by Judy & Bruce P.
Our dogs name is Dusty, we got him 6 years ago from a shelter in NY. He was a Mini collie mix, mini collie and a lot of other things our vet said when we first brought him in for his first checkup. The shelter said he was 6 but the vet that neutered him said more like 10 to 12 by the gray on his face, but we did not care. My sister saw this dog on the news that needed a home but missed who had her up for adoptions so she called different animal shelters in the city to find her. The ASPCA said it wasnt us, try the Center for Animal Control in Manhattan. My sister called and Daniel who answered the phone said that sure we have a collie but never said he was the one on TV and my sister said she did make it clear describing the dog she saw on the news program and that she was female. My sister went to the shelter and $60 later they brought out Dusty with the explanation, he was going to be put to sleep the day before but we saved him for you and no refunds. My sister said they know a sucker when one walked in :-}. Dusty was not the dog she saw on TV but Of course she could not say no but with one stipulation, if he could not get along with our golden retriever back he was coming which they said ok you can pick another then. They asked my sister if she wanted to see more which she replied, this makes 2 and thats all you can have in my town. Dusty whisked her out the door and down the block to freedom where I was waiting in the car. When I saw him I said this is the dog that looks like our golden retriever Priscilla, the one we came all the way into the city for, I told you they would pull a switch. Dusty was brown & black long hair kind of like a grease spot but he had a pretty face & smile.
Priscilla was not at first happy with this new addition and she keep her distance the first few days just only getting close enough to give him a snarl. One day while I was on the computer Dusty came close to me which Priscilla did not like and grabbed him by the neck and throw him into the daybed. Well when Dusty got up he must have thought you want to play this game ok, so he bit her on the face. They both just starred at each other and I said lets get this straight, you can be friends and live together or Dusty goes back to jail and Priscilla you can live alone. They picked friends and been together ever since, until now.
My sister noticed when Dusty first came home that he was walking into a lot of things and Priscilla would guide him down the stairs walking on the out side while he followed the wall. We discovered he had PDR I think which is an eye degeneration disease and nothing could be done but he learned to get around fine. We just made sure the cellar door was closed and night-lights were put around so he could see some light.
Dusty left the shelter to come into our family where he had two houses in different states to go between, a doggie friend to play with and would want for nothing. Even when he invaded the bags of food in the car and would steal something you could not get mad because he was being Dusty. Dusty was a very smart dog and made a great pair with Priscilla. They would often work together to steal food and enjoyed playing doggie smackdown. They would watch an cry when the vet was checking one or watch through the front door glass and cry when one was getting their bath by the mobile groomer. They really loved each other, which was great. Dusty was much for his family and would only pay any attention to guest when they were leaving. He would walk them to the door as saying, nice to see you, heres the door come back soon. It made my sisters friend laugh that was visiting from out of state. Dusty would wait by the front door for my sister to come home from work and if she was late by 10 minutes he would start to bark at me like asking, why is his mother late and make her come home now. Of course when she finally got home they would both sing & dance in circles. These two were like a bunch of kids who loved it when there family was home together to play & pay attention to them. They Both loved going for rides in the car where Dusty would sit on my sisters lap in the front seat, which was not the most conformable way since he weighed 50 54 Lbs. but Dusty insisted it be that way. I got the blame for both their weight because I would take them for cheeseburgers to Burger King, Wendys, and Checkers. They would also share 1 hotdog an ice cream and a bottle of Poland Springs water when they came with me to Costco, but heck it wasnt every day they ate out.
Two weeks ago Dusty began to have very bad seizers, one Thursday before going to the vet and one later when we got home. Dusty was fine for the next week until early Friday morning where he had another real bad one. He seized on and off all the way to the emergency vets who stop his seizers but said this is not a good sign when an older dog starts this. We took Dusty then to our regular vet who keep him in the hospital through the weekend and until today. We visited him every day which he seem to be stable until Tuesday when he could not longer stand or lift his head for any length of time. I told him we loved him and to get better because I needed my navigator for directions when we go driving in the car. Dusty started to run a high fever and the vet put him on antibiotics, he said the next 24 hours would tell. My sister called the vet this morning from work and learned Dusty wasnt getting better. She only worked half a day so we could visit Dusty and do what was needed to stop any suffering. When we went to see Dusty today he wasnt Dusty anymore, no life was left in him just a shell and no chance of bringing him back so we had no choice but to, you know. The vet said it was something in his brain, tumor, cancer, doesnt matter they put him a medication to stop the seizers but he just got worse. Nothing medically could have been done and no miracles were coming.
I want to run away but dont know where to go, I want to go someplace that will make this all better, put things back the way they were but I dont know where that is, do you? Is there such a place? This is not the first pet Ive lost and we were with Dusty when he was relived of his pain.
Dusty had a great 6 years with us but I wanted it to be more, it never gets easy. We had plans to move to Florida were they would have had a new home with a swimming pool but I dont care about that anymore. I dont know what I want or care about anymore and it will hurt in the coming weeks specially when a look at Priscilla and know she lost her friend and is alone again. She is different today than other days when she smelled him on us after the visits. My guess she knows, we did explain it to her.