Sasha

She used to wait for me by the front door when I went grocery shopping.  Then she would follow me in and out to the carport and to the kitchen with my groceries.  The carport is a long distance from the road.  It was a strange day though.  The town was cutting the trees for the power line way down past our cottage toward Portola Rd.  I could hear their machines.  I turned to go back for more groceries and Sasha had not followed me in.  I went to the front porch and called her. No Sasha.  Then I got scared.  I thought she went to say hello to the strange men with the machines, but instead it was the strange  vehicle that must have caught her attention. 

The guys had these huge orange trucks with cranes on them for reaching the trees and a trailer in the back. One had just gone down my road to start working on the other end.  That was the one that hit her.  I
remember hearing it bounce over the speed bump as I put the groceries on the counter.  She was only out of my sight for 30 seconds to a minute.  I was in the road on top of her before the horrid vehicle had even made it to the end of the road.  She was my baby.  I was in charge, and it happened.  I am so careful, so vigilant, so worried about every little possible mishap.  I verge on the edge of paranoia and yet it happened anyway.  It was so out of character for her.  She wasn't a chaser of cars.  She wasn't a wanderer, but freak accidents happen. 

It has been a tough year for us.  My father was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer at Thanksgiving.  It rose to a life threatening level immediately and I moved him into my cottage to care for him.  The experience was by far the most emotionally draining experience I have ever had.  Sasha was by my side every step of the way.  She licked my face when I cried.  She put Rachael to sleep when I couldn't.  She smiled all the time forever running back and forth with me to the cottage, to the kids, to my father.  He loved dogs.  She poked her nose in his face tenderly and licked him.  She loved and comforted us all. 

I think now that I gave her that extra 2 years of life after her near death experience with heartworm to be with us and get us through that ordeal with my father. He passed away on January 25th in the cottage.  I was by his side.  Sasha was with the kids, holding the fort down with my husband.  I'll never forget holding my fluffy love and crying into her fur.  She was my angel.  She saw us safely through that horrible experience and then it was finally her time to go.  I have no other explanation.  And maybe there isn't one. Somehow us humans always want a reason for WHY something happened.  That's all I can come up with.

Rachael was writing a story about Sasha in school when she died.  Rachael is in 1st grade.  She was supposed to write a story about something she loved.  One of the hardest things I had to do was go to school with her on Monday and help her finish the story after the ending so abruptly changed.  Changing 'I have a dog,' to 'had a dog' made me weep like a child.  I have attached the story for you to  read.  Our copy is of course illustrated, but I have no scanner to show you the pictures.

Also, our cat whom you met, died of cancer right before Christmas. (As I said a bad year).  We got a kitten from a rescue league right away.  His name is Kramer.  If you could have seen the way Sasha and
Kramer played, you would still be laughing.  She would stick her nose under him and toss him playfully in the air.  Once he landed in her water bowl.  They would gallop around the house together.  They would sleep together.  They loved, loved, loved each other.  So, the next dog we get will need to get along with this cat. Kramer misses Sasha desperately thank you again for being supportive. I will always be grateful to you for bringing her into our life.  By the way, she was a huge hit in the whole community here.  My  friends, my kids friends, people we passed on the road,  my neighbors,  everyone whose life she touched was entirely enamored with her.

My Dog Sasha’s Life

By: Rachael (age 7)

I had a dog named Sasha.  When we got her she had heart worms.  Sasha was tan and white.  Once on a nice day my mom and I went to a collie rescue center to pick up a dog.  It took a long time to get there.  Finally we got out of the car and went inside. Then, I went in the back yard.  I saw a bunch of dogs running.  One was Sasha.  She ran right to me. I said to my mom, “Is this her?” Mom said, “Yes.”

Mom had to sign a piece of paper that meant she owned Sasha.  Then they gave mom dog food.  They talked for a long time.  Then they walked outside and she gave mom a ramp and a cage.  I went inside and went in the back yard.  I watched the dogs play.  Mom came and got Sasha.  I followed mom with Sasha.  Sasha walked up the ramp into the cage and we went home.

We cured Sasha from heart worm.  She was a very happy dog.  She loved going on walks with us.  She loved giving out kisses.  She also loved cuddling, and always put me to sleep at night.

On May 30, 2008 Sasha got run over by a truck and died immediately.  We gave her 2 years of life.  She was a happy dog.  We will miss her very much.

The End.

Joy

My beautiful collie, JOY died very suddenly on October 27, 2007…she was only three years old. Joy was one of 81 collies taken into custody in Yolo County three years ago from a man who was a breeder and hoarder of collies. None of his dogs were spayed or neutered and all were allowed to breed indiscriminately. Many of the dogs suffered from lack of care. Joy was a newborn puppy at the time criminal charges were brought against the man. Joy and her sister, Harmony, who we still have, were sent to separate foster care homes immediately. The court process took a year and then the dogs were put up for adoption. That is when my husband and I adopted Harmony. It was almost a year later, when the sisters approached two years of age,that we adopted Joy. I remember seeing the two sisters, (or “sista’s as I liked to call them,) running through the yard together the day they were re-united. They flowed across the back lawn in beautiful synchronized form with such gaiety and poise running and chasing each other as if trying to make up for all their lost time together.   

Joy had been in several foster homes during her first two years of life andwas unsure of everything. But she blossomed here in our homet last year and evolved from a shy timid rescue into a confident, loving sweetheart of a dog. She would run and lead the pack on our walks and never seemed to tire. Many of the “Yolo collies” have died during the past three years.  I recall so many times that my husband would say to me, “We lost another Yolo collie today.” I remember pausing for a moment and thinking how sad it was…and then asking “what was the cause of death?” Most of the time, his reply was the same…lymphoma. After that, I never gave it another thought.

Last week Mitch and I traveled to Oregon with Joy, Harmony, Triumph (also a Yolo collie), Misjef and Journey. When we arrived, we noticed that Joy had some difficulty walking. The next day, I took her to the vet thinking she had hurt her back jumping into the car and just needed some down time to heal. Joy became progressively worse each day, and then by the hour. She lost control of her back legs, then her bowels and then her bladder.  Her spirit remained positive and she looked at me as if to say, “I don’t understand why I cannot walk…what is happening to me?” I made an emergency trip with her to the veterinary hospital.  We expected that an x-ray and myleogram would diagnose a slipped disk or at worst, a tumor in her back that we would have surgically removed and then bring her home to recover.

But, Joy was diagnosed with spinal lymphoma.  When I saw her hours after the myleogram, she had developed pneumonia and was declining quickly. The vet gave her a poor prognosis even with chemotherapy and radiation. Collies are very sensitive dogs and they do not tolerate treatment nearly as well as most other breeds. I remember a vet once saying to me that collies don’t get sick, but when they do, they get very sick!

Joy’s suffering ended on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 9:15 in the morning. She became the thirtieth Yolo collie to die and the youngest to die of lymphoma.  I am in shock. I am sad. I am lost.  What about Joy’s sister, Harmony? Is there a genetic predisposition for the same thing to happen to her? And is Triumph at risk as well?

I am angry. When a person loses it and becomes a hoarder of animals and lets them breed indiscriminately, they hurt not only the animals, but they also hurt the people that love them. The suffering is endless and the emotions are overwhelming.  I choose to remember Joy running with her sister in perfect “harmony”. I see her one blue eye twinkling at me in the picture Ihave of her on the mantle. I feel her on the bed every morning at the crack of dawn asking for breakfast. I feel her soft glistening fur in my fingers. I feel her spirit next to me today. Will, my friend, expressed it so well…”It is such an emotional commitment to love a dog and know that they will not be here for a human’s entire lifetime.” He is right. When we have a dog, we love them in the purest form because every emotion they give to us is in purest form. So, when we lose them our grief is in purest form, too.  I have thought about what Will said over the last few days and ask myself why I continue to rescue cats and dogs knowing that I will lose them.

My answer…for the “JOY” of them. 10.2007.

Happy

Time takes everthing but memories, and we have so many.   The great love we have for her, and the love she gave to us, will be with us forever.  Happy was born June 13,1996 and passed away August 1,2007.

Merry and Sailor

Both passed over the Rainbow Bridge in 2007 .

Poomba

We had to let Poomba go this morning. He had been getting very, very weak over the past four weeks and this morning he had a stroke and lost the total use of his rear legs and body. It was tough. He's been a sweetheart to have in the family. We will miss him terribly. His passing comes just a month after we lost our 19 year old Abigail, so we've got some empty spaces in our hearts.

Aspen

I'm sorry to tell you that Aspen has passed away with intestinal cancer. Her days were very happy, and she did not suffer up until the end when she stopped eating and then we decided to put her down.

We all miss her so much. I can't tell you what a trooper she was. The other dogs miss her, and they are going through depression. Collies seem to be the most sensitive dogs I have ever been around. This is all so painful, and I don't think I can go through this again
soon.

I hope your collie rescue is going well, and I will keep in touch.

Thanks for sending Aspen into our lives. 12.2007. Adopted 01.2006.

Honey Froke

Yesterday was Honey's last mortal day on earth, bless her heart. For all of the 7 years of abuse and agony she suffered before we met her, we know these past four years - with so much love and sympathy shared with her - that she really did get to live a Collie's Dream Life. She rolled and snoozed in clover, wagged her tail from time to time, and endlessly was inseparable from Lady, Skye, and Martha and me; and whenever we could gather, Ben and King Marley. 
 
Earlier this year, Honey stood up to fill Lady's lighted paws, and did so with a dignity so soft and touching that Skye and the rest of us were spared grief and suffering that I had thought would have overcome us. Honey was a silent angel, with no voice but a sweet puff, and although she was deaf and arthritic, her strength and presence were great. 
 
Honey liked to sleep a lot, and now she will all day and night - between a silky Queen Anne Palm and Japanese Persimmon in our garden: The very place Skye goes for fresh grass whenever he has an upset stomach. 

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I/we miss Honey a little more as each day goes by.  It's as though in her forced silence she had so much to to say, and now she is finally getting a chance to express parts of herself that had been overlooked - for her lifetime.

Miss Lulu

In January 2006, Nancy rescued Lulu. She passed away in July 2007. I feel blessed to have been a part of Miss Lulu’s life.  I could not have asked for a more perfect dog for our family.  She was such a loving soul, so understanding, so willing to please.  She became a good friend to Annie and even though they didn’t actually play together on their own, I know that they loved each other because poor Annie has been crying anytime we leave her alone even when we just leave the room for a few minutes.  Again, thank you for letting Lulu be a part of our family... Adopted 01.2006.

Dusty

Dusty had Degenerative Myelopathy - a neurological, auto immune disease that affects the nerve fibers in the spine. Basically, the signals from the brain to the spine and rear legs are not received. No wonder he never wagged his tail. The vet discounted arthritis as his problem and showed us how his legs just didn't respond to the right stimulus. He never had the strength to raise himself and he always went thru a long process to lower his rear. In his last several weeks it was noticeable, in retrospect, that he was losing more rear end control, but that didn't deter us. And more importantly, none of this slowed Dusty down one bit. He was alert, curious, active, ate well and wanted to be involved in everything. While the other guys lounged and slept, Dusty wanted to go crusin'. So he got outside in the snow and roamed throughout the house...checking on everything and everybody. Because he started to have more difficulty in negotiating the hardwood floors, we'd put him on his new "flying carpet" and zip him from room to room to be with us. He always wanted us within eyesight and speaking distance....arf, arf.

Despite his DM ( which is not fatal or painful) his overall physical condition was great....skin, coat, eyes, hearing, teeth.......all just BEAUTIFUL ! So it was very painful on the morning I had to decide because he looked so good. But all the precursors to further degeneration that the vet alerted us to became evident. That last morning we spent together (lying together on his new bed) was illuminating - Dusty knew better than I did that it was time. His arf'ing was more constant and insistent. He definitely was telling me that he wasn't happy and this situation "sucked." It was about a 30 minute drive to the vet and with my hand on his head, he talked to me the whole way. As I picked him up and carried him into the vet, the arf'ing stopped and he became very calm.....the trust that sweet old boy had in me still overwhelms me. Of course, the vet assured me it was the right thing to do and that we had really done more than most.....little consolation, I just didn't want to let him go. Selfish, huh? But Dusty was at peace, very serene in my arms as we administered a sedative and then the final injection. His eyes were on me the whole time as he quietly and peacefully slipped away. The vet was a great help - sympathetic and consoling - then left us alone with our final goodbye and grief.

As I reflect on his condition, I'm glad we didn't know about DM when we got him. We assumed as did the vet at the time, this was an old dog with arthritis in the rear hips and legs that was impairing his mobility. OK we could deal with that and we would make everyday the best we could given his condition until he just died of old age. Our optimism with Dusty was never dampened. Maybe that's why he survived it as long as he did. We never let him think that he was an invalid and we kept life normal and active. He was in the center of all our daily activities - the boys played around him, slept on top of him, dropped toys on him and nuzzled and cared for him. If he dropped on a walk, they waited beside him until we re-erected him. An incredible support group! Believe me Dusty got up everyday just loving' life.......and it was infectious.....for us and the other "boys." For the past 1 year and 1 month our world revolved around that sweet old boy..............I wouldn't change a second........he brought so much to our world. He was a sweet and beautiful creature and we were blessed to have him in our care for the time we had together.

Thanks for asking us to be his caretaker. It was a joy and an honor.

Memories of Dusty a.k.a. "The Duster" 9/14/92 - 12/20/05, 13 yrs 4 mos 6 days. A long and beautiful life. A much beloved friend. He is with us ( ashes ) in a beautiful cedar box, ceramic paw print, collar and worn gortex booties on the bookshelf in front of our collection of Terhune books about collies.

Highland Barclay - Gone Too Soon

In June 2005 Carol and Jose rescued a handsome one-year-old Scottish collie pup. Highland Barclay bounded into our house and our hearts with elegance, beauty, sweetness and grace. He loved people and couldn't help herding them, all 90 pounds of him. Jose and Barclay went to puppy class together. We enjoyed hiking with Barclay in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But a month ago he started showing signs of lethargy and rear end motor problems, probably due to an auto immune disease. Despite lots of veterinary care, Barclay went to the Emergency Clinic on Christmas Eve, and he died the day after Christmas, with zero blood platelet count and his whole hind end paralyzed. He was the sweetest dog imaginable, so eager to please, yet he never got to live the happy life we offered him. It broke our hearts.

In Memory of Shasta 2005

Shasta came to us just a very short year ago. On a beautiful Saturday morning in May of last year, I made the 120 mile drive to California from my home in Nevada.  It didn't take me but a few minutes to decide I wouldn't leave that place without her.

She was very quiet and unassuming in the car. When we got home, I took her inside and she met the rest of the family. (Which included a variety of dogs, cats, and other critters, along with the human element.) Right off the bat, Shasta got along great with everyone! It was as if she had always lived here. The first few days she was very quiet and didn't move around much. And one thing she absolutely would not do was climb stairs. I was perplexed by this until I realized the reason for her hesitation - she couldn't see the stairs to climb them! Upon closer examination, it seemed she had some vision, but not much. I was very anxious to get her to my Vet to find out what the whole story was. First, however, she needed a trip to my professional groomer, as I had discovered she was horribly matted underneath the carefully brushed-out top coat. It actually took my groomer SIX hours to really brush her out and get her in decent shape! Then it became very apparent how terribly thin she was as well. As it turned out, she only weighed 36 pounds!

I had Shasta "Vetted" and all her blood work came back normal. I was encouraged. I babied her with special food and lots of love. Slowly she gained weight, and as she did, her coat also became more beautiful and her confidence grew. She blossomed into quite an attractive and loving Collie. Despite all she had no doubt been through before we got her, the famous Collie disposition prevailed. All she wanted was to be with her people, love them and be loved by them. She in fact became the quintessential Velcro dog that I'd always suspected was somewhere inside the half-starved and matted dull old girl I'd rescued that morning in May 2004. She was inclined to follow us around until we sat down, and then finally she would lay her head in our lap and relax, with a big Collie smile. Although she was still somewhat aloof with people she didn't know, with us, she was a love sponge.

I'm not ashamed to admit that Shasta was spoiled rotten in her year here with us. We loved her dearly. She had become the grand old dame of the household and all the other dogs and even the cats deferred to her and spoiled her too. They would move so she could have the best spot in the sun or on the lawn. She seemed to be thriving and very happy up until just a few weeks ago, when all systems suddenly started to fail. Despite our best efforts and after a wonderful year of sharing our lives with her, Shasta passed over to Rainbow Bridge.

We will always remember and miss our beautiful Shasta. Circa 1980 - June 8, 2005.

In Memory of Blue and Star 1992-2004, 1992-2006

Blue and her lifelong companion and sister Star were adopted  at the ripe old age of 11-1/2 by a Collie Angel, in late 2003.  We  hold a special place in our hearts for those who adopt our many senior dogs. Blue's health failed quickly after this picture was taken in May. Blue's person said that she would not have traded a single day that Blue was  with her.  Blue was a joy to her person each and every day they were together, as short as that time was.  Star followed her sister over the bridge a little over a year later.

Blue and Star in May 2004

Blue discovered the pleasures of the couch one day!

In Memory of Sierra 1988-2002

Sierra truly was our Rescue Dog (there have been many other rescue collies and shelties in our lives, including Shastina, the bi-black sheltie in the picture who was "hired" to be a seeing-eye companion for Sierra as her sight failed). We rescued Sierra from the desert-and ended up saving her from several major disasters (a firestorm, a major flood, and a huge earthquake) that struck our lives. She was all that we managed to save when our home was destroyed in the Old Topanga Firestorm in 1993. I stole in behind fire lines to save her, knowing I'd rather die with her than live without her.

Sierra was a golden soul, a "Victorian" collie. She was born somewhere near the high-desert town of Bishop, California, circa 1988. She spent the first three years of her life ignored and incarcerated behind a tall, wooden fence that surrounded a hard, unshaded concrete slab side yard. She spent blistering days and freezing nights alone in that yard as the "pet" chosen for a teenager in trouble who often forgot to feed her. The young dog languished and baked in the desert sun. Her rough start dealt her lifelong physical problems; she became host for a series of health issues that plagued her throughout her lifetime. She never whimpered, never complained in all the years we knew her or through any of the terrible procedures these ailments entailed.

Sierra was truly beautiful, inside and out, a fabulously soft, hug-able and pet-able package containing a rare and wonderful soul and a reasoning, problem-solving mind. She spent her life concerned for our comfort, safety, joy, and happiness. We may have rescued her several times over, but she saved our sanity and our lives on a daily basis with her honesty, her humor, her intelligence, her patience, her kindness, her loyalty. There was never a time during her lifetime when we said to ourselves, "Gee, I wish she hadn't done that." Sierra was ever the perfect lady. Sierra died peacefully in my arms on May 25, 2002. No longer disfigured, crippled, blind, or deaf, she's chasing dyslexic ground squirrels across the cloud meadows of heaven while she waits her time to greet us at the Rainbow Bridge.