Short Stories

Goodbye Hugi

Posted on: 19 April 2022

Hugi was the smallest of Anya’s second litter. She was born on 12th September 2007, one of a litter of ten.

 

 

At nine months she went away for gundog training. The training was supposed to last for three months, but due to circumstances and illness, she remained with her trainer for 12 months. She was as delighted to see us as we were to be reunited with her. 

She loved working. As soon as Stuart and I put on our shooting clothes she was ready to go, and apart from begging for food at every opportunity, her training stood her in good stead for her whole life. She was well-behaved, loving and loved.

She had some wonderful times on the beach, although she never took to swimming as her mother had done.

When Margaret, Stuart’s mum, moved in to the house at the bottom of the garden, Hugi took full advantage of the situation. She would visit Margaret regularly, knowing that she could be sure of a treat and she was always more than happy to stay with Margaret if Stuart and I were away. In 2016 Hugi joined Stuart, Margaret and I when we drove through France to spend a month in a villa in Cannes —a lifestyle that we could all, very easily, have got used to.

She always enjoyed travelling in the back of the Jag with the top down, her ears flying backwards.

For much of lockdown she was my only companion — I could not have asked for a better one.

 

There is no way I could calculate how far we have walked together. On one occasion when I was walking alone, I said “Hello,” to an acquaintance .

“I didn’t recognise you without the dog,” she replied.

So, perhaps on my future solitary walks, no one will know who I am.

We miss her.