From all outside appearances, Lady was just an ordinary family pet.
She was part Chow and part Cocker Spaniel. If you wanted a duo of two personalities that would combine to make a really overbearing, obnoxious combination, you probably could not pick a better mix.
However, Lady was really sweet. She had hr quirks, one of which was an obsessive compulsion for tennis balls. Especially the fuzzy ones. It did not matter if they were rain soaked or covered in mud, she would spend hours just licking her particular tennis ball. And with her mottled colored tongue (the gift from the Chow part of her), the grass, mud and all other assortment of junk on that particular ball would almost make you gag looking at it.
She was so obsessive about her ball that “it” had to be put away when it was time to go to bed. Otherwise, she would spend all night pushing it away only to chase it down and reclaim it. Or, if it got stuck under a piece of furniture, she would go to any means to get it back, including ripping the cover on a sofa, tearing a piece of lattice away from the deck, or scratching on a door which the guilty ball had been pushed under. There was even one morning when Dawn, Lady’s owner, woke up to see her staring at a cabinet, just shaking. Dawn originally thought that Lady was having a stroke or a seizure and called her name. She slowly looked away from the spot to acknowledge her name being called and then returned her gaze on that particular spot. When Dawn investigated, she found a ball hidden under the cabinet. Once the ball was put away, Lady returned to her normal self.
Lady had be
en bounced around from one home to another a couple of times and this was probably her last home. The last home she had been in would not let her have a ball because of her compulsion towards them. If there was a 12-step program for balls, she would’ve been standing up at the front of the room saying, “Hi, my name is Lady and I am addicted to tennis balls.” The rest of the room would reply, “Hi, Lady.”
She was the darling of the dog park here in Sioux Falls, though. All the little kids would want to pet her and all the ladies thought she was so cute. And she didn’t take a lot of junk from the other dogs where her ball was concerned. I don’t know if it was the Chow or the Cocker Spaniel which responsible for that. Cockers can be sort of fierce about what they want as well as the Chows. If another dog messed with her ball, they could expect a fight. Homey just didn’t play that.
Usually, when we would go to the Dog Park, Doc and Dooly would tear off into the center of the park, Doc looking for a ball to bring back and Dooly making sure that Doc didn’t have too much fun. But Lady, when she found a ball, would just carry it around waiting for me to take it and throw it so she could chase it down. When she got a little tired, she would lay down with the ball between her stretched out legs, licking it. If someone else came along to throw her ball, that was okay. She would let you have it as long as you threw it for her.
Lady was 14 ½ years old and her eyesight was starting to fade where you needed to throw the ball in front of her so that she could see the movement and then chase it. She was starting to develop those bumps on her body that an older dog will get. There wasn’t much you could do about them, just keep her clean and brushed out and know that was part of her getting older. She was groomed every couple of months and was for the most part an indoor dog. She didn’t make too much of a mess except if there was a ball that you didn’t know about laying around somewhere. She didn’t eat too much and when she was exercised, her weight was pretty normal. Even her joints, which had bothered her when she first came to my house, eventually gave her little problem as she was exercised by chasing her ball repeatedly.
Lady’s kidneys failed last week and she went downhill very quickly. She no longer ate her food, she threw up in Dawn’s house twice, and she was having a difficult time getting up the stairs Saturday morning. Dawn took her into the vet clinic where she grooms dogs and the vet confirmed that Lady’s kidneys had failed. Dawn made a very difficult decision to put her to sleep rather than let her suffer even for one more day.
Dawn called me about 9:00 Saturday morning and I drove over to be with Dawn and Lady on Lady’s last day. I brought Doc and he got the chance to say goodbye as well. After Dawn had finished all her dogs, the vet came in, administered the proper drugs, and we sat in a quiet room with Lady and stayed with her until she was gone. We both cried and felt a terrible loss.
Some people might say (as I’ve heard people say before), “It was only a dog.” But they do not understand how much a part of the family that “only a dog” becomes.
I will miss Lady. I got the privilege of being one of the humans that got to care for her in her life. Her photos are my screensaver for now. And her impact will be felt in my heart for a long time.
If there’s a doggy Heaven, all the balls are fuzzy and they never get stuck or taken away. And Lady is having the time of her life.
She was part Chow and part Cocker Spaniel. If you wanted a duo of two personalities that would combine to make a really overbearing, obnoxious combination, you probably could not pick a better mix.However, Lady was really sweet. She had hr quirks, one of which was an obsessive compulsion for tennis balls. Especially the fuzzy ones. It did not matter if they were rain soaked or covered in mud, she would spend hours just licking her particular tennis ball. And with her mottled colored tongue (the gift from the Chow part of her), the grass, mud and all other assortment of junk on that particular ball would almost make you gag looking at it.
She was so obsessive about her ball that “it” had to be put away when it was time to go to bed. Otherwise, she would spend all night pushing it away only to chase it down and reclaim it. Or, if it got stuck under a piece of furniture, she would go to any means to get it back, including ripping the cover on a sofa, tearing a piece of lattice away from the deck, or scratching on a door which the guilty ball had been pushed under. There was even one morning when Dawn, Lady’s owner, woke up to see her staring at a cabinet, just shaking. Dawn originally thought that Lady was having a stroke or a seizure and called her name. She slowly looked away from the spot to acknowledge her name being called and then returned her gaze on that particular spot. When Dawn investigated, she found a ball hidden under the cabinet. Once the ball was put away, Lady returned to her normal self.
Lady had be
en bounced around from one home to another a couple of times and this was probably her last home. The last home she had been in would not let her have a ball because of her compulsion towards them. If there was a 12-step program for balls, she would’ve been standing up at the front of the room saying, “Hi, my name is Lady and I am addicted to tennis balls.” The rest of the room would reply, “Hi, Lady.”She was the darling of the dog park here in Sioux Falls, though. All the little kids would want to pet her and all the ladies thought she was so cute. And she didn’t take a lot of junk from the other dogs where her ball was concerned. I don’t know if it was the Chow or the Cocker Spaniel which responsible for that. Cockers can be sort of fierce about what they want as well as the Chows. If another dog messed with her ball, they could expect a fight. Homey just didn’t play that.
Usually, when we would go to the Dog Park, Doc and Dooly would tear off into the center of the park, Doc looking for a ball to bring back and Dooly making sure that Doc didn’t have too much fun. But Lady, when she found a ball, would just carry it around waiting for me to take it and throw it so she could chase it down. When she got a little tired, she would lay down with the ball between her stretched out legs, licking it. If someone else came along to throw her ball, that was okay. She would let you have it as long as you threw it for her.
Lady was 14 ½ years old and her eyesight was starting to fade where you needed to throw the ball in front of her so that she could see the movement and then chase it. She was starting to develop those bumps on her body that an older dog will get. There wasn’t much you could do about them, just keep her clean and brushed out and know that was part of her getting older. She was groomed every couple of months and was for the most part an indoor dog. She didn’t make too much of a mess except if there was a ball that you didn’t know about laying around somewhere. She didn’t eat too much and when she was exercised, her weight was pretty normal. Even her joints, which had bothered her when she first came to my house, eventually gave her little problem as she was exercised by chasing her ball repeatedly.
Lady’s kidneys failed last week and she went downhill very quickly. She no longer ate her food, she threw up in Dawn’s house twice, and she was having a difficult time getting up the stairs Saturday morning. Dawn took her into the vet clinic where she grooms dogs and the vet confirmed that Lady’s kidneys had failed. Dawn made a very difficult decision to put her to sleep rather than let her suffer even for one more day.
Dawn called me about 9:00 Saturday morning and I drove over to be with Dawn and Lady on Lady’s last day. I brought Doc and he got the chance to say goodbye as well. After Dawn had finished all her dogs, the vet came in, administered the proper drugs, and we sat in a quiet room with Lady and stayed with her until she was gone. We both cried and felt a terrible loss.
Some people might say (as I’ve heard people say before), “It was only a dog.” But they do not understand how much a part of the family that “only a dog” becomes.
I will miss Lady. I got the privilege of being one of the humans that got to care for her in her life. Her photos are my screensaver for now. And her impact will be felt in my heart for a long time.If there’s a doggy Heaven, all the balls are fuzzy and they never get stuck or taken away. And Lady is having the time of her life.
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