A story told by Dog Mom, Carla J.G.
Paddington is a Morgan horse that I got when he was 3 years old. In the 1980’s, I showed at Morgan horses shows, in New England. Around the year 2000, Paddington retired and continued to live at home with us…enjoying rides around the property during his golden years.
Paddington lived among dogs, but never developed any special relationship with them until one day in early 2009, when a new puppy, named Zurich, came home. This would be the first dog Paddington got to meet as a young puppy. He got to watch this puppy grow from the very early stages of his life.
On the day that Zurich met Paddington, he was intimidated by his size of him, standing and staring from the other side of the fence….he didn’t know what to make of Paddington and wasn’t sure if he should be afraid and walk away, or brave and check out Paddington on the other side of the fence.
Swiss Mountain Dogs, (Swissys) always want to have a job to do …and that was Zurich…the day to day activities were good for him. Each day, we would go out to the barn and give Paddington his food and water. Lucky for Zurich, this always involved him getting some as a treat as well. Visiting the barn, and eating their snacks together is what started to build their bond.
As time went on, Zurich took it upon himself to expand his job to include watching over Paddington. Swissys are very good watchdogs…they’re very protective of their territory and all who live there.
While I did barn chores, Paddington and Zurich would spend time together in the corral. Paddington, who was always very young at heart, was always very playful. With a puppy, who was growing bigger by the day and was always very playful made for the perfect recipe for the two of them. This made them get closer and ignited antics that entertained us everyday.
When it came time to dishing out Paddington’s grain, Zurich wasn’t shy about poking his head in to grab a taste as well as sampling some hay. Zurich always thought if his buddy Paddington liked it then it must be good and that he should like it too. This however didn’t stop at just hay. This included carrots, apples and bran mash as well.
Horses are generally known to live a long time. As Paddington got older and entered into his late 20’s, his desire to wander off of the property had decreased. We allowed him to spend time outside of the corral and graze on the lawn grasses which he liked. Here, Zurich would join him – grazing on the grass…highly unlikely for a dog to enjoy. When it came time for Paddington to go back to the barn, Zurich would assist by herding him back in.
From 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock was their playtime and it seemed like Zurich watched the clock for it. Once 4 o’clock came and he heard the sound of the cover coming off the grain barrel, Paddington would head back to the barn and Zurich would follow saying, “never mind kibble, grain sounds good to me”. When the hay was thrown down from the loft, Zurich decided, if my brother likes it then maybe I will to.
They did everything together.
Sometimes the two of them argued like two grumpy old men…and other times, Zurich wanted to play and get Paddington to run, whether Paddington was in the mood or not. Some days, he just wanted to nap in the sunshine (can you blame him?)…Zurich would bark and bark at him until Paddington gave him the hint that he wanted to be left alone. He would lean his head in with his ears back and slightly lunge at Zurich to get his point across. One time, Zurich even got his foot stepped on as Paddington was moving around in his stall…Zurich finally stood up for himself by barking loudly at him, even though he wasn’t hurt.
By the way dogs and horses age, they were both senior citizens at the same time and they had spent so many years together that they were inseparable.
One year, we had a particularly large snow storm, which turned into an awesome time for the two friends. As a dog coming from Switzerland, Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs prefer winter…and snow added even more excitement to their friendship.
These two were the perfect pair together. We had a friend who is a professional photographer who wanted to take pictures of them for a magazine. People could not believe some of these pictures were real. They were so amazing, we had to turn them into Christmas cards. The pure friendship they show one another is heartwarming. Who could imagine that two animals, of completely different genetic makeups could be such friends?
While Zurich lived in the house and Paddington lived in the barn, Zurich always wanted to go back out to the barn before bedtime to check on his brother. After he knew all was well, we could all go to bed for the night. One day in 2018 when I went out to feed Paddington I noticed he was not feeling well. We called the vet, who quickly arrived and decided to transport Paddington to the nearby emergency clinic. When we arrived they did multiple tests and were able to keep him stable for the night. The next day, after more tests were run, they decided that his intestinal tract was not working properly and his organs were starting to shut down. At his age of 36, surgery was not an option so we made the heartbreaking decision to bring him home and end his suffering.
Paddington is buried at home in his favorite spot under the pine trees in his corral. Poor Zurich was depressed following his best friend’s death. We did everything we knew that Zurich loved to help keep his mind off of Paddington and his passing. We walked at his favorite spots every day, went for car rides, and even went for ice cream after supper.
Zurich soldiered on.
But his daily routine was broken. He missed going to the barn every morning and spending his afternoon playing with his friend. Zurich showed us how he really felt. He would walk into the corral and lay down on the spot that Paddington was buried. This was a true testament to their friendship. As the months wore on, Zurich seemed to change. It was as if he grew older overnight.
We realized that Paddington and Zurich together were keeping each other young at heart.
One night, 8 months after the passing of Paddington, we noticed Zurich was not acting right. We decided he needed to go to the emergency vet as well. They discovered he had cancerous tumors on his spleen and liver. We decided to see what the vets could do for him surgically, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
Zurich is now buried next to Paddington, in the corral under the pine trees.
Thank you Carla for sharing this heartwarming story! If you’d like your story featured, please contact us at info.theblogofadog@gmail.com.
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