COMPANION OF THE YEAR
COMPANION OF THE YEAR
Though many Mastiffs will never enter the show ring or only appear there briefly, we think every single Mastiff is very special. Each of them is a wonderful companion, in that special Mastiff way, to the people who love them best. So we wanted to do something to allow for public recognition of the companionship that Mastiffs provide us.
We have therefore suggested, and the committee has kindly agreed, to make an annual award of the title "Mastiff Companion of the Year". Every Mastiff owned or part owned by a member of the club (except Mastiffs owned by us) is eligible to be nominated as Mastiff Companion of the Year and, yes, interstate and overseas Mastiffs are very definitely eligible to be nominated.
All you have to do is write a letter to the club explaining why the Mastiff you want to nominate is a wonderful companion to the people it lives with. You can write in about your own Mastiff or on behalf of another member. You can also write in about a Mastiff that has died during the year. As far as space permits, a selection of the letters will be printed in the newsletter so other members can read about some of our special Mastiffs.
The Mastiff to be named as the Companion of the Year will be selected by a member who is appointed by the committee and who doesn't own a Mastiff at the time. They will be asked to read the letters sent in and select the letter that, to them, best describes the special companionship that a Mastiff gives.
The Companion of the Year will be announced at the club Christmas Party. The winning dog's name will be engraved on a trophy we are donating to be held by the club as a perpetual record. The owners of the winner will also receive a trophy to keep. The perpetual trophy was kindly donated by John and Sara Reid.
The Companion of the Year is announced at the Championship Show.
2006 Companion 2005 Companion 2004 Companion 2003 Companion
2002 Companion 2001 Companion 2000 Companion 1999 Companion
OUR VERY SPECIAL BOY BEAR
BANPHSTY LORD BARNABUS (Australian Champion)
Paul
knew a little about Mastiffs, having wanted one since he was a young boy,
whereas Cheryl knew nothing about the breed and simply picked Bear for his
beautiful fawn colouring - a feature which draws much favourable comment.
Cheryl likened him to a bear and the name stuck.
When told his name people often respond “But of course”.
We
had no intention of becoming involved in the dog show world, but on his first
birthday Bear competed (well) in his first shows – an Open Show and a
Championship Show.
He achieved his title just over 13 months later and was the Utility Dog
Club’s top male Mastiff for 2005.
Showing
is part of his life however Bear quite obviously loves being a socialite and
companion.
He has helped an elderly lady from our neighbourhood overcome her great
fear of dogs after being attacked by her own Afghan hound.
She progressed from a 10 metre stand-off to hugging his neck.
Bear is a regular and popular visitor to the retirement village where
Cheryl’s mother resides.
He is also walked to visit a close friend with cancer, to brighten his
day.
Our immediate neighbours marvel at how quiet he is.
A
school cricket match at a nearby park was halted so that the children could
gather around for a “show and tell” session.
On another occasion a little girl at an ‘after school care facility’
at a local park was overheard to say to a little boy “Don’t be silly Daniel,
it’s only Bear”.
A
teenage boy came especially to the recent Perth Royal Show to see Bear, having
met him the previous year at the show.
We took the lad’s photo with Bear and emailed it to him, much to his
delight.
On the same day a primary school teacher took a series of photos to show
her young students.
Countless other photos were taken, even when he sound asleep and snoring
(noisily).
Our
Bank Manager recently came to our home, on the pretext of delivering an
Application form, however it was obvious that he actually wanted an updated
photo with the dog, having previously had his photo taken with Bear at the 2005
Perth Royal Show.
These photos were soon emailed to his family in Malaysia, the family
having owned a Neopolitan / Bullmastiff cross they previously
thought big.
Bear’s
reputation has passed to friends of friends, who have then invited us over so
that they can meet our boy personally.
On one occasion we were a little concerned, as the hosts were to have
their lovely gardens open as part of the “Open Garden Scheme” the following
weekend, and Mastiff’s do have awfully large feet.
The worst that happened was he plodded straight through their frog pond.
No harm done and he has been invited back.
Bear
was a great hit at a ‘Pet Week’ promotion at a local pet shop and when we
take him on outings to either of two favourite seaside towns he is quite a
tourist attraction - stopping the traffic, having photos and even movies taken
of him.
On a recent such outing, a lady passing by summed it all up, saying “How
lucky you are to see that beautiful sight when you wake up each day”.
Paul and Cheryl Hinchon
The 2005 Mastiff companion of the year was awarded to "Raff" owned and loved by
The Gray family
Yangerdook Harlem Knight (A.K.A Raff Gray)
I
think Raff should be the companion of the year because he’s a brilliant show
dog, a loving pet and a great guard dog. He’s an excellent pet because Sophie
and Ally (my 3 & 4 year old sisters) can be playing on the trampoline and he
will just sit there and not get upset with them for jumping on up and down on
his bed, and when we make daisy chain necklaces for him he wears them happily.
At
night when we bring him inside to sleep on his enormous orange pillow, he’ll
just sit there and watch what your doing, until we move into another room when
he likes to do the army crawl, without standing up he drags himself into the
room we are and then quickly drops his head, like “Me move? I didn’t move!
Don’t know what are you talking about?”
Dad
thinks he leaves a little to be desired as a guard dog because he lets people
get into the backyard but won’t let them leave, like when two workmen jumped
the fence to have a look at the storm water drain and he kept them trapped in
the back corner for 20minutes. Dad says he’s not stopping them from going
because he’s a guard dog, but more likely because he thinks they would be good
company and he doesn’t want them to go because he wants to play with them.
But when someone knocks on the front door he barks a lot, like when the
Australia post delivery man rang the door bell and insisted on Dad opening the
front door to get a signature for a parcel, he soon changed his mind when he saw
Raff’s head poke through the door, he dropped the package and ran saying
“Don’t worry, rules were meant to be broken!”
As
a show dog he’s a bit energetic and happy, everybody knows he’s a loving dog
by the way his tail never stops wagging, but in spite of sitting when he is
suppose to be standing, or sniffing the ground when he is meant to be trotting
around, he still manages to bring home great prizes!
All
round he’s a loving, loyal, friendly Mastiff and definitely a big part of our
family. That’s why I believe he should be the companion of the year!
By
Bianca Gray
(Age
11
years)
The 2004 Mastiff companion of the year was awarded to "Shadow" owned and loved by Meredith & Adrian Dunlop
Hi, my
name is Shadow and I wish to
nominate myself this year. My biological parents Orla Simmonds & Albert
Hobbs could not afford to feed all of us kids so I was adopted to my new parents
Meredith & Adrian at 8 weeks of age. I lived with my new family in Pascoe
Vale, Melbourne and have recently travelled north to Caringbah, Sydney.
My story
begins almost one year ago...Dad came home from work with a big smile on his
face, normally when he comes home from work he has his grumpy face on and I have
to do my stuff to make him happy, sniffing his crotch and slobbering on his suit
generally works a treat. Anyway this day he was already happy and after some
chit chat Mum was happy too. Not long after that Dad packed his clothes, told me
I was in charge and left. My mum was sad.
Being a
Mastiff bitch approaching the terrible 2's is hard enough without the added
responsibility of also being the man of house.
I was
Mum's emotional support, we shared many late lonely nights watching chick flicks
together, shedding a few tears. Actually Mum did all the tear shedding, I was
busy sleeping and my caring Mum would wake me to tell me it was time to go to
bed...go figure. Mum would complain I was sleeping too loud and would turn the
picture box up, so I would sleep louder, the picture would get louder and so on,
we would play this game for hours. I would always win, I am the loudest sleeper
in our house.
Then
there was the house, many hours spent patrolling the perimeters ensuring my mum
was safe inside. My vocals have certainly developed in recent months, plenty of
barking to let everyone know I was in charge. Mum had some funny men come and
pack up all my stuff, my water dish, food bowl and house all vanished. I was a
bit confused, so Mum took me to happy place...NANNIES, I love my nanny, only one
problem, no toilets at Nannies.
Lots of
red bricks and grey pavers but no green toilets. For nearly two whole days I had
to hold my urges until my Dad called in for his weekly visit and took me for a
walk....phew, what a relief....Dad needed both his hands...that will teach him
to leave me.
Then one Saturday morning Mum & Dad said we would go
for a little drive. In the car I hopped, Mum and Nanny were shedding more tears,
I think Collingwood must have lost the night before...well a little
drive...after a while I laid down across the back seat, every so often I would
sit up and look at my Mum
& Dad with those "are we there yet" eyes, they would say something
like not long to go now, for 9 hours and 865klms we played this game.
My new
house is near the beach, Mum & Dad know I do not like the beach so I do not
understand. Anyway Dad has resumed his role as man of the house, not that I miss
it. My Mum has given up her job to stay home and take care of me, I think she is
feeling guilty for relying on me so much over these past 7 months and is trying
to make it up to me. I have made my first new friend, his name is James, he is a
2 legged 4 yo, he is tough, I can bark at him with my angry bark and he laughs
at me. He even told his Mum he was not scared of me....hope no burglars heard
that.
So why do
I think I should be Companion of the Year, cause I provided my Mum with company
and protection, supervised the removalist, arranged temporary accommodation at
Nannies and then navigated all the way to Sydney, selected our new home and
helped Mum unpack. Without me my Mummy would never have coped on her own.
Bye
for now....Shadow
(Submitted
by Adrian Dunlop)
The 2003 Mastiff companion of the year was awarded to "Arnie" owned and loved by Katrina & Peter Spence of Victoria.
Hello,
my name is Arnie and if you hadn’t guessed I am a rather
large Mastiff dog, last time I weighed in at 102kg. I live in Black Rock, a bay
side suburb of Melbourne, with my masters Peter & Katrina and my little
Cocker Spaniel companion Tiffany. Some
people now call me Arnie of Black Rock but I used to be called Arnie of Avenel,
as I was born in that country town about four and a half years ago.
I
lived my early puppy days with my former master Russell and his family and lots
of other Mastiffs. It was a
wonderful place and I had plenty of fun wrestling with my brother Max, the other
Mastiffs and Russell’s children. Avenel
is a country town, so there was lots of grass, trees and open space around.
I would spend my days playing and at night I would sleep with my mum
Molly. Russell named me Arnie after Arnie the actor who plays the role of the
Terminator. He thought the name was
right, as I grew so big so quickly.
One
day when I was about eight months old my current masters visited to “have a
look at me”. I did not know why
they wanted to look at me but they were very friendly. I remember them telling Russell that they were sad because
their other Mastiff Bess “had gone to God”.
I don’t know where that is but it seemed like it might be a nice place,
the way Peter and Katrina talked about it.
They smelled really good; they patted me and told me that I looked good.
Afterwards they went into the house with Russell and then they left.
I hoped that they would come back and “look at me” again as I enjoyed
their company.
Not long after
this they returned to Avenel. I
remember them handing Russell some folded paper stuff and then they put me on a
lead and took me to their car. Peter
had to get my front legs into the back of the car and then hoist my rear end to
lift me in. I laughed to myself
because I could have easily just got in myself but I let him lift me anyway!
Then the car started moving and I saw lots of different things going past
and I began to wonder
where
we were going. Peter and Katrina
seemed to get a little edgy when I started to chew on the tasty leather covering
of the back seats, it was delicious but I thought that I had better try to
please them and stop the chewing. Peter
tried to eat a muesli bar so I hung over his shoulder and dribbled all over his
back and neck, as I was hungry as well.
The
journey seemed to last forever until we came to an endless stretch of houses and
big buildings, then we travelled along a road where Peter said “the beach
looks great today”; he seemed to be looking at the open space which had a lot
of water behind it. It was the most
water that I had ever seen. I was
getting thirsty and I would have liked to lap some of that up.
When
we arrived at the house in Black Rock we were greeted by a little white dog
known as “White Rose Lord Tim”, or “Tim” for short. He was a Maltese Terrier and he taught me how to handle my
masters and just about everything else. He
was an old stager at this, he had been around for a long time and he explained
to me that they were good masters but you had to play the game, you know look
sad and brighten up when you get a treat or what you want.
Because he was so much older than me, he was really the second in charge
to my masters, although sometimes I wondered whether he was actually in charge
and then that would mean that I would become second in charge, our masters
third.
Later
I realised that there was another in our midst, the old cat known as Tiger.
I would try and play with him; he would get cranky and hook into my jowls
with his claws. I did not really
mind him doing this as I have a lot of loose skin and it did not hurt.
One day he hooked me and his claw got stuck, I just kept walking around
the yard with Tiger hanging off my jowls until it finally came lose.
Funny he didn’t do it much after that.
Every
day Peter got up early and walked us along the “beach”, which was really
nice to walk on, so soft and the sand felt good between my pads.
We would meet other dogs and people who would always say, “what sort is
he?”, “how much does he eat?”, “oh there’s a contrast” and “the
long and the short of it!” With
all that water around, I tried to lap it up and found that is tasted quite
strange.
Not
all that long after I arrived, Tim also went to God. Peter and Katrina were sad but I think it seems like a nice
place so I was happy that Tim had gone there, as he seemed old and sick just
before he left. Soon after Tim
went, Peter and Katrina went out one day and came back with Tiffany, the Cocker
Spaniel. She is a handful and keeps
me very fit, I am always wrestling with her and chasing toys with her.
During
the warmer months, Peter and Katrina take both of us around to the shops where
Jim the man from the Deli always gives us a sausage roll or some other tasty
treat. I am always admired and
patted by many people and they have come to know my name, my masters say that I
am a bit of a “celebrity” in Black Rock.
Peter
still walks us along the beach every day. One
day we were coming back from the beach through the shops, I needed to do a poo
although Peter did not know this. Unfortunately
it happened right outside the Taco Bill’s restaurant so Peter was not very
happy for some reason; everyone seemed to take a great interest when he picked
up after me. I do not know why, but
his face became quite red and he seemed really sheepish, normally if it happens
elsewhere he just picks up using a bag and there is no fuss.
Some of our
friends describe me as a lion without a mane.
I do not go to shows but we are
members
of the Mastiff Club and sometimes my masters take me to visit my relatives.
It is great fun and nice to see them from time to time.
My brother Max now lives in the United States, which is far away.
I don’t really miss him but I have great memories of us growing up
together in Avenel.
All
in all I have a great life, my masters work through the day but I have great fun
with Tiff, we walk every day along a beautiful beach, I am inside and warm at
night during the winter, I am cool during the summer and have plenty of good
food. The only complaint that my
masters have is about my snoring, although it never worries me and I have never
heard it. At night I am relegated
to the lounge room, while Tiff can sleep in her basket in the bedroom.
My masters treat me as one of their family and they regularly say that
Tiff and I are very spoilt but we do not think so.
Life’s great being a family Mastiff, I couldn’t ask for more; maybe
just a bit more of the Sunday lamb roast might not go astray.
Peter
Spence
The 2002 Mastiff companion of the year was posthumously awarded to "Boadicea" owned and loved by the Shaw family of Western Australia. Here is the poem written by Jackie, Wayne, Jordan and Benjamin.
Your fur vacuumed from the carpet
Your drool scrubbed from the wall
Not many signs left to remind me
That a Mastiff lived here at all.
That nothing seems to fill
And I wonder my darling Boadi
If anything ever will.
But I won’t let them forget you
The one who stood always at their side
To guard with her life if she had to.
From things new or simply out of place
And how you'd charge to get into the car
Though getting you out was done at no great pace!
Your most beautiful nature
A gentle giant indeed
But I must let you go now
And from your pain be freed.
So it's farewell for now
Walk with comfort in the next world
The most majestic of all creatures
My darling baby girl.
And just one last thing
Before I let you go
I love you with all my heart
And I miss you Bo.
Love
Always Jackie,
Barbara
Everett & Family, Norman
XXX
The 2001 Mastiff companion of the year was "Rocky" (Yangerdook Lordokingrock) adored and cared for by Irene & Laura Hobbs. Here is the article written by Irene, and a photo of Rocky.
I’d like to share this story of our
Mastiff "Rocky" with all Mastiff owners and those considering owning a
Mastiff in the future.
We live on an isolated farm 30 kilometres out of Echuca. In May of last year I
left home mid-afternoon to visit my daughter in-law and new baby in hospital.
Rocky, who was 11 months old at this time was given the standard instructions,
when I left – "You be a brave man and hold down the fort mate"!
After spending several hours at the hospital I left to come home; my daughter
Laura who had met me there was to follow me home after she dropped off a
friend in Echuca.
I arrived home about an hour after dark. I pulled up in front of the
"house yard" fence to see Rocky standing there ready to greet me as
he always does. As I watched him in the headlights I was surprised to see him
barking at me. I entered the "house yard" telling Rocky to settle
down and "I’ll get your tea", at the same time laughing at the way
he was pushing me towards the house. Believed it was his way of showing his
disapproval at being left alone for so long.
When I went into the house he remained on the veranda – his bark having
taken on a serious tone.
In realizing that I had stupidly misread his warning, I immediately went out
to him, asking "What is it mate? What’s the matter?" He was
looking towards where I had parked the car. I thought perhaps it was a fox, so
I stepped forward to go into the yard.
We have a closed in veranda and Rocky had take up position in the doorway.
When I tried to go into the yard he laid his weight against me and forced me
back into the veranda. I put my hand on his shoulders to reassure him, and
felt him trembling with fear. I was baffled to think what it was that he could
see.
I grabbed a torch and started to go out to see what it was. Each time I tried
to take a step forward Rocky, who had not stopped barking the whole time, laid
his shoulders against my thighs and tried to stop me going any closer. After a
good 5 minutes fighting against Rocky, who was trying to push me back, I got
into the yard, which is only fenced with "Ringlock".
In the six inch beam from the torch I saw the reflection of animal eyes about
ten feet the other side of the fence.
By now Rocky’s bark had become hysterical! He was shaking so hard he could
barely stand, but he remained in his sentry position in front of me.
I’m not a person who scares easily, but to see Rocky so frightened did
unnerve me, but not as much as when I realized what I was looking at was a
feral pig – a boar in fact – rooting around and crashing the cars with his
huge tusks.
I ran back to the house to get the rifle, Rocky still barking and stuck to my
thighs like "Velcro".
I rang my daughter, Laura, to ask where the bullets were for the rifle. When
she heard Rocky so distressed and learned that there was a wild boar in the
yard all she could say was "Please Mum, Lock Rocky up! Don’t let him
get hurt!"
I gave up on her and found the bullets myself. By this time the pig had run up
a sand hill. I went up the driveway to look for it, still with Rocky trying to
stop me. It was pitch black outside and only had a small torch with which to
see.
I was half way up the driveway when my husband, Rob,
arrived home in his truck. When Rob saw me with the torch and the rifle, and
saw Rocky, who by now looked as if he had rabies with white froth lathered all
over his face, he jumped out of the truck yelling "What is it?"
When I told him it was a wild boar we got the spotlight and
went after it, leaving Rocky locked in the house yard. At this point Laura
drove in and saw the pig in her headlights, which she flashed to let us know.
We shot the pig!
I came back immediately and got Rocky who was still
barking, and I took him to show him that we had killed the pig. Only when he
was sure that it was no longer a threat would he allow us to walk around
freely or to inspect the dead animal.
Rocky is our first Mastiff and we’ve always had working
dogs before. As anyone who knows working dogs knows, they are your "right
arm" in the field. Of all the working dogs I’ve owned and known, I’ve
never loved or felt so proud as I did of Rocky that night.
Even though he was only a pup, and was terrified himself,
his one thought was to protect me. He was prepared to stand his ground against
a beast, the like of which he had never seen or smelled before in his life,
all because of his love and devotion to me.
Rocky is so much more than a companion. He is a true family member!
Irene Hobbs
The 2000 Mastiff companion of the year was "Pumpkin" (Ch. Haanstorf
Cleo)
owned by Janine Morffew. Here is the article written by Janine, and a
photo of Pumpkin.
Pumpkin will be nine in a few days, she is so special to everyone in my family and to so many people who have met her. I am not going to write about her show wins or litters, they are all in the past now, she is retired many years ago.
First and foremost she has been a great mate.
She has been there for me when the times have been so hard you want to walk away. There have been the deaths of Shadow, Thomas, Keena and Kira. All so special and missed so much, when you lose one of your dogs it hurts so much, but Pumpkin really comforted us, though she grieved herself for Thomas especially. She has taught "the newcomers" in the family manners, always the mother hen. She was never aggressive with any of them. Although she certainly let them know she was the boss and where they stood in the pecking order. When Diesel came to us, she looked at me as if to say, "give me a break, not another kid", she would put up with him crawling over her, dra
gging on her flews and tail, barking in her ears wanting her to play with him, when she had enough, she would show her teeth, I would tell her to be nice, then she would walk outside and of course Diesel would follow her, I would hear her growl and him yelp and he would come tearing inside and sit at my feet looking at me as if to say, "she hit me". Diesel will be 18 months soon, he always approaches the old girl with caution, testing the waters, if she ignores him, he lies down with her and snuggles right in, it is like she is a big soft security blanket, if she lifts her head and gives him "the look", he lowers his head in submission and goes and gets on the other bed.
She is devoted to my children, she has grown up with them, my boys are 13 and 11, they were only babies themselves when she came to us, when the boys are playing with Diesel, and he does tend to get a bit rough, she will hunt him away and protect the boys, though she is quite stiff now days and a lot slower. She is happiest when laying on her bed in the lounge or eating. Her two favourite pastimes.
I will always remember one year at the Royal Melbourne Show. A man and his young daughter stopped to speak with me about her, the man asked the usual questions, we have all heard them a million times, he then asked me if his daughter could pat Pumpkin and feel her all over as she was blind. I said of course she could. She came under the barrier and I sat her next to Pumpkin, the little girl touched her and her face broke into the most beautiful smile, she turned her face towards where I was speaking and told me my dog was "beautiful". No matter what anyone has ever said about Pumpkin, this little girl’s opinion has always meant the most to me.
Pumpkin is beautiful, loyal, loving, devoted and you would not be able to but a better mate than her. I am so grateful she has passed these traits on to not only her own babies, but the surrogates she has also raised. We all love you so much old girl.
Janine Morffew
The 1999 Mastiff companion of the year was "Tillie" (Ch. Fireshon Rain Song) owned by Paul & Gabrielle Simmonds. Here is the article written by Gabrielle, and a photo of Tillie
.
“TILLIE”
When speaking of companions, Tillie is
just IT! Of course, we are biased, but how could we not be with Tillie in our
home and lives. She is just adorable.
She joined us in 1995 and was a wonderful
buddy for our first Mastiff, Emma. Since that time, there have been several
younger Mastiffs and older ones in our home, and Tillie has been exceptional
with all of them.
Tillie assumes the mother and teaching role. It is quite extraordinary to watch her with young puppies – she gently plays with them, whilst still teaching them the rules. We have seen her physically intervene by positioning herself between youngsters that she perceives are playing too much. We remember one occasion when she laid down between two youngsters and gently nudged the youngest away from “the action”. We have seen her position herself between adolescents so often and ensure that play is kept in order. She is always gently and tolerates so much from these, at times, unruly puppies.
Just recently, after a new puppy had come into our home, Tillie became very attentive and kept whining as I was walking her on the road near our block. I couldn’t understand what the problem was, and then I heard the puppy crying. Tillie was so keen to get back home and once she was back, there were kisses and you’d think that they had been parted for months. She was obviously quite distressed about the welfare of the puppy.
Tillie loves her “walkies” and she doesn’t pull or bother about all the dogs barking. She accepts the puppies walking all around her and hassling her. She has her favourite spot where she selects the grass that she likes to eat and then walks through it to rub her belly. She says hello to the Golden Retrievers down the road, but takes on a more protective role if we are also walking the Flat Coat puppy.
To say that she has been more than accepting of this bouncy Flat Coat puppy is an understatement. She allows Belle to bound all around her, constantly licking the slobber from her mouth, and then lays down while Belle plays and barks at her. She is ever so tolerant, and that tolerance also extends to our active 12 month Mastiff, Whitbey.
So how is Tillie towards us and living with? She is the most loving and devoted companion who demands nothing (except her dinner if it is really late!). She always greets us with a present, whether it be a shoe, a cloth, or a leaf, if that’s all she can find – she takes great delight in presenting her gift to us. Tillie will never get on the couch unless the covers are on it; she loves to lie on the couch next to us with her head in a lap; she very gently paws for “more fuss”. Tillie will bark once or twice at the door if she wants to come in or go out; she will sit to have her paw wiped and then give you the other paw. She follows us to be where we are without being obtrusive and “in your face”; she doesn’t run around wildly and only barks for a very good reason. She is so perceptive to our moods and responds with affection to our times of sadness. She has her favourite human friends and they are always remembered and welcomed lovingly by her. She is just so cute when she looks up at us, half asleep, with her tongue just poking out – Tillie completely content!
Well, we just have to say that Tillie is the best dog ever to live with and the most wonderful companion. We know that we are very, very lucky to have her in our home. We care for her, but she gives far more to us than just caring for her. She is that reason to come home for every night because she is just so undemanding and unquestionably loving. She is an asset that a value cannot be placed on because she is just far too special. Our lives would certainly be unthinkably incomplete without her.
Tillie is just our best companion ever!
Gabrielle & Paul Simmonds