The first time I met Titch he lived with his pal Blaze at Fiona's house and it was love at first sight between him and Vinnie! Whenever my boys slept over at Fiona's, Titch would sleep at the foot of Vinnie's bed. Then there came a time when Fiona had to move, during which I had Titch and Blaze sleep over for a couple of nights. The day she came to collect 'them' she opened with the line 'You know how you were wanting to get a dog?....and you know how well Vinnie and Titch get on?..... and you know how I have moved to a smaller place?.....' and that was how Titch came to live with us.
He was always a bouncy, happy dog, never had to walk him on a lead as he never ran off and actually answered when called. The boys' room was always messy with toys all over the floor but Titch never once chewed anything that was in their room, if it was in the hallway that was an entirely different matter and I caught him once trying to nudge a small toy into this area! When Jack moved in with us (Jack would be a Jack Russell btw) it was like the pair had known each other all their lives, they never fought, they curled up together and Jack respected that Titch always got his food first! As Jack was prone to running off (which was how he ended up moving in with us to begin with) he was always walked on his lead whilst Titch cavorted to his lil heart's content. This would cause a slight tension between them when, whilst on our usual early morning walk, Jack would show a considerable amount of patience as he crept up on the birds snoozing on the ground only for them to scatter just as he got close due to Titch running pel mel through them, completely oblivious to their presence. Titch also used to go visit an old lady on the same estate, she would leave her door open for him to pop in for a chat and a cuddle before he made his excuses and came home.
His playful nature was always at the fore, the time I had to lift him out of the wheelie bin he had jumped into from our wall to see what extra snacks he could find or the time I was awoken in the middle of the night by a scratching noise. I put the hall light on just in time to see Richard's hamster run across in front of me into the bathroom, as I picked him up I realised he was soaking wet and Titch bouncing around at my feet as if to say 'go on throw it, throw it!' Other than being drenched in doggie saliva the hamster was otherwise unhurt and none the worse for being Titch's play friend for the early hours of the morning.
When we moved to the south of the island, Titch discovered aeroplanes and would flatten himself to the ground whenever one went over whilst out for our walk. He liked to run on the beach but was not one for getting his paws wet. He became all grown up when we added a new addition to our family in the shape of our black lab Deefer. He would grumble at the pup if he took playing too far, which was the signal for Jack to jump down and distract Deefer before Titch really showed him who was boss! They were a happy trio, despite Deefer not realising he had actually grown larger than both Jack and Titch and constantly walking under Titch which involved, at some point, all of his little paws being lifted off the ground. Sadly before Deefer was a year old he passed away and Titch and Jack became a twosome again. But it was only a couple of years before they were getting used to another pup in the shape of DeJa, Deefer's little brother. Titch at this point was starting to slow down a bit, and had reached the grumpy old man stage. He was still boss and he still had his puppylike moments (like when he would roll around on his back in the long grass so all you could see was his wee feet wafting about in the air) but he was starting to show his (considerable) age. His eyesight started to fail and the light would have to be left on at night otherwise it wasn't unknown to discover him stood in the middle of the kitchen wondering which direction was his bed. The radio was always left on so it gave him a idea as where the kitchen was in the first place. Slowly he started living in his own little world, a happy place where his tail was always wagging for unknown reasons, in humans we would call it dementia. He still managed to get up to mischief. One morning I put his food down in front of him and was horrified to see that every mouthful of food was just dropping back into the bowl. Scared that he was now no longer able to swallow I picked him up to get a closer look, only to find that he had a solid chocolate willy lodged in the roof of his mouth! I spent a good while dislodging said item, earning myself a few teeth marks, as there was no way I was explaining this one to the vet!
In the last few weeks of Titch's life he had begun to show his age (well at 147 in dog years what do you expect?!) his legs weren't doing what he wanted them to do and he seemed constantly surprised to find himself wherever he had just wandered to, though he was still sprightly enough to give a little bounce every meal time.
Yesterday, 20th Jan 2012, he took his last trip to the vet. Wrapped up in my cardigan he curled up on the passenger seat (something he never did before, as he always used to shake nervously whenever he got in the car, thinking he was being taken away). At the vet's he wagged his little tail as she talked to him and examined him all over, though he did take exception to her touching near his bottom and gave a little snap in her general direction. After a heart to heart, it was decided that he had done very well but it was time for him to rest. As she gave him the injection, I held his head, stroked his little face and told him he was truly amazing, kissing his wee little nose as he took his last breath and slipped into a well deserved final sleep all the while wrapped up still in my cardigan.
Titch was a wonderful, loving dog and I am honoured that I got to share his life with him.
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