We have had a few losses over the last 12 months with dogs that we are personally close to. This happens in dog training, because dogs just don't live as long as we do. It is the one truly sucky part of dog ownership, in my opinion, and knowing dogs in general. You are going to loose them.
Mid last year, our clients and friends lost Petey at just 3 years old. Petey is a Giant Schnauzer that I trained, and has spent a lot of time here. He looked healthy enough as a puppy, but turned out he had hip and knee problems. He also developed very serious epileptic seizures. You can not imagine how difficult it was on his owners when he died. Awful, and he was such a great boy that just loved to give love and have fun. He also lived with Magoo CD (Great Dane) and Lucey (Westie that has brought up two huge dogs
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I actually have better pictures than this on my crashed computer. Ones where he is helping and carrying a backpack as I pick up walking clients. Petey was the best, and I wish his body could have kept up with his spirit.
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| Puppy Petey |
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| Petey in the red bedroom. |
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| Petey on Long Sands |
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| Close up of puppy Petey. |
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| Right before he died, Petey and I hang on the couch watching a bit of tely. |
A couple of months ago, our clients and friends lost their dog Roxie to stomach cancer. It came on very quickly. Roxie was maybe my very first client in York Maine after we moved from Worcester Mass. She has also been my boarding and daycare client since 2005 or so. Roxie was my husband's very favorite client dog:) They had a little love affair going on. She was very good friends with my dogs, and most of the dogs that came here. I am glad that my dogs do not know that she is gone. She was friend to cats, dogs, and humans alike.
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| Magoo, Harley, Roxie, and Petey all share nicely and nap. |
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| Tired Roxie. |
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| Roxie and Harley enjoying each other. |
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| The buds: Leon, Boris, Roxie and Harley ripping it up at the beach. |
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| Boris in the front, Magoo pestering Harley, and Roxie in the back. I used to ride the bike that you see around the yard with them:) Good times. Well I still do ride the bike around, and I hope Roxie is somewhere still enjoying that. |
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| Pals napping on the "dog couch". Harley, Leon, and Roxie share very nicely and squish themselves together. |
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| Majestic Roxie. |
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| Roxie and Harley flank, Hannah, Pearly, and Katie (if you look behind everyone there is a little black American Pitbull Terrier name of Gigi). All these ladies got along remarkably enough:) |
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I was riling Roxie all up just to get this picture.
Yesterday, our clients and friends lost their beloved Katie at age 13. She is a Springer who has lived with her litter mate Hannah during her life. Hannah came to us in 2006 for training, as she suddenly started going after her sister, Katie. The relationship was repaired, and they went on peacefully into old age together. Katie had recently gone totally deaf, and Hannah is now loosing her hearing as well.
These older ladies have been doted and loved up on by their family. This is a truly sad loss for all who knew these dogs. Hannah has never been without her sister, even when she came here for training. Both Hannah and Katie were great friends to my dogs, including my deceased Jazzy and Jackie. I used to sing a song to them "Hannah's bananas, but Katie she is crazy!". Katie was a giant living teddy bear, who also could blow you off with a smile complete with tongue hanging out. Hannah is more subtle in the ways that she got your attention, and can be a complete clown. Two very different sisters, but two very special dogs with their own individual personalities that worked like ying and yang. |
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| Katie (black and white), Hannah, and I walking along Long Sands. |
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| Katie and Hannah posing for me on a rock in my yard. |
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| Hannah is in front of an English Springer, Pearly. Katie is next to Great Dane, Harley. Jackie is the red dobie to the right, and Leon is the red dobie to the left. |
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| Leon, Jackie, Katie, Pearly, Hannah, Roxie, and Harley all pose for me:) |
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| That is Katie peering up at me from under my desk. |
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| Hannah laughs at messy Katie. We had just walked through the woods near the wetlands, and Katie, of course, submerged herself like a hippo in the water. Hannah always travels the same terrain but manages to stay clean. |
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| Another view of swamp thing, Katie. |
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| Katie "Will you quit laughing at me?" |
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| Katie "If I rub hard enough, can I get it off?" |
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Katie "I know, I know, I am cute. Now please get me out of this."
There are probably more than a few older dogs that I don't know have passed on yet. Several that I trained from Worcester Mass, but that I have lost touch with were older dogs. It is truly one sad part of this business. You get to know and fall deeply in love with these dogs, and then in one moment they are gone. On the other hand, if I have done my job correctly, they had an amazing life and partnership with their human:)
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