Julie and Matilda
Furry POOPS client, Matilda, greets me as I reach the porch of Julie’s home. After a few nuzzles and licks on my hand, I’m welcomed into the house. Matilda is a beautiful, golden Labrador and she seems very relaxed at her spot beside Julie’s feet on the back verandah whilst we chat.
Julie and I quickly connect over our shared experiences of volunteering. “I’ve worked for about 45 years with Riding for the Disabled (RDA). I started as a volunteer, a day a week, then did courses, studying, work experience both interstate and overseas, and went as high as I could at RDA”.
It was Julie’s connection with other volunteers at RDA and an injury that led her to POOPS. “In the voluntary work I was doing with RDA, there are a lot of volunteers and I was speaking with other volunteers about not being able to find a paid dog walker. Someone there told me that they knew of a service, someone they knew was getting support with a dog walker.”
It took a while for Julie to warm to the idea of seeking support though, “I said, yeah but I’m not old, I’m only 69, and it’s a volunteer-run service
It took me a good year of thinking about it, and getting a bad back for me to feel that it was ok to ask for someone to help me.”
We start discussing Matilda and how she came into Julie’s life. It seems like Matilda has heard her name as her eyebrows lift and big eyes look up at us. Before moving to Perth’s southern suburbs a few years ago, Julie always lived on a farm with horses. Julie tells me, “there were other dogs on the farm, they were labradors, one was black and one was brown. First, I tried to rescue a greyhound and took him to the farm but he hated it. We had lots of kangaroos on the farm so I needed to get a dog that wasn’t going to chase them, and they couldn’t have too much fur because of the grass seeds”.
After a while, eureka! “Everytime I went next door and spoke with the people who had the labradors I’d have a different idea of a suitable breed of dog for the farm, then one day I thought, ‘why don’t I just get a Lab?’. The two that were already on the farm were gorgeous so I just decided to go with a Labrador”. The rest, as they say, is history.
POOPS provides invaluable support to Julie and Matilda, as is vital now that they both live away from the farm. “Before POOPS I was walking Matilda myself but she wasn’t getting as much walking as she should. Having had dogs and horses for a long time, I know how to meet the needs of a pet and it bothered me when I couldn’t meet her needs as much as necessary.
Knowing what your dog needs and then not being able to meet those needs sits with you day in and day out."
At one stage I was even thinking I’d have to rehome her but now that her physical needs are met and she is a bit older it’s possible for us to be happy here.”
Matilda is walked regularly by POOPS volunteers. “The three women that help are just lovely. We have coffee together, they’re fabulous. Matilda loves it”, Julie tells me. “I’m getting better with my back but Matilda can pull and because she’s a bigger dog the volunteers say they like walking her as it gives them a bit of a workout, and I’m very grateful for the support.”
Keeping Julie and Matilda together is what POOPS is all about, and Julie expresses their relationship succinctly,
Having Matilda is great company. Matilda is my mate. I love her to bits…
I don’t necessarily have her as a watchdog but she pays attention and barks if there is something to notice. It’s nice to have a dog to nurture and to come home to her. She always meets me at the door.”
The value of POOPS and all volunteer organisations is not lost on Julie, “Volunteering is so important. I just finished volunteering with the fire brigade, which I did for 5 years. It’s a real community of people that you volunteer with and it gives you purpose”. As we chat more about volunteering, Julie adds, “It’s important to educate volunteers that what you can give is enough. Just because that person over there is giving 10 hours, doesn’t mean you have to. When you’re volunteering, you give the time you can. It still has the same value…”
Julie’s relationship with her volunteers and being the receiver of a volunteer service has taught her new lessons too,
As someone who has volunteered for a long time, I have a strong understanding of how it feels to help someone and I’ve learnt that you have to allow someone to give you something, to help you.
You don’t want to take away from how the volunteers feel about their giving and volunteering. The volunteers want to give and I’ve learned to be gracious in accepting that.”
As we wrap up our conversation, and I start to get my camera ready for some adorable photos of Matilda lying upside down on the decking, Julie tells me, “When I send messages to my walkers I always use words of gratitude from myself and Matilda so they always know that we appreciate them.”