Some of you may remember when we posted a page to Boober’s Rainbow Bridge called A Chocolate Lab Named Thordoggie. Now, with great sadness we have another passing to announce. a lovely yellow lab we called The Divine Miss D has gone to join him and the kitties The Boober and Sundance and a wonderful Corgi named Terra.
I can’t do the justice to Miss D that labwitchy can, so with her permission I have used her words.
she had been used to manufacture puppies for some pretty lowlife owners. she was afraid of loud storms and would get on the bed and lie on me when storms came.
she was always a happy girl. show her a throw toy and she was so wiggly tailed happy. she enjoyed treats and walkies and car rides and was my near constant companion.
last friday, she collapsed. just collapsed, she could walk, but not well. just the day before she and i were rolling in the front yard like two loonies and having the best time. her favorite game was “go get the toy”. she played like that for at least twenty minutes at a time, longer if you wanted her to. she swam in the summer.
Miss D was at least 10 when we got her from DFW labrador rescue. no one thought she’d ever be adopted since she was so old. she and i connected the first time i saw her. she needed me as much as i needed her. my older lab, Thor had died a couple of months earlier. he was 17. she had a pancreatic tumor no one knew about. she had been to the dfw lab rescue vet and to our vet and pronounced healthy. no one knew.
labs, being stoics, with that hunting dog instinct that pushes them on through the pain. i hope she wasn’t in pain long. she never seemed to be until that day.
she had just learned to bring my iphone to me should i need it to call for help. had her paws not been so large, she could have likely dialed and told 911 what the problem was.
she was a cuddle monster. loved to cuddle, probably making up for the cuddles lost to her in her old life.
i miss her so. she was always ready for an interesting walk or an interesting ride. i couldn’t take her too many places in the car, what with the texas heat, but when i could, she was harnessed into the seat next to me and off we went.
someone had once loved her and spent time training her. she was on her way to being a gun dog, then something happened and either that owner gave her up or that owner turned into an ogre.
her best talent was doing the Dee Dance when she was happily awaiting me at the door or doing her Dee Dance when she was going to get a treat. i used to make her homemade doggy treats using recipes i received from her vet. i had planned on making her treats that looked like bats for halloween. she did NOT dress up, although she would have had i wanted her to.
we had long talks when we walked or went anywhere. the metro area isn’t dog friendly, although she was the perfect lady and wouldn’t dream of disgracing herself. she never barked. i heard that only one time. she ignored squirrels and cats and was utterly trustworthy off leash although i kept her on loose leash when we walked because it was safer for her.
she never was frightened by other people or other dogs. she ignored other dogs except torre and sat beautifully and quietly to be petted. someone worked well with her. i was even thinking of training her to be a delta dog. she was that good with people.
we only had her for a year and a half when disaster struck. the vets all agreed that the tumor was too large and too ruptured to take it out so the decision had to be made suddenly. she would never be pain free again and likely would not have made it through the surgery.
she was the best and is sorely missed. she’s coming home today to have her ashes placed next to thor’s.
From Lastech: this is the very first thing that came to me when I saw her picture, a song I’d forgotten from childhood…
The falling leaves
Drift by the window
The autumn leaves
All red and gold
I see your lips
The summer kisses
The sunburned hands
I used to hold.Since you went away
The days grow long…
And soon I’ll hear
Old winter songs
But I miss you most of all
My darling, when autumn leaves start to fall…This is a song
that seems like us
You who loved me
And I who loved you
We lived together
You who loved me
And I who loved you
But life tears away
Those who love each other
Very softly
Without a sound
As the waves wash away
The steps of broken lovers.Since you went away
The days grow long…
And soon I’ll hear
Old winter songs
But I miss you most of all
My darling, when autumn leaves start to fall…
