Zazie and Kristi are joined by Grant Hayter-Menzies to speak about his guide, Freddie: The Rescue Canine Who Rescued Me.
By Zazie Todd PhD.
Watch episode 16 of The Pawsitive Submit in Dialog under or on Youtube, pay attention under or by way of your favorite podcast app (together with Apple, Spotify), or scroll all the way 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 guide Freddie: The Rescue Canine Who Rescued Me. We discuss how Freddie got here into his life and the vital methods by which canine assist us, even once we suppose we’re those saving them.
Freddie was a terrified rescue canine who took time to settle in, and have become so vital to Hayter-Menzies. Hayter-Menzies tells us about how he wrote biographies of extraordinary ladies, and Freddie’s affect led him to start out writing biographies of vital animals, like Rags (the World Warfare 1 canine), Muggins (the Canadian canine struggle 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 discuss how they bought by means of 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 at last, we focus on 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 function of animals in instances of struggle. He’s the writer of 13 books, together with Muggins: The Life and Afterlife of a Canadian Canine Warfare Hero, Woo: The Monkey Who Impressed Emily Carr, Dorothy Brooke and the Battle to Save Cairo’s Misplaced Warfare Horses, and From Stray Canine to World Warfare 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 frivolously edited for content material and magnificence.
Z: It is a actually beautiful guide about your life with Freddie and the way Freddie helped you thru some onerous instances. Can we begin with how Freddie got here into your life?
G: Effectively Freddie got here into our lives in September 2010. My ex-husband and I had been in search of 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 might 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 individual’s going to snap him up. However we went as a result of we had some chores to do downtown and we bought there.
And as I inform within the guide, we could not discover him. We went round and round. And naturally the unhappy factor about making the rounds of the shelter is you must take a look at all the opposite doggies which might be there that you just aren’t there to see, and so they’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’ll ask the kennel attendant”. She stated, “Oh Freddie’s right here.” So we went into the again and there he was.
He was probably the most terrified little canine I’ve ever seen in my life, and I after all fell in love with him the minute I held him. He was shaking like a leaf. We introduced him residence. 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 like my late mom, I nurse grudges towards individuals who damage animals or damage youngsters or anyone who cannot struggle again. And I used to be doing quite a lot of, you recognize, 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 learn how to do any of the issues a traditional canine in my expertise is aware of learn how to do. He did not even know what a toy was.
And as we bought to the purpose the place he was studying learn how to stay with out worry, 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 need 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 he or she stated he is afraid of you since you’re holding on to quite a lot of stuff that he does not perceive, and you are making some calls for on him that he does not perceive. You initially must drop that stuff. But additionally it’s essential to 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 guide when he, Freddie, made the choice that he might belief me. And after that we have been we have been quick mates by means of thick and skinny, actually.
He confirmed me that he might make his personal choices and that he was prepared to belief regardless of what people had accomplished to him to make him the way in which he was. And I simply thought that was superb and shifting 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 offers, I am the one which does every little thing 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 she or he additionally stated you recognize simply let him be, let him be, he’ll come to you. And he or she was proper as moms are [laughter].
Ok: So earlier than Freddie, you used to jot down biographies of individuals. And I used to be tremendous as I learn your guide to see the categories of people that you centered on. I assumed these have been actually attention-grabbing, numerous ladies.
G: Sure.
Ok: How did Freddie change your profession in direction of writing biographies of animals?
G: Effectively due to course I had a suffragette great-grandmother and I used to be surrounded by probably the most superb ladies all of my upbringing. I had a mom who I’ve simply described who was an unbelievable, compassionate girl. She battled bipolar dysfunction and different points that shortened her life, however in case you want a military to steer, 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 jot down about ladies who had made a distinction of their of their fields. And likewise ladies who have been perceived as having gotten the place they have been by means of 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 truly those that did issues, when it was the ladies who truly ran the present. So that is what led me to to jot down ladies’s biography, but it surely was watching Freddie make this transformation of selecting to stay with out worry, of selecting to be taught and navigating people, all of the perils of an animal dwelling with human beings, that is all I can say.
And I assumed the very best and most shifting and oftentimes tragic instance of that’s animals conscripted to struggle, inhuman wars that no animal ever induced. And due to him I began researching Rags the World Warfare 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 Individuals. And it simply went from there, exploring how animals cope with all of the complexities of getting to stay in a human managed setting. Together with Emily automobile’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 maintain 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 truly a coronary heart murmur that took us to his vet, earlier than the most cancers analysis. 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 may have it since it is a vascular most cancers. And it spreads by means of the physique by means of the vascular system, and the spleen is a vascular organ. So we have been principally advised he could solely have a number of weeks, even when we do handle to efficiently get his spleen out at his age, and along 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 this 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 try this? Effectively I felt, and my associate Rudy felt, that we must always give it an opportunity, give him an opportunity to stay.
“They don’t seem to be identical to stuffed animals that transfer round, they are not toys. They’re sentient beings.”
So we proceeded with surgical procedure. He truly aced that simply fantastic. The surgeon stated you recognize he may not make it even now however he may. Do you need 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 previous and with so many different points simply sail by means of. And issues have been trying like they’d in all probability be okay. The guts challenge bought worse as one would anticipate, after which virtually a 12 months from the day he was identified with hemangiosarcoma, we might taken him into his vet right here in Sydney and it was decided he had lymphoma.
He nonetheless wished to stay. 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 joyful 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 advised. He lived over a 12 months after a hemangiosarcoma analysis which is nearly unparalleled.
Z: That is superb.
G: Yeah so it was in spite of everything 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, you recognize I would have the ability to put this right into a guide which may assist different people who find themselves going by means of 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 superb. So for Freddie to handle an entire 12 months is simply unbelievable 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 by means of, he had survived the worst, and in reality 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 induced 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 terrified of the wind blowing on his fur. And you may 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 cheerful wholesome inspiring little canine. He even chased a burglar out of our home.
Ok: And I believe there’s form of a way or perhaps it is coming you recognize, now could be the time once we can begin to discuss grieving our pets in a means that I do not suppose we might actually perhaps 20 years in the past. And I believe it is good to produce other folks’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 guide as effectively. As a result of I used to be introduced as much as deal with animals severely, to take them severely, that they are not identical to stuffed animals that transfer round, they are not toys, they’re sentient beings. A few of my father’s final phrases have been concerning the love of animals in our household and he stated it is vital to deal with them as beings, they’re one of many household.
And it is vital to be allowed to grieve as my mother and father allow us to do. We had slightly place in our again backyard the place our pets have been buried. My father would make slightly field, my mom would sew slightly 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 severely. And it is okay to do this, if folks might simply let themselves do it. It is also honoring the animal.
One of many issues I did, not simply to jot down the guide however as a result of I had the means to take action, I had a a particular portrait made 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 he or she used pictures of Freddie, however she stated how would you want me to indicate him, would you like me to indicate 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 ailing and we walked into the ICU. He was introduced out of the oxygen cage and so they held the oxygen to his nostril and he stood up for us. Did he suppose we have been coming to take him residence? What have you learnt. 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 he or she did an exquisite job, it is a phenomenal factor.
I believe if you are able to do that or have footage round or in case you can, in case you can take a look at them, there’s so many issues that you are able to do. It is a guide that I’ll discuss in a second by E.B. Bartels, she describes among the ways in which folks have discovered to commemorate their pets who’ve handed on. Pleased methods, it is not funerial in any respect as a result of they do not know, they [animals] do not consider loss of life that means, they stay within the now. They stay within the second of like proper now.
Ok: Yeah I’ve at all times thought that is form of, perhaps not a blessing, however one thing that I really feel like I can be taught from animals particularly across the time once we’re saying goodbye,
G: Sure completely. How you can say goodbye with pleasure. And that is that is what that is what Freddie did. I will always remember it.
Ok: So earlier than, you have got written principally tales about different folks 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’s totally private.
G: Terrible. However I knew I needed to, there isn’t any different solution 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 particular person on the stage of a specific guide. However there was no different solution 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 principally needed to attempt to inform the story by means of my very own expertise, my very own eyes, however keep out of the way in which as a lot as I might.
“I wished to jot down about ladies 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 truly. 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 faculty and up till highschool the truth is. That is what sort of made me right into a author. I sort of went off the crushed path of my friends and selected a unique sort of life, not a simple one but it surely 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 by means of animals, an important deal on the time. So I would do it once more but it surely’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 maintain saying to people that ask about Nico, we could not have dealt along 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 may have handed him again in a number of 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 by means of quite a lot of experiences but it surely was very sophisticated for a few good month or two. And it might not have been attainable had we not realized what we realized from Freddie.
What I’d say to folks, sure while you go to a shelter to take 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 working round and leaping and taking part in just like the others. That was Freddie. And I’d recommend it is not simple, it is not for everyone, however I’d recommend 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 motive for dwelling at a really low time. And that is what they do. And we modified his life immeasurably. So in case you 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.
Concerning the co-hosts
Kristi Benson is an honours
graduate of the celebrated 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 not too long ago moved to stunning northern British Columbia, the place she
will proceed to assist canine guardians by means of on-line educating and
consultations. Kristi is on employees on the Academy for Canine Trainers,
serving to to form the subsequent technology of canine professionals. Kristi’s
canine are rescue sled canine, principally retired and totally 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 Pleased and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Pleased. She is the creator
of the favored weblog, Companion Animal Psychology, and in addition has a column
at Psychology At present. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, along with her husband,
one canine, and one cat.
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