Thank you for the great stories about your dogs. It made me remember my dog even though she wasn't a collie. She was a black lab mixed with golden retriever. I still miss her very much. She died over 8 years ago. She was the first birthday present from my dad after I got married. She was just as protective as Brandi was for all kids that came near the house. Her name was at first Candy Cane, but in a short time it was changed to Dummy. She was very smart.As my children were born she thought of them as her pups. No one could ever hurt them with her watching over them.As my daughter was learning to walk Dummy would let her hang on to the fur on her back and walk beside her. Then just as my daughter got going good the dog would speed up a little so that Angie wasn't hanging on any more and was walking by herself. Boy do I miss her as I'm typing this. Dummy wasn't a mean name as it may sound. She earned it the day I went into labor with my first child. She was so protective of me that she wouldn't let my mother help me up out of a chair to go to the hospital. Thats when we said "Oh you dummy" and it stuck. I hope that you enjoyed my stories. Thanks for listening.
Here is my dog story. My childhood family had a cocker spaniel from 1965 to 1978. His fancy AKC name was Ron Don Silver Prince, but his family name was Corky. He was a silver buff-colored cocker spaniel and certainly was the light of all of our lives. We enjoyed his presence very much and were all quite sad when we had to let him go. A growth in his throat was making it hard for him to breathe anymore, so it was the best decision at the time.
We have many happy memories of him, though. I used to enjoy letting him outside into the fenced-in yard and watching him run circles as fast as he could go! He always ran in the same circle! My dad had made a path down the middle of the yard with stones he had just set into the dirt. If Corky was down at the end of the yard when you would call him to come in, he always took the path!
Another thing he did when we were kids was jump on our beds to wake us up. My mom would tell Corky to go get the girls and he would jump on all of our beds in turn. We would sometimes stay in bed until Corky had jumped on our beds and licked our faces. That was the only time he was on our beds. He would come running down the hall with his ears flying and a doggie smile on his face. After my aunt got married and she stayed at our house one night with her new hubby, she wanted Corky to jump on her bed, too, but Corky took one long at the strange guy in bed with her and he wouldn't do it! That was just too weird for him!
My dad was his favorite person. If us kids took him for walks, we couldn't let any of our friends pet him. Darn dog would always growl. If my dad took him for a walk, he was fine with other people, and also my dad didn't need a leash! I suppose he thought he was protecting me, but it was always hard to tell people that they couldn't pet him.
He loved being brushed. I imagined that it probably felt good to get the itches scratched in the places that were hard to reach. Us kids would think it was funny when we watched him shake himself off after a bath.
When my sisters and I were still little and would occasionally need a parent in the middle of the night, Corky would sneak into my mom and dad's bedroom while the parent was up. He knew how to sneak quietly! Then the parent would come back to bed, settle in to back to sleep and sigh. Then they would hear the dog sigh, too, because he figured that they were settled in and now he could relax, too! Sometimes that worked and sometimes that didn't!
My favorite memories of him, though were when we were building the house in 1973. We would go out to see the house every night after supper to see what progress had been made. One day he was running across the length of the house that was framed but still had no outside walls. Even though all of us were yelling for him to stop, pretty soon he was off the edge and into the yard. (Maybe 2 feet off the ground). When they put the patio door up, he got confused and had to scramble to stop because all of a sudden he couldn't get back into the house where that big hole used to be. To get upstairs, he would scramble up the temporary stairs the workmen had put up because the steps weren't built yet. When the real steps were built, he was standing at the top where the temporary stairs were looking all confused. We kept telling him to go to the stairs and he just didn't understand. My dad had to go up and take him to the steps and put his paws on the first step, before he would finally come down. One day, my dad came home from work later than usual, so supper was later than usual. The dog went nuts. It was time to go visit the house and we weren't going. He just couldn't understand why. I think we had to leave the dishes undone and do them when we got back, because the dog just wouldn't settle down. He was whimpering and running to the door, because he wanted to get out to the new house!
We also had a cat. They got along pretty well. I would come home from high school and tell them about my day. One day the cat was outside and never came home. Then on Easter Sunday in 1978, we had Corky put to sleep. I remember the house seeming so empty when I came home from school. They would always sit there and listen to me talk. Who knows how much they understood?
The dog also liked to eat the cat's food. We kept the cat's food downstairs and up on a table. For some reason, the cat didn't like Friskies dry cat food. If we fed it to him, before we figured out he didn't like it, he would feed it to the dog. He would take his paw, scrape a piece of food out of the dish, then push it to the end of the table, watch it fall and watch the dog eat it. When the dog was done eating that piece, he would do it with the next piece. It was the funniest thing to watch and I'm sure the dog thought it was great! Once, he got fed twice by accident and he ate every piece!
It was very sad the night before he died. We usually put him in the utility room because as he got older he got into the nasty habit of relieving himself in the house. That was usually not hard. A doggy treat or a couple pieces of dog food and this dog would do anything for you. My parents went up to bed and my dad told me to make sure Corky was in the utility room and I said "Ok." When Saturday Night Live was over, or whenever I went to bed that night, I got some dog food and was going to put him in the utility room to sleep. He wouldn't take the food. In fact, he growled at me a little. Then I started to cry, because if Corky didn't want food, he was really sick. I just leaned over him and cried. I think I took him by the collar and led him into the utility room. ( I don't really remember anymore.)
So, the next day, we went to Easter services at church, went to the Milwaukee zoo for the day, and then came home. My parents called the vet that night to have him looked at, because his breathing wasn't getting any better. The vet said he had a growth in his throat, and he could be operated on, but it was risky. He was also 13 years old at that time. My parents decided it would be better to end his suffering. I remember going to the vet's office with my parents and petting the dog while the vet examined him. I managed not to cry somehow. It was hard to come home without him.
So, as long ago as this was, I still think of him often, along with the cat. Once in a great while, I see them in a dream. I haven't had the opportunity to have a pet since then, since in 1978, I was just about to become a college student! Then I lived in a no pets apartment, then another no-pets rental, then a house, but I was having babies, then. Soon after that we moved and again lived in a no-pets rental, and now we finally own our own house again. So, this spring, we may finally get our own dog. I have wanted a dog for a long time, and I'm quite happy that we will most likely be getting our first family dog! I think I would like to get one from the pound, too. My older daughter had a Girl Scout field trip at the Humane Society and it was really hard to go in there and see all those dogs in cages and not bring one home!
So we shall see what happens! Sorry this got so long!
DawnK
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/9994
To My precious CoCo
How I remember the day you were brought to me. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and little did you know what a wonderful Thanksgiving gift you would be.
Someone had left you and your puppies when they moved. Someone had found homes for your puppies but not for you and you were brought to me. As I looked at you I saw a scared little brown dog with no hair on your tail and a very serious problem with your eye. I knew you were at least one half Sheltie. You had one ear up and one down.
I took you to see Dr. Maret for your shots and to have your eye looked at. He confirmed what I had thought, you had to have your eye removed. You also needed to be spayed and your rear dew claws removed. He wanted to do everything at once so it would be easier on you. I was so worried that I called the office at least ten times. I couldn't bring you home that night because you was bleeding a little to much but I was there the next day to bring you home as soon as he would let me. You had sutures everywhere but you didn't cry once. I put a blanket and pillow beside the couch. I also put your water and food there so you wouldn't have to go far. I slept on the couch to make sure you didn't need anything. You licked my hand when you needed to go out. When he removed your sutures everything was fine.
After I had given you a good flea bath that skinny little tail became a beautiful plume. After you and I had gone through all that you had become very settled in. All you had to put up with was Samantha the cat. She had been declawed so she was no danger to you. She would chase you and then you would chase her. Everyone that was around you told me what a wonderful dog you were. You made more noise in your sleep than you did when you were awake. The first year that we were together you had really worked yourself into my heart. We would go to parks or just out on the patio. You were my baby.
The next December I met someone. When he came to the apartment the first time we both fell in love with him. Little did we know that you would become Daddy's Little Princess. He would take you to the store and he would put the seat belt on you. He would take you out and if it snowed you would come in with a mound of snow on your little nose. You loved to roll in the snow too.
Mom's heart condition had gotten worse so the four of us had to come and live with her and you got to be with Shawney, Mom's collie. How you became the best of buddies. Where we found you Shawney wasn't to far away or vice versa. You now had a big back yard so the two of you could play and run. The only thing you couldn't get over was your fear of storms. You had medication to take as soon as the first sound of thunder.
You found out that your Daddy and my Mom were pretty easy targets for extra food or treats. This caused you to put on an excessive amount of weight. I was at work and your Daddy called and said you were having a hard time breathing. He rushed you to the Vet. We were told that unless you started losing the extra weight, we wouldn't have you more than six months. You were put on a very strict diet but the damage to your heart was already done. When I took you to see Dr. Maret, as he was off the day you got so very bad, he said you weren't losing the weight as he would like you to have. I got the blame but it was proven I was not the one who wasn't following your diet. When Mom and your Daddy died you started taking the weight off.
In January of 1994 Mom passed away and your Mommy had fallen on the ice and reinjuried her back. In February of 1994 five weeks and one day after Mom had passed away, we lost your Daddy. When I helped him to get dressed to go to the hospital, his bathrobe was just thrown on the end of the bed. When he died Aunt Jean and Uncle John were with me. They were going to take me to their house but I said we had to come home and feed you and Shawney. When we came in, you went to the door and looked for Daddy. You came and jumped in my lap and I just buried my face in your fur and told you Daddy wasn't coming home anymore. I saw a tear in that one eye of yours. When I finally went and got the car and came home you were still licking the tears away form my face. You slept on Daddy's bathrobe that night.
Because of you, Shawney and Samantha, I did not come home to a empty house. You were always here for me. You kept losing the weight until you got back where you should be. In November of 1995 I had gone to have my hair done and when I got home you were holding your back leg up. I called the Vet's immediately and rushed you there. Dr. Maret was in the hospital but there was another Vet there. he asked "Did this happen a day or so ago?" and I said no within the last two hours. You had torn the ligament and you would need surgery. Since I didn't know this Vet and Dr. Maret would be in the hospital for a while I took you to a specialist. Again I brought you home with sutures and your leg shaved. I took you there because he could monitor your heart during surgery. You got over that in no time. In March of 1996 you started having trouble. I had to take you to have ultrasounds of your heart and kidneys. The report was not good. Down deep I knew I wouldn't have you very much longer. We were at the Vet a lot or I was getting your medicine. You had your good and bad days. You would get in my lap and I could feel your heart miss a beat. I had to have surgery so I was with you all the time.
You were doing pretty good until December of 1996. Your heart and kidneys had gotten worse. You had to spend two weeks at Dr. Maret's. I knew you wouldn't be with me very long, The last weekend that you would be with me, you had stopped eating. You did eat some ice cream and a little Doggie jerky. I laid on the floor and held you. On Monday morning I called Dr. Maret's office and said I needed to bring you down. You had told me with that little brown eye that it was time but I needed to hear it from Dr. Maret that there was nothing else that I could do. You pranced into the office like everything, like you always had. He confirmed what I knew and I couldn't see you suffer any longer. We had been through too much together. I was holding you, telling you how much I loved you and again that brown fur was holding my tears. I also asked you to tell Daddy and my Mom how much I loved them and how I missed them. You went to the Bridge with my arms around you. You were wrapped in he sheet that I had taken with us and I held your now lifeless body to be cremated.
You are in a safe place where you can see and not bee sick anymore. I said good bye to my beloved CoCo on January 13, 1997. I know someday yo will see me at the Bridge and come to me and things will be as they were before.
I will always love and miss Daddy's Little Princess.
Cindy
Picture of CoCo
Back To Home Page
To the Collie Stories.
"IN MEMORY" page.