Canine Partners

Life can be so cruel sometimes, and so unfair. Julia had played a direct part in making life better for so many people during her time with us, and just think how many more people’s lives she would have touched if she had had the opportunity?

I first met Julia when I was involved in interviewing her for the role of Dog Welfare Officer because I was responsible for the Operations department at that time, and needed someone to join our growing team at our Sussex Centre. She stood out from the crowd at interview because of her depth of experience in the horsey world, where she had been a qualified riding instructor for many years, and also a groom. These eminently transferable skills, combined with her passion for dogs, her Animal Welfare qualification, and her quiet determination to relocate from Suffolk to Sussex, made her the obvious candidate for the job. Dogs and horses might be very different animals but the attributes required when working with them are very similar: lots of patience, care and attention to their needs, long hours in all weathers, and of course all the same people skills that are involved when teaching people about animals, when some of them have natural ability and some have less. What also shone through in that first impression of Julia, was her desire to ‘give something back’ – she was so keen to play her part in changing people’s lives. It certainly wasn’t all about the dogs.

It was because of Julia’s people skills that we soon saw the opportunity to make better use of her attributes, promoting her to Trainer/Instructor so that she could play a more direct part in training the dogs themselves as well as passing on this knowledge to the disabled people with whom they were matched. She turned out to be an absolutely brilliant instructor, and I often received glowing feedback from those disabled people with whom she worked, about how utterly professional she was in the way she imparted information, being patient, clear and supportive. The funny thing was, although this was a huge strength in Julia, it was the part of the role that she never thought she was particularly good at, and which she felt less comfortable with. Some people just don’t realise what talent they have, do they? This was something that Julia’s sister commented upon in her tribute to Julia at her memorial service on Friday – she was forever underselling herself. One of those people who quietly gets on with it, without making a fuss, and without any feeling of self importance or entitlement. She didn’t think she was very good with people, and yet there are countless people who now have a better life because of what she did for them – they are living their lives across the UK with a trained canine partner by their side, courtesy of Julia. That’s something to be very proud of.

Julia was unbelievably brave in the way she faced her diagnosis eighteen months ago, and in the way she faced her treatment. I don’t know if I would be, in similar circumstances. She was adamant that nobody should be made aware of the reasons behind her absences, for surgery on more than one occasion and the accompanying courses of chemotherapy, apart from her very closest friends. She was completely inspiring in the way she gritted her teeth and got on with it. Many people would have shrunk back from life, feeling sorry for themselves. But Julia wasn’t just ‘many people’ – she shrugged off her problems and insisted on returning to work as normal, right up until the very end. She said it was the only thing that kept her going. We all knew that things were getting really critical when she finally felt too weak to undertake even shortened hours, and also when she had to ask Clare (best friend, confidante and fellow Trainer/Instructor) to step in and take over the care of her beloved black labrador Taylor, who had been one of Julia’s trainee dogs who had not been quite cut out for the life of a canine partner.

You just can’t underestimate the effect an event like this has on a close knit community like the Canine Partners family. We have so many fantastic staff, who are caring and supportive by nature, having joined us in order to change people’s lives. In particular Clare, and the team of advanced trainers, closed ranks around Julia and supported her fantastically. It was something that Julia’s sister commented upon, and really appreciated. She was full of gratitude and praise for the way Julia had been looked after during those difficult months, and it was something that her family felt strongly. Not only Canine Partners, but also MacMillan, and ultimately the hospice.

And so we gathered to pay our respects and celebrate Julia’s life, at the little church in Tillington last Friday, surrounded by paintings of horses and dogs, of quite breathtaking quality, into which Julia had poured so much of herself. She was a brilliant artist, which suited her patient and contemplative nature, with an acute eye for detail and a willingness to devote hours and hours of time for the sake of getting something ‘just right’. (She undertook an Art degree before launching into the world of animals). Some people have amazing talents.

As I said at the opening of this piece, as chief executive I have a duty of care to all my staff. Julia’s direct colleagues have been hit very hard by her loss, and the effects will be long lasting. Like Julia, they are determined to do their best to make life better for people with disabilities, and they have been amazing in the way they have continued ‘business as usual’, while grieving on the inside, and as a team. We will do our best to support them, and between us we will carry on where Julia left off, as we know this is what she would have wanted.

Andy