A Memoir

He was closer in stature to a wolf than a dog. Occasionally I would look out into the garden in the summer and imagine a lion lazing beneath the trees rather than our oversized German Shepherd, Kray. He had always been big, as a puppy and as a young dog he used to jump up on his hind legs and nearly overshadow me. But despite his great strength and power, Kray was a gentle giant and had the nicest temperament of all the 12 puppies we have trained for guide dogs for the blind.

We always knew when my Dad returned home from work as children. There would be a stampede of heavy paws to the door and a high pitched whining noise as Kray tried to stick his noise through the letter box. The moment the door opened Kray would start ‘crying’ and whining wildly as my father tried to get a foot through the door. For such a large animal I’ve always found it comical that Kray rarely barked but used to cry like an excited toddler if he made any noise at all. He truly earned his nickname ‘Kraybaby’.

Despite his formidable size, Kray, was fearful of the oddest things. Whilst he was young our granddad's tortoise bit him on the nose, the poor boy was so shocked he never quite got over his wariness of the shelled reptiles. He never chased other animals and use to lie quite at leisure in the garden with our cat, Travis, and my rabbit hopping about him. Sometimes I link his unorthodox fears to the idea that although very obedient, Kray was probably quite dim witted. By the way of an example Kray had an absolute obsession with chasing and trying to catch light. His obsession was so intense that he tore up the dining room carpet in our old home in a desperate and hopeless attempt to grab a flicker a light. You could let the sunlight shine on the face of a watch so that the reflection hit the wall of a room and watch Kray chase it for hours.




There was something about Kray that left a lasting bond with my family, we were used to puppies moving on but when Kray left for his training just over a year after we first carried him home our house felt empty. We were missing something. So when we were offered him back in his retirement 9 years later we all jumped at the opportunity. I still remember the day we picked him up from the centre. The moment Kray recognised my father he went wild with joy crying and whining as he used to. He still knew us, remembered us and loved us.

Kray passed on last week and we are all so sorry to see him go. He truly was man’s best friend and the memories he left us with will forever bring tears of happiness.

All my love.

xoxo