Amazingly, she started eating and showing some life again. We managed to convince ourselves that the cancer was slow growing, and that we'd have a few months left with her. A week later, the truth was obvious - in the space of one night, she went from outwardly healthy to barely breathing, and unable to walk. We didn't want her to suffer, so we went to the vet and had her put to sleep.
Losing a dog is very upsetting, and I've been terribly sad each time it has happened. In many ways, losing Cassie is the worst of the bunch - but this isn't a post to make you sad. When you bring home that puppy, you know this day is coming. About the only thing that makes it worth while are the memories you're left with, after they're gone. Here's my "Top Ten Cassie Memories":
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| Here's Cassie, locked in a deadly battle with a stuffed toy at the lake! |
10. Cassie was skinny. When we first got Cassie, she was about a year old and weighed 47 pounds - on the same frame that would scale out at a lean 93 pounds about 5 years later. She was the skinniest dog you can imagine - her ribs were prominent, her hips stuck out, and her head looked enormous. She looked deformed. To make matters worse, she lost 7 pounds over the next two months while I tried in vain to find a food that would agree with her. Even with all her health problems, she was a sweet dog - walking nicely beside me, stopping to throw up, then continuing the walk as though nothing was wrong. When we finally got her to hold food down, she packed on weight and was as healthy as a horse. For the rest of her life, she was lean and healthy, her weight staying between 90 and 93 pounds.
9. Cassie almost wasn't our dog. I had gone alone and looked for another dog at the Humane Society, and liked Cassie. Since Theresa wasn't completely on board, I wanted her to see her before making a final decision. They agreed to put a hold on her while we were deciding. After seeing her, Theresa was OK with her, so we went to the office to complete the paperwork. When we got there, another couple was at the counter, saying they had decided to take her. They were disappointed to miss out on her, but quickly walked back to find a different dog. Had we not gotten her, I doubt if she would have survived - she was to be an outside dog for these folks, and I doubt if they'd have been willing to spend the money I did to get her healthy. For the first month or so, I sometimes wished I'd have let her go with them. I never felt that way after that, though.
8. Cassie pees and poops on command. We often traveled with the dogs, and it's pretty easy to get frustrated if they won't do their business quickly when you make a stop. I got in the habit of saying, "Go Potty" when I was waiting for them. Soon, both dogs would squat and pee when I said this. Cassie would also poop on command - an ability I've never seen in other dogs (or humans). On her last day, deathly sick and barely able to walk, I took her outside so she wouldn't get sick in the house. She walked out, looked at me, and squatted to pee - even though she didn't have to go. She believed that's what I took her out for, and she still knew what to do.
7. Cassie is an
obedience class star. Soon after I got her, I enrolled Cassie in an obedience class. I've found it's a good way to socialize dogs, bond with them, and give them some basic skills that are useful. As the first class started, Cassie was terrified of the other dogs, tried to attack several, and was generally about as bad as you can imagine a dog to be. Embarrassed, I took her to a corner of the room and worked with her alone. Much to my surprise, she almost immediately learned sit and heel, and by the end of the first session she could heel right by the other dogs without a bad reaction. By the end of her first course, she performed better than the instructor's dog! I ended up taking her through a number of advanced classes, and she was amazing - her eyes would be riveted on me, and she would follow my lead without error. I never worked with her more than about 15 minutes per day, and never entered her in any competition, but she was always the best dog in every class. After a couple of courses, I even had her take the Canine Good Citizen test, which she passed.
6. Cassie lets the bunnies live. A few years ago, I was mowing the lawn, and I noticed a nest of rabbits under a bench in the corner of the yard. They were very tiny, about the size of mice. Cassie saw them too, and was just about to go - as dogs will - and kill them. Now, I don't really care all that much about rabbits - there's no shortage in Nebraska - but I really didn't want to see the carnage. I was also less than enthusiastic about her eating them and getting sick. I yelled at her, and said, "Cassie, NO! Leave It!". She sat down about twenty feet from the nest, and looked at me. I repeated my words, and she just sat there, staring at the nest. I assumed they'd be safe until the moment I turned my back. To my surprise, she didn't bother them the rest of the day, even when I went to mow in the front yard. Amazingly, she never went and cleaned out the nest - when I'd let her out in the yard, I'd say "Leave It", and she'd go sit about twenty feet away, watching. Over the next several weeks, the bunnies got bigger, until they were gone, and she never touched them.
5. Cassie dodges the water spray. When she was young, Cassie used to "go off" at times in the car - barking at cars, drivers, other dogs, cows, or whatever she decided bothered her. We got the bright idea to cure her of this habit by spraying her with a water bottle each time she acted up. She quickly learned the proper reaction - bark your head off, then duck! Needless to say, the only thing we accomplished was to end up with a wet lab - unfortunately, it was Charlie, not Cassie, who took the spray. I guess we did teach her to duck after barking!
4. Cassie owns the paddle boat. When we bought our lake home, we decided to get a paddle boat. It was virtually impossible to get on that thing without Cassie. We had to keep a leash on her, because if she saw someone on the other side of the lake, she'd just jump in and swim to them. With the leash, she'd sometimes pull the boat backwards, trying to go see kids.
3. Cassie the fisherman. Once we started fishing, we learned that Cassie liked nothing better than to go on the boat and "help". We used a large cooler as a live well, and Cassie would try to grab the fish as they swam in the cooler. We sometimes fished for catfish using floats made from "fun noodles" - foam swim aids. Each float would have a line attached, and we'd throw around 30 of them in the lake and wait for the catfish to bite. When they'd hit it, one end would go under water, while the other popped up. With Cassie along, we didn't have to worry about missing one - she'd see it and get very excited. If you didn't watch out, she'd jump in to fetch it.
2. Cassie the lifeguard. Cassie loved to swim. She also loved to jump in and fetch your fun noodle - sometimes almost drowning you in the process. If you managed to hold on, she'd tow you back to shore. Sometimes, I'd jump off one side of the dock. Cassie would jump off her side, and be there when I came up for air. If I went to the other side and didn't jump right away, she'd bark at me until I jumped.
As I'm writing this, my mind is filling up with great Cassie memories. I could easily go on with this - talking about my big, brave dog who was deathly afraid of flys, or how she'd trick Kodak into giving up his side of the couch, or even how she could fly - jumping off the deck to the yard 13 feet below, but I decided to make this a top 10 list, so I'll stick to that, for now. So, with no more fanfare, here's my number one memory of Cassie:
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| It's a tough life, but somebody's got to do it...... |
1. Cassie the lap dog. As a general rule, we don't allow the dogs on the furniture. The exceptions were: the downstairs couch (when we had a downstairs), our bed (only when it was unmade), and my recliner. Amazingly, Cassie understood each of these restrictions - she'd often stand at the foot of our bed and loudly demand it to be unmade, so she could go to sleep. After we moved to Arizona, I'd often find her lounging in my recliner when I came home. The best part, however, was when she'd crawl up in my lap. There she'd lay, gazing up at me with those eyes that said, "I think you're wonderful". That's the image in my mind when I think of Cassie, and what I think I miss the most about her.
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| That's my Girl! |
