luvmycash Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 It's been quite a while since I frequented the boards here. Life happens and I had my wonderful border collie, Cash, by my side always. Memorial Day of this year I had to rush him to the vet for a rectal prolapse. Panic gripped me, but his xrays were clean. They couldn't find a cause for it, just fixed it and sent us home. It wasn't until the third visit that they found the cancer on his colon. With a poor prognosis even from the specialist, I had him put down a month after his diagnosis. I think I cried every day. He was having accidents and that upset him terribly. When he no longer followed me around and just laid in the barn doorway I knew. He now rests beside my first border collie on the hill by the old pasture. In the ten years since Molly's death, the bleeding heart bush that I planted on her grave is massive. I have not yet picked a flower to cover Cash. He was just 9 years old. Molly is my avatar. Cash is in my signature. I had started my search for a new border collie before Cash was gone. Call it cold, but my gut knew that Cash was in major trouble... And that soon I would be without my farmhand. To me it had nothing to do with replacing him. Just like he did not replace Molly. But I've got a small herd of goats and a buck that outweighs me. I needed a dog. I really should have started looking when he was a little younger. But you always think you have more time when your dog is healthy. Looking at his face, I never even noticed the gray creeping up his muzzle. But all my dogs have lived 14-16 years. It blindsided me. Without further ado... This is Cricket! She's a wonderful little girl out of working parents. I'm looking forward to many years with her as my new right hand. Being the favorite of the breeder's grandkids, she's a might spoiled, but she's coming around once she realized that I'm not carrying her everywhere lol. She has a lovely little personality and tilts her head at everything I say. I love a dog you can have a conversation with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medic09 Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Ah, real life. I'm sorry for your loss of Cash, and celebrating your new-found potential for a different happiness with a different dog. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 I'm so very sorry for your loss. No matter when it comes, it's never expected and always, always too soon. Cricket is just adorable! I just love that last picture of her. She's got some might big paws to fill but she looks like she just might be up to the task. Better keep a close eye on her, though. I'm not too terribly far away from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 So sorry to hear about Cash. Cricket is a cutie. She has big shoes to fill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvmycash Posted August 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Thanks all. She certainly does have a big hole to fill. She's doing just fine though. I miss Cash something fierce; it's also hard not having a farmhand. My pit bull/dane mix, Tessa, attempts to help me. It's pathetic and yet I appreciate her effort. She bounds a lot and then looks at me. *facepalm* These were some of the last photos I got of Cash. ❤ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Haha! I don't have carpet any more. My recently deceased old gal ruined it with incontinence. But thanks anyway . . . no Labs for me. I even told the rescue when I asked them to keep any eye out for my next adoptee that I don't even want another border collie mix, just a purebred. My only really difficult dogs have been mixes (even the BC mixes). Loved 'em to death, but not looking to go through it again, especially since one of them's only 3 1/2 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 I have decided that carpet is generally just a bad idea and I will steer as far away from it as possible in future. Never mind the dogs- I shed enough to make daily hoovering a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 So sorry to hear about Cash! That little girl in my avatar is my new dog, whose name is also Cricket. Lost my old Buddy in February, and the space for him in my house is still empty. But the new dogs always create their own space, don't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I was able to locate this thread. Your pup looks like a dwarf in these photos. I suspect she was deemed "normal" during her vet exam because many vets, like most humans, are so used to seeing dwarf dogs (like Corgies) that they would only mark them as abnormal on physical if they felt the defect was affecting quality of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvmycash Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 And she wasn't quite normal because of her lack of muscling. She was carried everywhere and separated from the other pups because they were beating her up. I had to do some swim therapy just to get her walking for longer periods of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I am very sorry for your loss. And congrats on your new addition!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I was able to locate this thread. Your pup looks like a dwarf in these photos. I suspect she was deemed "normal" during her vet exam because many vets, like most humans, are so used to seeing dwarf dogs (like Corgies) that they would only mark them as abnormal on physical if they felt the defect was affecting quality of life. I find this rather shocking. I would expect my vet to recognize that a border collie should not exhibit dwarfism. If I took a corgi puppy in, sure, tell me it's fine, but a dog breed that's not normally dwarfed? I would be rather unhappy with my vet at that point. What I would expect is that the vet would note the defect and then tell me that it shouldn't affect the dog's quality of life, but calling a dog normal when it's clearly not, given the breed, is indefensible in my opinion. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I've got to agree with Julie here. I'm not used to seeing dwarf dogs. Yes, I see corgis and doxies and recognize that they look different from most dogs, but unless someone were to tell me a pup was a mix of one of those or a similarly stunted breed, I'd think there was something wrong with the pup, not that it's "normal." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted October 10, 2015 Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 I agree Julie, but I've seen it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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