Written by Mandy Turner
Professional photography by Moonshadow Fine Art Dog Photographer (a division of Tracey-Rae Images)
On Monday, the 16th of March 2020, I was aimlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed when I came across a post from Monique Burrows, a Great Dane rescuer in Cape Town. It was about a beautiful female Great Dane called Duchess, who was just shy of eighteen months of age.
Begging for love
We’d said our final good-byes to our precious boy, Oscar, also a Great Dane, just six months earlier and were still mourning him. We vowed that we wouldn’t be getting another dog any time soon as we were still too sore. But as soon as I saw the picture of Duchess, I was struck by her gorgeous, soft brown eyes that seemed to be begging for love. I felt as though I knew her already and I was overcome by an overwhelming feeling of love for her.
I had to meet her to see if she felt the same about me.
I immediately phoned my husband, Stuart, to tell him about Duchess. The timing wasn’t great; firstly, we’d already decided no dogs for at least another year, and secondly, he was having one of the worst days at work! He said we could discuss things when he got home that evening. I knew that anybody who saw the post would fall in love with Duchess too and we could lose the chance to meet her and to potentially give her a forever home, so I had to take action!
My heart was racing. I couldn’t let this girl go to someone else; I just knew deep in my soul that she was meant for us. I messaged Monique:
“… Stuart and I are very interested in Duchess. We feel ready to start looking at adopting, so would love to chat to you more about it.”
I kept the message casual; not wanting to commit without first discussing it with Stuart but also wanting to ensure that Monique knew we were interested.
Preventing a tragedy
Monique responded immediately, both shocked and excited that she was hearing from me so soon (we knew Monique and she was aware that, while we planned to adopt a Dane in the future, we weren’t ready for another dog so soon after losing Oscar).
I told her that I’d be in touch later that evening after chatting to Stuart. Needless to say, when he saw the Great Dane Rescuer post he too fell in love with Duchess just from her pictures!
Monique told us that Duchess’s owner (the last of four homes she’d been in during the course of her short life thus far) initially wanted to euthanise her as he claimed she was vicious! Thankfully, Monique was there to prevent this tragedy from happening. Anyone who’s ever met her since we’ve had her is stunned by the claim – she couldn’t be vicious if she tried!
Meeting a duchess
After Duchess was surrendered to Monique, she scheduled her for sterilisation on the Friday of that week (20 March), and we were given the option of either fostering her before Friday or waiting until after she was sterilised to meet and potentially adopt her.
We knew that it was highly unlikely that we wouldn’t take her after meeting her, so we opted to meet her after the sterilisation so that we could get ourselves organised for her potential arrival.
On Saturday, the 21st of March 2020, we pulled up outside the foster’s home, our stomachs churning with nervous excitement. Monique and Danielle (the foster) both told us not to worry if Duchess didn’t pay too much attention to us as in addition to being quite shy, she’d also just had surgery the day before and would most likely not be too interested in engaging with us.
Boy, were they wrong! We were greeted by two large front paws slumped over the bottom half of the front stable door, a beautiful shiny black nose, toothy smile, and those eyes! Those gorgeous, soft brown eyes that looked straight into my soul. Danielle was so surprised to see Duchess being so animated; it was as if she’d anticipated our arrival.
We spent time walking around the lovely garden with Duchess, getting to know each other. My mom, who’s very frail, came with us for the meet-and-greet but waited in the car while we got acquainted with Duchess. As Duchess moved back and forth between us, smelling us and offering nose-kisses, Stuart looked over at me, smiling – I knew in that moment that we were both in love with her and that she’d be coming home with us. When we made our way back to the car, Duchess noticed Granny sitting in the car, and she stuck her head through the open window to give her a smell and a kiss! Granny was in love too!
She chose us
We knew that we wouldn’t be able to take Duchess that day as there was the adoption paperwork to be done first. Monique, however, knew us and had been in our home, and because of that (and the fact that the country was about to go into lockdown) we were able to speed up the process. We could collect her the very next day!
We were so excited to fetch our girl that we hardly slept that night. Before 8am on Sunday, the 22nd of March, we officially adopted Cilka – we renamed her for two reasons: a new name for her new start, and because she never even responded to the name Duchess. It was as if she was just waiting to become Cilka – the dog she was always meant to be, given the right home environment.
On our arrival to collect Cilka, we opened the boot of our car so we could remove some bags and get the space ready for her journey home with us. As soon as Danielle opened the front door, Cilka raced out and promptly jumped into the open boot and lay down, looking at us cheekily as if to say: “I choose them,” and “I’m going home with them!”
Becoming Cilka
Over the next few months, Cilka transformed from a skinny, shy girl who was terribly sick with Ehrlichiosis, into a healthy, glossy-coated, sociable girl, who was just as good at giving love as she was at receiving it.
We got special permission to train Cilka throughout lockdown with Lynda Montignies (Dogz at Home Training Centre). Cilka was an absolute joy to train; she quickly learnt all the basic commands (sit, stand, down, stay…) and how to walk well on a lead. She proved to be an intelligent, well-mannered, obedient, calm and gentle dog with a special gift for bringing comfort to those who are anxious and joy to those feeling down.
After passing her Canine Good Citizen test, we knew that her purpose was to become a therapy dog – a dog this special had to be shared with the rest of the world!
I contacted Roenel at PAT (Pets As Therapy) and, after passing their assessment, we joined the organisation as “Team Cilka”.
Cilka has brought and continues to bring such joy and love to our lives and the lives of so many others with whom she comes into contact. We visit the residents at Alta Du Toit Centre every second Friday, where Cilka dispenses love in the form of nose-kisses and giving a paw to hold. Cilka also accompanies me to schools where we read to children and teach them how to be safe around dogs. She’s especially gifted at helping children overcome their fear of dogs and she has special powers when it comes to calming those who struggle to regulate their emotions. She’s also incredibly gentle with my mom and lovingly acts as a physical and emotional support to her.
Everybody who meets Cilka, from babies in prams to the elderly in wheelchairs, or just anybody she happens to pass on one of our walks, ends up falling in love with her, drawing strength from her quiet, calm and gentle nature.
We feel incredibly blessed that Cilka chose us as her forever family: she’s healed our hearts and filled our home with love and light. I’ve been so inspired by our special girl that I’m currently working on a children’s book about her and her noble therapy work (the book will be launched towards the end of the year) – a beautiful story about our extraordinary dog!
