This week has already been a doozie and its only Wednesday! Monday night my sister Lara had to have an emergency appendectomy. Less than 12 hours later they sent her home with instructions not to lift either of her two children for 2-3 weeks. My parents leave tomorrow to go out of town so I'll be spending a good amount of time at her house over the next couple of weeks. (Blog Police-you know where I will be, so no citations, okay?) Then, last night Jason had to take one of his bird dogs, Tuff to the emergency vet. Over several phone conversations between Jason, the vet, and I, the decision was made to put him down. He was 11 years old...and now I will honor him with a story or two... He was a crazy dog, more so than the average pointer. He marched to the beat of his own drum, and had a very distinct personality. I first met Tuff when he was just a puppy. He was Dan's dog and he wanted to name him "Bandit", but Jason won out with his choice. Jason saw him jump off the bed of a truck and fall pretty hard on the concrete. He got right up without so much as a whimper and took off running like nothing happened. He's "Tuff" Jason said, and the name stuck. Dan didn't tell Pat about his newest purchase, but she found out soon enough. Some of the neighborhood children rang the doorbell asking to see the puppy. She tried to send them on their way saying, "I'm sorry, we don't have a puppy", but they responded "Yes you do. We've seen him once already." That was the summer Jason and I first started dating. Once, we took him to the family hunting property and let him run around. He fell in the river and pretty much didn't like water from that day on. Spirit, the only female of Dan's bird dogs did not care for Tuff as he was constantly trying to pursue her. She'd snap at him and let him know where he stood. He'd just shake it off and go on playing which aggravated her even more since she took her hunting very seriously. His persistence finally paid off after a year or two. Spirit and Tuff had a litter together (there are some great pictures of their puppies that I wish I could have gotten my hands on for this post). When Dan died, we couldn't take the bird dogs off Pat's hands soon enough. I can't say I blame her though. It is a lot of work to take care of them which she did when Dan was sick and then she had to wait for us to build our house. What I guess I am trying to say with all of this is that I know it was Tuff's time to go, but it is bittersweet because of all of the memories.
Left: Spirit, Top Right: Tuff The above stories reminded me that I never told y'all what we decided to name the bird dog puppy Jason bought last summer. If you'll remember one of us liked "Champ" (that was me) the other liked "Boss" (that was Jason). I'm pretty sure Champ got the most votes on the blog, but Jason won out, again. He said that since I got to name Charlie, he wanted to use his name, so that was the end of that. Here are some updated pictures of Boss...
What a difference a year makes, huh?
10 comments:
Wow... crazy week so far. I'm glad Lara is o.k. though. How's she find out she had to have the surgery? Was she sick all of the sudden?
I'm sorry to hear about you dog. What happened... was it just old age? It's always hard to loose a pet. I'm a cat person myself... but I love animals and totally sympathize. Hope the week gets better!
Lara was sick over the weekend and then started having pain in her side that was getting worse and worse. They originally thought it was an ovarian cyst, but a CT scan proved otherwise.
Tuff just fell very ill all of the sudden. The vet said he thought it might be cancer, but didn't know for sure. They could have tried to nurse him back to health if he stayed wtih them several days on IV fluids, but that would have been A LOT of money. Plus there was no guarantee he would actually make it. The vet said he would have done the same thing if it was his dog. He was suffering pretty badly.
I am sorry about you pet. It is always hard to make a decision like that but it sounds like you made the right one.
Hope your sister is feeling better soon!
hope lara gets well soon!
sorry about the dog, andrea. i know that had to be hard. i mean, i know i say i can't stand The Sausage, but i'm sure when it's time for him to go to Weiner Dog Heaven i may shed a tear or two.
Your story was good. I really enjoyed reading this. and the pictures are great. :)
That's so sad...we lost a golden to cancer when I was little, and it hit me pretty hard. It was quick too, and he was also 11. It's always hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet. Your dogs are beautiful. German shorthairs are one of my most favorite breeds.
I didn't realize you had so many dogs...where does "Prince Charles" fit into the picture? Is he a house pet or is he trained as well?
Also, wishing a speedy recovery to Lara!!! :)
Becky-Charlie is the only one who comes in the house (although the garage is also his domain as that is where his water/food bowls are). The 2 remaining bird dogs have fenced in runs with dog houses in our back yard, but you can't see them from the house-its covered in trees so they have plenty of shade. Charlie is more "pet" than the others although he does hunt too. The others are strickly "working dogs"-well, to me at least-they might be pets to Jason.
OMG so sorry about the dog I am in tears! I love my doggie!
So so sorry!
Ooops, I just realized that Boss isn't even a German shorthair...should've looked more closely. DUH!
Hey there...Sorry to hear you're having a rough week. Glad your sis is ok though. I'm sure you are going to be a big help to her. That's very sad about your dog too. I hope things smooth out quickly for you guys! Hang in there.
I did wonder where Boss was the first time I came out to your house but didn't give it much thought. I hope Lara gets better soon and may Tuff rest in peace. Hope your week is getting better.
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