Memory

My lovely Maja is no longer with us.

Maja from the Good Heath was our first Tibetan Terrier.

When we bought her I never thought that this small ball of wool was going to change our lives so thoroughly.

It still hurts to write about her. On May 11^th 2005, we had to let our sweetheart go.

She was a sturdy old thing, who in spite of her old age, still functioned very well within the group. She had developed certain habits, when she walked in the garden she always followed the same route. She had created her own footpath in the lawn. The last couple of years she enjoyed her garden tremendously, you only had to look out to see her walking in the garden. Good or bad weather, Maja kept to her pattern. When she was younger she might have refused to go outside, but now she did not care any more. Could it be because her hair was no longer long and luxurious but now dried rather quickly?
When I now look in the garden I can still see her wandering around, always cheerful and good-natured. Due to  her old age, she was slightly deaf and I had to wave and clap my hands to attract her attention, and because of this she was sometimes slower than the others, but it did not matter. Besides walking sleeping became one of her main activities. Maja was always the first when I started feeding the dogs, impatient and barking as if she had not been fed for days. Food was all important to her. Because she was so old, she was the lucky one to receive twice a day a small, easily to digest, bowl of food.

It all happened so sudden, unexpected and all at once.

My father was terminally ill and wanted to die at home. My sister and I decided to do everything possible to grant him this wish, it was the last thing we could do for him. The last three weeks we looked after him at home in collaboration with the people from palliative care, the doctors and the nurses. This time I practically lived at my parent's home, because my mother also heavily depends on others because of her disease.  Therefore, I had less time to spend with my dogs.Guy, my husband now looked after the dogs. In the past when I went away for a few days to Crufts or to attend the World Congress we never encountered any difficulties. However, now, Maja refused to eat; she even ran away from him.

Now it was up to us, and with fear in our heart we started the treatment. The pills were big, moreover Maja had always been very clever at spitting out pills. You could hide them in anything you wanted, she always managed to eat the goodies and spit out the pills. A pill shooter appeared to be the best solution for Maja, but even this did not work out. Eventually we solved the pills in water in order to spray into her mouth.  Even with this solution iet was impossible as Maja was screaming out from pain. It was impossible to get close to her muzzle as she instantly would run away.  The situation became hopeless, she would not came near us for fear we might hurt her mouth. I had already switched from dry food to soft wet food. The last day I even gave her some Whiskas for cats, a thing she adored and she did not miss out any opportunity to steal it away from our cats. Now over and over again she went to look at the food, you could see she was hungry but did not dare to eat for fear of hurting. She went back over and over again, put her head into the bowl and turned away.  She desperately looked up to me and I was not able to help her anymore.

I did not want to keep on suffering and I refused to let her die from hunger.  Every day I was confronted with my father's suffering and pain and we could do nothing to help him, only watch him. I did not want this to happen to Maja and I therefore decided to have her put down on 11 May. Full of confidence she accompanied me to the vet and before getting her final jab and despite of her suffering, she licked my face such was her confidence in me. Maja died in my arms, my first Tibetan and my first dog. We have buried her at the back of our garden next to her son Pandi.An azalea, planted ont het spot she is buried, will bring new flowers each year in May around the time that we had to say goodbye.

My father died on 20 May and Qomo, Maja's daughter on 24 May. She rests next to her mother and on her grave also grows and azalea. The evening before Whit Sunday we noticed that Qomo's glands were very swollen. A visit to the vet showed that it was not an infection but cancer. A biopsy of the glands showed a very aggressive form of cancer of the lymph glands. When she finally received her jab on 24 May she could hardly walk. Qomo was the sweetest and most obedient of all our TT's, a quiet and gentle girl whom we miss terribly just as we miss her mother. As far as I am concerned, May can be removed from the calendar, my whole life long it will be a symbol of grief. Time cures all things, but the scares remain.

Maja is the godmother of all our Tibetan Terriers, with her I bred my first litters. She was a caring mother for her puppies and a super gran for the puppies of her offspring. With Qomo we contineud breeding. Several dogs in the offspring of both Maja and Qomo turned out to be great champions but the most important thing is that her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren are all super dogs who have inherited some of Maja's great character and this gives me immense joy. It feels great to see some of the characteristics of Maja within her offspring.

Maja had a long and beautiful life and she changed mine because she gave true love. All my memories of her are beautiful and I have never regretted the day she entered my life. Through Tara and her offspring, Maja will continue to life forever.

Maja a small dog with a heart of gold whom we will never forget and who has given us so many good memories.

Maja From the Good Heath
(°08/09/1988 - + 11/05/2005)

May 11th 2006  Maja's great granddaughter Samsara Jina Acrim was bred only 1 time to give birth to 5 healthy puppies on July 9th

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