying her. Snowy tried to wake her up by pawing her and Toby and Lucky licked her face and barked but then quietened down shortly as if they knew. My parents then dug a hole in a spot in the backyard and buried her at dusk yesterday.
The grief and guilt is overwhelming. She left so suddenly and she died trying to protect the family. We miss her terribly. If there is an afterlife for our pets, I do hope Millie knows how grateful we are for what she did, how sorry we are that we couldn't protect her and that we really miss her. On a personal note, I'm sorry I yelled at her for barking and I'm sorry I never got to tell her what a good girl she was. I hope I see her again.
posted by geraldine at 10:48 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you for your kind comment, Aunty Viji. It was hard to write but I felt it would be a good way to honor Millie and to help us in the healing process somehow.
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