Below is a blog written by Greg (RSPB Ramsey Site Manager) and Lisa (now WTSWW Head of Islands and Marine Conservation) about Dewi, a member of the Ramsey team many of you will have got to know in person or through this blog over the years. Greg and Lisa managed Ramsey together for 14 years and Dewi was their dog...but he was so much more than that.
It’s just over 6 weeks since we lost Dewi and it’s taken till now for us to be able to put pen to paper and talk about him. When a companion has been in your life for 14 years, be that human or canine, it leaves a big hole and it takes time to adjust to the loss. I don’t think we are every quite the same after such an experience. That companion becomes part of your life and your daily routine. We adapt and change but a little part of us goes with them.
Many people reading this will have known Dewi well, and Lisa and I have been overwhelmed by all the thoughts and sentiments you have sent our way. It was a great comfort.
Dewi was a true member of the RSPB Ramsey and RSPB Cymru team and even had a tribute slot dedicated to him at a recent team meeting.
To me (Greg) Dewi represents one of my biggest achievements. Being a complete novice sheepdog handler I somehow trained him using books and DVD’s (it was pre You Tube!) to become a more than respectable working dog. I suspect a lot of that success was more down to his strong working bloodline than my ability, but it felt like we got there together and formed the strongest bond I had ever had with a dog up to that point.
After 2 years of training I felt like we were almost there. I will never forget the day I first took him to gather sheep from the north end of the island. Sending him on an outrun off the back of the quad bike my heart was in my mouth. 200 sheep spread across various fields with cliffs and no fencing! Thankfully this and the countless gathers we did subsequently went like clockwork (ok not all did!) and a job which had previously taken up to 10 people could now be done with just myself and Dewi.
It was this bond that has given me the confidence to continue my relationship with working dogs, albeit with no sheep involved! Without Dewi I would never have taken on the challenge of being Jinx’s handler, our Biosecurity for LIFE conservation detection dog.
Dewi gave us so much and asked for very little in return. We will miss him always.
Lisa takes up the story below with her own tribute to our fantastic four legged work companion, team member and above all, friend…..
Dewi was born in September 2008 as one of 6 pups at Pembrokeshire sheepdogs, at Tremynydd Fawr, 3 miles north of St Davids and in sight of Ramsey’s peaks. I was away visiting my parents and Greg went to see the litter. He picked a big strong male pup and phoned me with the news. A week later we both went to see the pups, still only 6 weeks old. We entered the training ring, with the most adorable black and white fluff balls fooling around on the grass. As Greg strained to pick out our pup from the bundle, a little boy with a half white, half black face ran over to greet us and climbed onto my lap for a cuddle. ‘We’ll have this one’ I said.
11 week old Dewi on his 1st day on Ramsey in 2008
By the beginning of December our pup was ready for his new life with his new owners. Little did he know that his life was about to become far from normal! But we were stuck on Ramsey, the weather preventing us crossing to the mainland. Then one afternoon there was a brief lull in the conditions and Derek, our shepherd and mainland support, said he could collect him. I will never forget the sight of Derek approaching across Ramsey Sound in his workboat, one hand on the tiller and a small dog under his other arm. I’m convinced this is why he loved Derek from that day, but maybe also why he remained very suspicious of boats…
Some of the most rewarding times spent with Dewi were as we learnt together to manage the sheep flock. We could never have contemplated lambing on the island without a good sheepdog by our side. At first we were spoilt with Derek’s fabulous working dog Lassie, but getting our own Border Collie was a game changer for what we could do on site and changed our lives for good.
Lisa working Dewi
Greg can tell you about the long years of training that went into getting him to that point but Dewi certainly saved our legs and got us out of some tricky situations over the years. It is no exaggeration to say that he saved the lives of lambs and ewes in that time too. Not only was he faster and smarter than us, but the sheep learnt to respect him when he was working. Dewi became part of their lives as much as he was part of ours.
I remember some particularly brutal early mornings, with lambs being born into the coldest and wettest of conditions. They couldn’t be left outside and it was urgent to get the ewes and their new borns into the trailer and back to the barn as soon as possible. Without the dog this would have been impossible. He’d travel on the back of the quadbike, soaked to the skin but never once questioning what he was asked to do or taking his eyes off his charges.
Come rain, sun, hail or in this case the heaviest snowfall we ever witnessed on Ramsey in 2018, Dewi was as equally as focused on the task in hand
He would watch over the cold wet lambs as we slowly warmed them on the Rayburn and then when it was time for them to be reunited with their mothers, his very presence would encourage a reluctant ewe to take her lamb back and let it suckle. He would also attempt to keep some control over the annual intake of ‘Molly’ lambs (lambs that needed bottle rearing.) They inevitably ended up living in the farmhouse garden and would run amok, bundling into the house until Dewi retrieved them. They would jump on him and nibble his tail, but he was gentle with them. I remember one day coming into the garden to find three large lambs curled up in Dewi’s bed, whilst the poor dog was forced to lie on the hard floor alongside, but he tolerated them and let them take the comfy option!
His patience with stubborn ewes was legendary!
A job well done
He would also make it his business to meet the visitors arriving by boat and see them off at the end of the day. He received regular letters from his fans and many would ask to see him before anything else on their annual visits. Unusually for a working dog, he loved a cwtch and some attention and so he was really the perfect dog for the island. He has been on the telly more times than most celebrities and due to his ‘pretty face’ was photographed daily. His only failing was that he didn’t really like boats very much, reluctantly getting onboard if both Greg and I were going too, but otherwise very happy to stay on dry land.
He loved our volunteers and had a very soft spot for several of them. He loved Derek so much he would get quite giddy and roll over at just the sound of his voice. The sheep knew him, the ponies and deer knew him even the ravens knew him. They would fly overhead calling to him when they saw him trotting up the bank from the farmhouse with me in tow. They knew that Dewi’s first walk of the morning meant the chickens would be fed and they could sneak some grain too.
I spent many spells alone on Ramsey. In such a remote location it was essential to have a dog for company. I never felt lonely or scared with Dewi as my island buddy on those stormy winter days, instead I felt exhilarated and at home. I knew he felt the same.
Dewi was a member of RSPB staff for 14 years, part of the Ramsey ecosystem and loyal companion to Greg and I to the very end. I’m so glad we named him after the place of his birth and the place he spent the rest of his life, Ynys Dewi.
It’s been hard losing Dewi. Not just for Greg and I but for all the important people in his life, Derek, Sarah and Dave. New Ramsey dog Jinx has also lost his canine companion and island guide. We’d just like to thank everyone for their messages of support and for sharing their memories of Dewi over the last few weeks, he meant so much to so many.
And to finish we will end with the words of a good friend of ours, who on hearing the news simply said “We won’t see his like again on Ramsey. From pup to his last days, he was a true island dog.”
DEWI 23 September 2008 - 7 November 2022 - "That'll do"