And dogs like me too. I can only think of one dog that I've known that didn't like me. And it really bothered me that it didn't......
When I used to rodeo and go to barrel racing jackpots a lot, I knew everybody's dog. And I knew everybody's dog's name. I'm pretty sure I could have gotten into just about anybody's horse trailer tack room and stolen their stuff because their dogs would have let me.
But of course, MY dogs are the most special to me. My dogs are getting old now.....that's how it works, you know. If they live long enough and are cared for good enough, well..... they get old. Just like people.
Deets is a Border Collie. He's eleven now. I owned his dad until cancer took him from me just 2 weeks before Deets was born. I gave him his name from the character in the movie, Lonesome Dove. After the character, Josh Deets is killed, his friend Woodrow F. Call, carves a tombstone for him. It reads, "Cheerful in all weathers. Never shirked a task. Fought with me in 21 engagements between the Kiowa and Commanche." I wanted my dog to be like that, so that's why I named him Deets. He wasn't a bad cow dog in his time. Kind of like a young horse, you had to get him worn down a little because he liked to push pretty hard. But he tried to do what you wanted. He always tried his best. I admit, I lost my temper with him a couple of times but he always forgave me and came back wanting to please me. I'd say he has been "cheerful in all weathers".
Deets has been great with kids and adults alike. His passion, after chasing cattle, has been chasing a stick or a ball. No one comes to our yard (or Dad's if he happens to be there) that Deets doesn't bring them a stick or a ball to throw for him. He loves to "go"......I think he prefers the front of the pickup to riding on the back, but I don't think it really matters, just as long as you take him along. He has gotten to the point that he can't jump on the back any more....I have to pick him up and put him up there. I think it embarrasses him a little. He's still a proud old man, you know. And he will sit in the front with me when I'm feeding cows and pant.....and pant. But he certainly wouldn't want to stay home. He might miss something, I guess.
Actually, I think Deets just wants to be with me. I don't know that he would protect me much if someone tried to hurt me. He'd probably just wag his tail and pester them with a stick or ball WHILE they were hurting me!
We have been pretty busy getting all the Fall work done, so I guess we hadn't taken much time to give old Deets a proper petting for a while. A few weeks ago, I noticed he had been losing quite a bit of weight. His backbone was just as bony as an old cow's. And then he just quit eating. He slept almost all the time and didn't want to go in the pickup. He seemed depressed. He just wasn't "Deets". So we took him to see my friend, Doctor Susan, a great small animal vet who grew up not too far away from here. She was pretty concerned. It could be cancer like his dad. Or quite a few other things. So she kept him at the clinic for a couple of days to do tests and watch him. I was worried sick. It was pretty hard to think about anything but my old dog.
But the next afternoon, Doctor Susan called and said he didn't have any cancer that she could find and she had gotten him to eat. The meds she'd given him seemed to be working. She was "cautiously optimistic" that he was doing better. We got to bring him home the next day......and every day he has been getting better and more like his old self.
The sad thing is, I know we won't get to have Deets forever. Dogs are a temporary part of our life. Like his old dad, I'll have to dig a hole one of these days and lay him to rest. It's mighty painful to say goodbye to our old friends....whether they are animal or human. But that's part of it. When Deets' dad died and I was out digging his grave, my dad came over to see how I was getting along. I was crying and wiping tears and snot and still digging. My dad said, "that's why I don't have a dog. 'Cause it's too hard." And I looked up at him and said, "I wouldn't trade this hurt I feel right now for all the joy this dog has brought to me."
I read a little saying about dogs a while back that I will share with you. I probably won't quote it quite right, but I'm pretty sure I'll get close enough that you'll get the idea of it.
"When our dogs die, they take a little piece of our hearts with them, leaving us with a piece of theirs. It is my hope to live long enough, that my heart will be made up of all of my dogs' and none of mine."
6/4/2013.....Deets passed away on May 13, 2013 from congestive heart failure. He died after a big day of playing with kids who were here for our branding. We laid him to rest up on a hill over east of our house where he spent a lot of time. He surely is missed.
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