Saying Goodbye to a Friend - January 4, 2010

     I said goodbye to a friend on the phone today. She didn’t answer me but I was told that she responded with her eyes. It was our Jessie. We had taken her in for emergency surgery for what was thought to be a large kidney stone. It turned out that Jessie was full of cancer. She stayed overnight at the animal hospital and Alan went in the next morning to see her and decide what to do. The surgery had taken the life out of her like nothing else could. He had no choice but to put her down.

     Jessie was our ‘Alpha’ dog. She was an Australian Sheperd. From day one she was determined that she would be the one to run the place. Alan was second in command and I was third. The rest of the dogs have come in line by order of seniority as they’ve entered the household. Even when she was a sweet looking puppy, she seemed to command authority. I never in the 10 years that she was with us, could get her to quit barking and jumping on the front door, when someone pulled in the driveway or walked up to the door. But I always felt safe with Jessie in the house. No one could get by her without a good scolding and stern warning that she was in control. Once you were in, she wanted to sit by you or crawl up on your lap if she really took a liking to you.

     She was my most loyal friend. When I was having back problems and consequent surgery, she never left me except when someone came to the door. And when I went to the garden, the rest of the dogs would go along but they were always busy sniffing around the trees or scoping out the raspberry bushes and burn pile for critters they might rouse up. Not Jessie. She would take her position near me, and move as I moved, keeping her eye on our surroundings and the house and driveway which are quite a ways from the garden.

     Jessie was trained for search and rescue. She was always enthusiastic when it came to learning something new. We would ask friends and family to hide in the grape vineyard or around the property. I’m telling you, when they were found, they knew it. She would be so excited that she would almost bowl them over when she found them. I often thought that if a person was lost and Jessie was the one to find them that they might have a heart attack when they saw her coming at them full speed. She really excelled when it came to tracking and finding her target. Although she was like a wild thing at times, she always seemed to know when to act appropriately, with other dogs or when she was in a parade with lots of commotion around her.

     This is a sad start to the New Year for me. I expected Jessie to come home from the pet hospital feeling like her old self. Just Christmas Eve she was helping us all tear the wrappings off our Christmas presents. Even the other dogs seem a bit subdued today. I’m sure they are wondering where the boss is.

     I’ve heard people say when they’ve lost a dog that they won’t get another because it is just too hard to go through it. But I think of what I would have missed without Jessie. It is such a joy to have a friend who asks so little and gives so much. An email from a friend says it all.

     “Sorry for the loss of your close friend. Only those with dogs can appreciate the emotions attached to the friendship of someone who asks nothing, yet gives so much to us. I’ve always thought that dogs got the short end of the stick on longevity. You have my deepest sympathy.”