{"id":1015,"date":"2010-12-06T13:29:36","date_gmt":"2010-12-06T21:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2010-12-06T18:09:36","modified_gmt":"2010-12-07T02:09:36","slug":"expert-series-boston-terrier-petey-copes-with-the-loss-of-chris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/expert-series-boston-terrier-petey-copes-with-the-loss-of-chris\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert Series: Boston Terrier Petey Copes With The Loss Of Chris"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On the early morning of October 19th<\/sup>, my friend Chris Staley passed away of cancer.\u00a0 He was 45.\u00a0 A few weeks prior to his death, Chris asked me to be his dog\u2019s guardian.\u00a0 Petey is a remarkable one-year-old Boston Terrier.\u00a0 One minute he will be running around squeaking a toy and using my legs as a jump off point. And the next minute he will be curled up in my lap, looking up at me wide-eyed saying things like, \u201cMy dad had more pain inside of him than he voiced.\u00a0 Why do bodies die?\u00a0 It is strange having him kiss, hug me and sit with me without his body.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Within hours of sending an email to a select group of people that Petey was looking for a home, I received close to thirty calls.\u00a0 Every person either presently lives with a Boston Terrier, has a cancer survivor in the family, or both.\u00a0 Petey went on trial with a family who has two Bostons in the family; they play a canine sport called fly ball, allow the dogs on the bed, feed good food, go to extreme measures when there is a medical issue, have a cancer survivor in the family, and use human training techniques.\u00a0 They even have a Boston Terrier flag at the entrance of their house.\u00a0 They love Petey! I couldn\u2019t find a better home.\u00a0 But when I went back to check on Petey, he begged me to take him away.\u00a0 He said one of the dogs didn\u2019t like him, he didn\u2019t sleep on the bed, and he wondered why grandma (Chris\u2019 mom) couldn\u2019t keep him.\u00a0 Trance, one of the dogs in the family, licked me and begged, \u201cSince Petey came here I feel normal.\u00a0 He is my best friend. Please make him stay.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Despite the great home and Trance\u2019s pleading, I took Petey away because that is what HE wanted.\u00a0 In the car, Petey said he wanted \u201ca gay hairdresser like dad.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 When I told him I wasn\u2019t sure if I could find exactly that, he replied, \u201cMy dad thought you had great hair.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we got back home, I didn\u2019t feel right.\u00a0 Stormy, my Aussie, tried to help. \u201cPetey, fly ball is really cool.\u00a0 You should learn that game.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Petey replied, \u201cI want a gay hairdresser.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Alright, I thought, I can find him that. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Petey just wanted Chris back.\u00a0 Not even the best gay hairdresser would be good enough.\u00a0 So we talked and talked and we jointly decided to bring Petey back to the family that loves him.\u00a0 Petey would start a new life different than the one he had with Chris.\u00a0 On the car ride there, Petey asked, \u201cDo I have to forget about my old life now?\u201d<\/em><\/strong> I told him never to forget, but to concentrate on playing and being happy.\u00a0 He said, \u201cWhat is my job if no one is suffering?\u201d<\/em><\/strong> I told him to be a good friend to his new people and that Trance needs him.\u00a0 When we got to his new home, Petey ran around playing like he lived there all along.<\/p>\n

Now a day and two nights later, I ask him how is he doing?\u00a0 Petey says, \u201cI like it here.\u00a0 It is so different.\u00a0 I have to get used to being able to play whenever I want and not having to check on Chris to see if he needs me.\u00a0 Instead, I go in and ask Trance if he is feeling ok \u2018cause his body hurts but it is a different pain than dad\u2019s.\u00a0 Sometimes, I ask Penny (the other dog) if she can teach me something or tell me about fly ball.\u00a0 She still doesn\u2019t love me, but I think she will. I slept on the bed but it didn\u2019t smell like dad so I got off.\u00a0 I miss dad more than anything but I am learning to feel comfortable here.\u00a0 I am still very sad.\u00a0 They are giving me extra love and I am learning that they care about me too.\u00a0 I think the love I had for dad will grow for them with time.\u00a0 Thank you Laura for looking out for me.\u00a0 Please don\u2019t forget me.\u00a0 I want to see you because dad told me you would always be a part of my life.\u00a0 I don\u2019t ever want to forget that life.\u00a0 I hate not being able to smell him anymore.\u00a0 Whenever I get sad, I remember what you said and I remember my dad\u2019s smile and I play and pretend it is him throwing the toy for me. \u00a0I see him in spirit.\u00a0 He is happy I am safe.\u00a0 He approves of this home.\u00a0 I am going to be ok.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Laura Stinchfield Bio:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laura Stinchfield is an internationally acclaimed pet psychic.\u00a0 She is known and respected by her colleagues and clientele for her amazingly accurate and life changing telepathic animal communications as well as her handling skills and knowledge of animal behavior.\u00a0 Laura\u2019s clientele ranges from other animal trainers (domestic and exotic), veterinarians, rescue groups, celebrities, to private consultations with adults and children.\u00a0 Laura is an avid writer and columnist.\u00a0 She is the creator of the popular blog www.ThePetPsychic.com\/blog<\/a> Laura dedicates her life to sharing the vastness of animal consciousness.\u00a0 She believes that if we learn to communicate with animals more clearly, their confusion and behavior problems begin to drift away and we in return become more peaceful, caring people. \u00a0Laura’s website is http:\/\/www.thePetPsychic.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to <\/strong>Stories<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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On the early morning of October 19th, my friend Chris Staley passed away of cancer.\u00a0 He was 45.\u00a0 A few weeks prior to his death, Chris asked me to be his dog\u2019s guardian.\u00a0 Petey is a remarkable one-year-old Boston Terrier.\u00a0 One minute he will be running around squeaking a toy and using my legs as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,29,7],"tags":[13,131,14,120],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-companion","category-loss","category-relationships","tag-animal","tag-loss","tag-pets","tag-relationships"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":11369,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}