Crazy Mare Chronicles

Last night was very uneventful-I took Daisy out briefly and let her wander for a while to let her stretch her legs before bed.  Gave her the treats that she had coming and took off.  It was a very quick and quiet night.  Tonight should be a bit more eventful-I’m planning on riding and practicing some of our movements so we’ll se how it goes!

Since it was so uneventful, this is a good opportunity to write about Rocky-Rocky was a great dog.  He wouldn’t hurt a fly!  Just a big. sweet boy with a heart of gold.  He started off coming to us about a year or so after Max.  I told Mike that I didn’t want another dog until we got our yard fenced in, but, being a typical man, he did it anyway.  I was at home with Max one night waiting on Mike to get home from work.  Suddenly, Max started acting all funny-he was growling and pacing so I knew something was going on.  The door that exits our house into the garage slooooowly opened and I see Mike peering around the corner with this “I’m sorry, but you can’t stay mad at me because you know I’m cute” look on his face.  Another little black face slowly appeared underneath him at ground level with the same “don’t be mad at me” look.  Max’s nose immeadiately went down to check out the new little furball.  I just looked at Mike with the knowing look of “I TOLD you now more dogs until the fence went up, but you know I can’t help but love a puppy so you’re off the hook for now”. 

Hangin with Jake on the couch

Rocky came in carefully-Max sniffed him a little then sat back to observe.  Rocky was a bit older than the 8 weeks you usually expect for a puppy-I assumed that he was a leftover from the breeding program where we got Max.  Honestly I could see why-he was a little awkward looking somehow.  He didn’t walk exactly right and he seemed too shy to be a shepherd.  Anyway, after Rocky took an initial look around, he grabbed one of Max’s bones and took it to a corner of the room behind a couch.  You could see the look on Max’s face turn from curiousity to “HEY!  THAT’s MINE!”  He walked over to Rocky and the little pup looked up at Max and let out a little mini warning growl-LOL!  Max backed off thinking there must be something pretty special about him because he was so much smaller but he was telling Max off.  That was the only time I ever heard Rocky growl at anyone like that. 

Handsome boy

Rocky fit right in-they played for hours on end and he was an exceptionally good dog.  He wasn’t really smart   He learned basic commands, but beyond that he was too confused to really learn anything else.  It was ok, though, because he was so sweet.  I have a picture of him, actually, where there is a baby just learning to stand against a coffee table with Cheerios on the table.  Rocky is looking right at her with his paw up on the table in the shake position, begging for a Cheerio from the baby!  When Jake came into the picture, Rocky became his “Mother”, cleaning him and taking care of him.  Later on that would change when Jake took over as the semi-leader of the pack.  Jake ended up turning the tables and being in charge of Rocky, but Rocky didn’t seem to mind being the Beta dog.  He was happy no matter what.

Rocky

Rocky ended up having several things wrong with him.  His hips quickly deteriorated, riddled with hip dysplasia, and he couldn’t play as hard as the other dogs.  This caught up with him a lot in his later years-by the time he was 6 or 7 it was obvious that he was having trouble, but it wasn’t bad enough to get fixed.  On top of that, I went on a long weekend camping once and left the dogs at home alone with a dog sitter.  When I came home, Rocky was coughing and retching really strangely.  It took me all of 10 minutes to realize something was wrong.  I took him to the emergency vet and they diagnosed him with pneumonia.  He had to stay in intensive care for several days before he came back around.  From that point on, he had pneumonia on and off the rest of his life.  He was about 8 at that time and he suffered from pneumonia bouts for his remaining 2 years-some a lot worse than others.  He was on and off antibiotics that whole time.  A few months after his first bout with pneumonia, he was caught licking himself in a strange way so I lifted his tail and there was a big hole next to his butt!  I was in shock!!  I brought him to the vet again and he was diagnosed with a perianal fistula.  We got that under control after several months of expensive drugs-fortunately once that was gone it didn’t come back. 

Rocky an Tabasco were good buddies-here they sit down the hall from me-Basco right in front of Rocky! They would sleep together too

On and off, my poor guy was sick.  It got worse and worse every time, especially towards the end.  He was on antibiotics about once a month, actually.  At the very end he was on a drug to help him breathe because the repeated pneumonia had taken its toll on his lungs-prednisone and theophylline- plus 2 antibiotics.  I came home from the stable on the 4th of July last year and he was breathing funny again, making that familiar retching sound.  I brought him to the emergency vet and called my brother who was supposed to be coming over to my house that day for a little barbeque.  I told him that I didn’t think Rocky was going to be coming home with me-I was right.  Rocky had a temp of 104 and was very uncomfortable.  Being on several antibiotics and other drugs for his upset tummy and breathing probems, we had to put him down.  I learned a lot from this experience-he taught me a lot about veterinary medicine and that helps me all the time with my other animals. 

He was definitely a good dog-like I said, he wouldn’t hurt a fly!  He loved people and other animals.  He let the little girl next door, 6 years old at the time, hug him through the fence all the time.  We always cuddled on the couch, especially towards the end when he had trouble playing.  That was his way of being told he was loved and that he loved me too.  He was just a little lover and a good friend and he’s very missed!!  Miss you Rocky!  You and Max have fun up there with Mike!! 

Good Boy, Rocky!

The Last Goodbyes
As you hold them in your arms
And say your last good-byes
Look close into the fading light
that flickers in their eyes

They are not afraid
because they know when a sparrow falls
she falls into the hands of God
all creatures great and small

They don’t live as long as humans do
this too is a part of God’s plan
for animals are God’s angels
to be there for you when he can’t

God’s gift is that you can love many
when your pet has time for only one
you can give love and happiness to the strays…
who without you would have none.

So lay your friends to rest, lift up your hearts
dry your tears, for it is told
death is but a passage into the hands of God,
through the gates of gold

Somewhere others need you
in shelters, or wandering the streets
they want nothing more from life
than to lay down at your feet

It is time to give another life
the love only you can give
we are the caretakers of God creatures
for not to love… is not to live

written by Brenda Riley-Seymore

Bandit is coming with me to work today.  Every time I look at him I think of Max-he reminds me so much of that boy!  A little bit of a trouble maker, but he’s a good boy, listens to everything you say and picks up on it, very smart, protective (in his own way), and little hints of Max in a lot of his mannerisms. 

We got Max as soon as we moved into our brand new house.  Mike and I wanted a dog and I always had a thing for sheperds.  He wsa a cute little furball with a lot of attitude-the perfect new pet for a new family!  He had a great life filled with lots of love and play and I’ll never forget him.

Max is the reason I decided to adopt a shepherd for my next dog-I’ll probably adopt every time after this, too.  He was a smart, loving, playful boy that was willing to do anything you said.  He always tried to please.  As you guys know, Max won the 4H Best In Show in 2007.  Here he is again with Kacey and all their ribbons for first place in everything, Grand Champions in various categories, and Best in Show plaque:

Max and Kacey with all their ribbons!

Those who knew Max knew that he had a funny side, too, though!  He would constantly bring you a ball-always a squeaky ball so he could make noise at will.  He would drop it close to you, but his nose would almost be touching it as he stared intently at his little prize.  When you go to pick it up, he would snatch it away and run wagging his tail and laughing at you for even trying!  Occasionally, if you were clever enough, you could get the ball and throw it and he would be astounded at how smart you are.  If you ignored him, he would bark-just once-to let you know that he was playing with you and you’d better get in on the game.  Sometimes he would leave his ball in some obscure place where no human could ever find it.  He would always be staring right at it-even if it was from a distance-and he would bark.  It’s YOUR job now to go fetch the ball-go find it!  He’d continue this until you retrieved his ball and threw it for him.  Everything revolved around that ball-he slept with it, he would carry it constantly, he would put it in his food dish and eat around it.  In fact, if he didn’t have his ball, he wouldn’t eat.  You had to go find it so he could put it in his dish and eat around it. 

Hid big claim to fame other than the Best in Show thing was that he could listen to everything you said and carry out a series of commands.  I would tell him where I thought his toy might be when he’d be searching high and low for it.  He would listen to me and go look in the place I told him.  In the bedroom, in the bathroom, etc.  He used to play while I’d take a shower, too-EVERY morning.  He would put the ball in the tub with me and I would have to pick it up and throw it over the shower curtain.  He thought that was the coolest thing.  I could tell him to go upstairs and look for his ball in the tub-he would go up there and look in the tub and fetch his ball! 

He was always very well behaved, although he would tend to mark in the house.  He got yelled at several times for that behavior, but it never seemed to work.  I had to clean ALL THE TIME. 

One day he was particularly proud of himself-it was time to eat and I had the dogs outside waiting.  It was freezing cold and there was snow all over the ground so I hurried up.  It was dark and it was time for dinner.  I get the food ready, and I call the dogs-Max took an extra minute that day to come in, but he came after a minute or two with a large toy in his mouth-a big stuffed animal that I didn’t recognize.  I always had to hold Jake’s food in the air until the other dogs went to get their food, so this was no different.  I watched as Max trotted past all proud of himself and said to him “where did you get that toy?” as he strutted by.  I put Jake’s food down and went over to see what exactly he had-it was huge, whatever it was, and I knew it was going to go in his food bowl and probably knock the food all over the place.  I get over there and realize Max has the biggest FROZEN DEAD RABBIT I’ve ever seen.  “Oh My God!”  I yelled-all I could say as I took the poor critter by the scruff of the neck was “no-no-no-no-no-no-no-NO….” to Max.  He was pretty disappointed that I took his prize back outside and put it out on a table on the deck in the deep snow.  EEEEWWW-I washed my hands for like 15 minutes.  The rest of the night, when I’d pass the sliding glass door, I would glance out and be disgusted as I saw the big fella on the table.  Yuck! 

About 2 in the morning I let the dogs out again and the rabbit was gone.  There were wing marks in the snow, so I guess on of the local hawks came and took it away.  Fine by me-now I didn’t have to worry about getting rid of it. 

About 8 in the morning I let the dogs out again.  What was that thing Max was looking at way out in the yard?  Not again….  Yes again….  It was now the largest, frozen HEADLESS AND FRONT LEGLESS dead rabbit I’ve ever seen.  Freaking Yuck.  I got a shovel and tossed him over the fence into the front yard.  Apparently the hawk didn’t like frozen dinners….. 

I took Max to the vet within the next couple days for his shots.  Kristel gave all my dogs wormers just in case they got to the bunny.  Max got his shots and a clean bill of health.  By the time he got home he was acting very funny.  He was tired and wouldn’t eat anything.  I chalked it up to him being tired from the excitement of the trip to the vet.  By that evening he was the same if not worse-he took a nap on my lap for a few hours, not very like him, but we got to cuddle for a while-that was very nice.  I took him to the emergency vet and they said that his EKG was strange and he had fluid built up around his heart.  It turned out to be blood-a tumor had burst in his pericardial sac and was pretty much smothering him.  There was nothing that they could do that would have been fair to him and there was no way of knowing that the tumor was there before this happened unless they had done a lot of testing.  We put him down that night.  It was very sad-he was the best dog I’ve ever had.  I know he’s smiling up there in heaven, though, holding a squeaky ball and glad that his Mommy resuced another shepherd that didn’t have it so good-now someone else can have the great life that he had!

Max Lounging

Merry Christmas!

Max and Rocky-Max is in the back

In your face Max

What a good boy!

Playing with his ball