A Life Threatening Moment You’ve Faced With Your Pet

This was around 1997 when I was 21. I was watching tv at around 1 am and my Golden Retriever, Shawny was sleeping on the front porch/veranda. The rest of the family were sleeping. I was sleepy and about to get up and switch the tv off and go to bed when I hear my dog barking like she was scared and angry at the same time. I thought nothing of it at first (must have been a cat passing outside our gate) but she kept at it. That woke up my dad and brother in law (my older sister had just given birth to her first son a few days ago).

I was the first to step out and check and heard the noise first before I saw the snake – it was a venomous small snake that was rare in this area and it was hissing at Shawny, who was scared. My dad, bro in law and I got whatever we could find – a field hockey stick, a cricket bat and some other sticks we had – and went towards the snake trying to get at it. Shawny had slinked away, towards the house at this point. At some point the snake hissed and made its way towards me and I back up a couple of steps – all of a sudden I hear this ferocious growl and barking as Shawny ran and placed herself between me and the snake. The snake must have been startled (truthfully we all were as I had never heard her barking this loudly before) and my brother in law and dad took this opportunity to hit the snake on its head.

All 3 of us hit it and the snake died and we used my hockey stick to pick the snake carcass and toss it outside the house. All of our hearts were beating so fast and we were still reeling from the experience. I turned towards my best friend only to see that she has brought her favourite ball to me and had that look in her eyes “Since we are all awake now, can we play fetch?”

As my dad and brother-in-law went to comfort my mother and sister, I played ball with Shawny until I was tired and sleepy. I will never forget that dog. She was my best friend and unfortunately, dogs don’t live long enough. She passed away in 2005 but not a day goes by without me thinking of her and wishing she were still with me.

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