In this blog I am reflecting on a time over four years ago, the first year in which I had our lovely dog Betty. It is prompted by a meet-up I had in Sefton park with Phil, a dog walking acquaintance of mine. I had not talked to Phil for some time as his dog Champ was an elderly dog and his reduced mobility meant that his regular walks, whether with Phil, or Chris his wife, resulted in our paths crossing less and less. Champ was not with Phil today, he had died some weeks previously. He recounted how was life post Champ. Always a wise and thoughtful man he reflected on the emotional challenges on Champ's last week and how he and Chris made the difficult decision of having him put to sleep. he talked some about how he had visited spots in the neighbourhood and how they brought back the memories of Champ over the course of his 12 years of life. It probably explained why he was in Sefton Park, a destination that had been beyond Champ for some time.
It was nice to catch up on the latest from the world close to Champ's house, a small park that is surrounded by streets of terraced houses in an area of the city called the Hamlet. Four years ago I got to know this park very well and the people and their dogs who were frequent users of it. Betty at that time was under one and I found her quite a handful. These people were incredibly supportive of me in helping to manage some of her mischievousness at a time when my confidence was rock bottom and my anxiety had caused me to be finished up from work due my mental health the previous year. Phil, Chris and Champ were some of the faces I looked for each morning when I was fighting to contain rising fear and anxiety at the prospect of navigating the day ahead. The word down to earth could of been invented for them; each exchange with them had the desired effect of levelling out my breathing, their reflections on life's challenges, mine and others in their orbit were considered and dealt with a mixture of creativity and humour. I used to focus on starting my day by getting to the park at just the time when they were about, between 7 and 8am. This was my life over a eighteen month period. It was among these early morning conversations were I began mooting the idea of setting up a dog walking business as well as many other schemes and projects that involved helping my mental health to improve. I inevitably met up with others with stories of struggle and saw examples of support and care to these people in measure equal to my own.
At the time of me establishing this healthy morning routine the group most regularly meeting up included a man in his fourties who was a neighbour of Phil and Chris's called Don. Living with his parents and having a learning disability Don cut a strange figure by all accounts, never speaking at all but always with a love of animals. When his mother died Don was staying in the house on his own and long term neighbours like Phil and Chris really worried for how he would cope. Don acquired a puppy and Chris particularly took the opportunity to encourage him out regularly with her and Champ. When I met him, this arrangement had been going on for over 6 months. Its true Don was reluctant to speak but with the right cues he was having a go and of course we all had a common interest in the dogs. They found a friend and playmate in Don, always happy to throw a stick for them to fetch, to rub them animatedly in their favourite spot. Over the months and years Don would be seen taking charge of additional dogs from the neighbourhood. he has made himself a valuable and much loved asset amongst the dog loving community of our area. I was particularly saddened and sickened to hear from Phil that there had been an online suggestion that Don was peodophile and threats had been made against him, again on line. Fortunately the local dog walking community that liked and respected Don had rallied round, alerted his family and a supportive presence had been erected, monitoring him while out in the parks with the dogs. This had frightened off whoever was behind this campaign, for now anyway.
The type of abuse experienced by Don is what is known as disability hate crime and there are laws specifically addressing the issue. Meanwhile research about the levels of widespread bullying indicate that in an increasingly disconnected world the scope to get away with it makes detection very hard. Police and other public bodies are required to investigate such alledged incidents in an appropriate way and monitored on there performance, discretion is an mportant factor here as when dealing with other allegations of abuse. There is seldom a better way to deal with such issues than through civil acation backed up by the discrete support of the authorities. I would recommend that in such circumstances that police. councils etc should be informed of concerns about abuse in the area so at the very least they can have a record of the incidents. They can then use this information to resource appropriate services to deal with it.
The picture I have accompanying the blog this week is park of a visual project i have begun. I am asking people to write a message to say something that their pet gives them. This picture was taken last month at the Clubmoor dog show that I blogged about last time but the sentiments i made at that time have only been reinforced by the conversation I had with Phil. Please send me photo's in a similar format and I can include you're thoughts in the final work and join us in the gallery
Final thought R.I.P. Champ; a cracking dog.
PS. Some names have been changed in this blog.
It was nice to catch up on the latest from the world close to Champ's house, a small park that is surrounded by streets of terraced houses in an area of the city called the Hamlet. Four years ago I got to know this park very well and the people and their dogs who were frequent users of it. Betty at that time was under one and I found her quite a handful. These people were incredibly supportive of me in helping to manage some of her mischievousness at a time when my confidence was rock bottom and my anxiety had caused me to be finished up from work due my mental health the previous year. Phil, Chris and Champ were some of the faces I looked for each morning when I was fighting to contain rising fear and anxiety at the prospect of navigating the day ahead. The word down to earth could of been invented for them; each exchange with them had the desired effect of levelling out my breathing, their reflections on life's challenges, mine and others in their orbit were considered and dealt with a mixture of creativity and humour. I used to focus on starting my day by getting to the park at just the time when they were about, between 7 and 8am. This was my life over a eighteen month period. It was among these early morning conversations were I began mooting the idea of setting up a dog walking business as well as many other schemes and projects that involved helping my mental health to improve. I inevitably met up with others with stories of struggle and saw examples of support and care to these people in measure equal to my own.
At the time of me establishing this healthy morning routine the group most regularly meeting up included a man in his fourties who was a neighbour of Phil and Chris's called Don. Living with his parents and having a learning disability Don cut a strange figure by all accounts, never speaking at all but always with a love of animals. When his mother died Don was staying in the house on his own and long term neighbours like Phil and Chris really worried for how he would cope. Don acquired a puppy and Chris particularly took the opportunity to encourage him out regularly with her and Champ. When I met him, this arrangement had been going on for over 6 months. Its true Don was reluctant to speak but with the right cues he was having a go and of course we all had a common interest in the dogs. They found a friend and playmate in Don, always happy to throw a stick for them to fetch, to rub them animatedly in their favourite spot. Over the months and years Don would be seen taking charge of additional dogs from the neighbourhood. he has made himself a valuable and much loved asset amongst the dog loving community of our area. I was particularly saddened and sickened to hear from Phil that there had been an online suggestion that Don was peodophile and threats had been made against him, again on line. Fortunately the local dog walking community that liked and respected Don had rallied round, alerted his family and a supportive presence had been erected, monitoring him while out in the parks with the dogs. This had frightened off whoever was behind this campaign, for now anyway.
The type of abuse experienced by Don is what is known as disability hate crime and there are laws specifically addressing the issue. Meanwhile research about the levels of widespread bullying indicate that in an increasingly disconnected world the scope to get away with it makes detection very hard. Police and other public bodies are required to investigate such alledged incidents in an appropriate way and monitored on there performance, discretion is an mportant factor here as when dealing with other allegations of abuse. There is seldom a better way to deal with such issues than through civil acation backed up by the discrete support of the authorities. I would recommend that in such circumstances that police. councils etc should be informed of concerns about abuse in the area so at the very least they can have a record of the incidents. They can then use this information to resource appropriate services to deal with it.
The picture I have accompanying the blog this week is park of a visual project i have begun. I am asking people to write a message to say something that their pet gives them. This picture was taken last month at the Clubmoor dog show that I blogged about last time but the sentiments i made at that time have only been reinforced by the conversation I had with Phil. Please send me photo's in a similar format and I can include you're thoughts in the final work and join us in the gallery
Final thought R.I.P. Champ; a cracking dog.
PS. Some names have been changed in this blog.