11/01/2025
Here is a message from Archie’s owner to you all ❤️ Please share to help her reach as many of the people who helped as possible.
Hi Emma,
If you don't mind could you post the below to your page at some point. I want to reach as many people as possible. It's a bit long but there was so much I wanted to say!
As I’m sure many of you can imagine, I absolutely went to hell and back in the 24+ hours that Archie was missing. It was a physically and emotionally draining experience that I certainly hope I never have to repeat!
Emma has already done a great job of acknowledging all of the people that helped with the search and rescue of Archie and I have also posted on my own page, so I won’t repeat that list again. I thought instead I would take this opportunity to try and express just how much all of that support has meant to me, although it really is difficult to put into words. I cried many times for Archie whilst he was missing, but I welled up just as many times to see the response of everyone who helped when we needed them most.
Archie’s posts were shared hundred of times, I received direct messages of support constantly, people turned up to look for Archie late into the freezing night and early the next morning, they searched by foot, by bike, by car and drone and offers of help just poured in from far and wide. I even had people apologising to me for not being able to stay longer or do more than share the post. Apologising!!!
A lot of people probably don’t think they did much, but every share, every kind word, every pat on the shoulder or hug, made me feel less alone, and on the Friday morning in particular, helped chip away at the massive ice cube that had formed in my head telling me that there was no way my little man could’ve survived the night in -2 degree temperatures. Every ‘we will find him’ or ‘I know he’s out there’ helped me believe too that he could be found, even when I was hitting rock bottom. The absolute determination and positivity of people gave me strength when I needed it most.
Family and friends were there for us throughout, along with our fellow Rat Packers, but so so many people who have never even met me or Archie, were there for us too. It was genuinely overwhelming and incredibly heart warming to see just how many people were willing to give up their time and do whatever they could to find Archie. I really wish I could share with every person the overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude that exploded through me when Archie was finally pulled into the boat and a huge cheer went up from the people waiting on the bridge, as it was a truly incredible feeling that I will probably never experience again.
I hope that reading the post-rescue posts though generate even just a tiny bit of that warm and fuzzy feeling for each and every one of you, so you all realise just how much you have done for us and just how important you ALL were.
There is of course one person who I really do have to single out for special thanks though, and that is our very own leader of the Pack, Emma. Emma immediately knew that something was wrong as Archie just does not just disappear. He’ll have a little run around and squirrel hunt but will always come back as despite his little hard man act, he just wants to be with his favourite people. Whilst I wandered around calling his name, panicking and not really knowing what to do, Emma just did. She did this. She did that. She did everything!
She leapt into action immediately, making calls to everyone she could think of, posting on facebook (in a post that was shared over 1.4k times) and reaching out to fellow Rat Packers and all of her many Dog Professional contacts. Within a few hours she had raised an entire army for Archie, who turned out to help in whatever way they could. She told me what to do and where to be when I had no clue what to do and no ability to think straight, and searched the first night until she was visibly shaking from the cold. Even then she went home and came back later armed with heat packs and hot water bottles.
She was there again the next morning, organising, calling on every sort of person she could think of that could help, updating the online posts with information and working closely with Chris as he flew his drone over and over. She investigated every tiny heat source the camera picked up and when we finally tied one up with the area whining had been heard from she was so determined to check the totally inaccessible location that she waded through brambles without even noticing and I honestly thought she would end up over the cliff. Emma truly has been amazing throughout this experience and we just cannot thank her enough.
We have been with Emma and the Rat Pack for nearly 4 years now and she has always been our hero after working so damn hard to turn Archie from a screaming Tasmanian Devil of a dog that was scared of everything, into the happy, normal (relatively!) little dog that he is these days. Now though, she is our hero even more so, and an absolute legend!!!
As for Archie, well he doesn’t appear to give two hoots about what has happened and just thinks this will be another exciting chapter in his future memoirs, ‘The Misadventures of Archie Smarchie’.
Once rescued he enjoyed his first ever trip in his own private boat, leapt into the car and dug a nice den in all the blankets, got home, scoffed his food, demanded to play ball, stared intently at family until they gave him some of their bacon sandwiches, burped very loudly and then fell asleep snoring like a pig. Today he’s been spoilt with custard creams and cheese and he’s getting huffy with me as he hasn’t been out for walkies!
Jeni
