Among all the happy things this year, like the arrival of Raven, has come the loss of two old canine friends of mine …

Before Bryce, I was still doing some obedience with Sally. Some people at my obedience club had a border collie they’d gotten for obedience competition, but he wasn’t working out. He was a handsome boy – finished his breed championship (with a handler) – but had developed some aggression issues towards people when with his owner. We got to talking, and they really wanted him to get out doing SOMETHING. I was kind of itching for a new challenge to train …

So Harley became my Rent-a-Collie. Fairly mellow for a BC, he was a big boy and a loveable goof! I took him to agility classes, trained him to novice/open level and worked on his social issues. My happiest memory was taking him to an agility match, where he met some strangers, kids, a man with a hat – and was fine with all of them! I also remember giving him a grape (no, I wasn’t trying to poison him – this was before all the problems with grapes and raisins being toxic to dogs started) – and laughing til tears rolled down my face watching it roll out of his mouth again and again as he figured out what to do with this weird little roly-poly thing :). OK, so maybe he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he was a good guy and he certainly was amusing!

I never trialed with him. We parted ways for reasons I won’t go into here, but I remained fond of the big boy and was sad to hear of his passing.

The other loss was my friend Tracey’s rescue Sheltie, Tess.

Tracey was in my agility class with her GSD and, having seen Bryce, was thinking of trying a Sheltie for her next dog. She hopped on some breed lists, and soon heard about a 12-13 yr old unspayed Sheltie in a nearby rescue who had a severe heart murmur (and possibly bladder cancer) and wasn’t expected to live more than 6 mos. Not the dog you’d pick for an agility prospect, but Tracey felt sorry for her and figured that she’d learn a little about the breed and give the poor girl a loving home for her last few months.

Well, the predictions of Tess’ impending demise were premature! She younger than the rescue thought (my guess was around 9 or 10), her heart murmur was treatable and she didn’t have bladder cancer – just liked to mark when she went for a walk! Once in her new home, Tess absolutely BLOSSOMED under the love and care of her new family.

Here’s Tess “before” …

And after …

Instead of 6 mos Tess had 4+ wonderfully happy years with Tracey and Brian, living the good life she deserved as a spoiled Sheltie princess and queen of their house. She even did a little agility!

Rest well, dear friends -