For My Dog

[Lucky Draw]

We almost got an Australian Cattle Dog, aka Blue Heeler from the pound. The story was they found it in a dumpster, so we were going to name it Oscar after the Sesame Street grouch. Somebody else adopted that dog, but we still liked the name Oscar. When we ended up selecting a Heeler from a local breeder a few months later, we modified the spelling to Auscar. That was 15 years ago. Everyone should be so lucky to have a dog like that in their lives for 15 years.

 

We learned a lot from that dog. Its amazing how many things correlate from raising a pup to raising kids. Rewards for behavior you want to see again. Consequences for actions you’d rather not. How to get bodily fluids out of the carpet. What its like to be loved unconditionally. We learned that and so much more from our dog.

 

In the course of 15 years, a dog can acquire a pretty lengthy “Greatest Hits” collection of stories. A few of my favorites include:

 

-On his first trip to the vet he learned how they check your temperature, so on his second trip he kept that region firmly pressed against the wall.

 

-He was just as good at breaking out of our yard as he was breaking into the neighbor’s yard to see their female dog.

 

-His herding instinct was strong when it came to other dogs, kids and adults. But the first time he came across a cow he knew he was supposed to do something, but couldn’t bring himself to do much more than bark at it.

 

-He didn’t dog paddle, he got his paws out of the water like a freestyle swimmer. That might have had something to do with his build because he also couldn’t seem to keep anything past the shoulders above water.

 

When he was in one especially destructive phase as a pup, we tried hot dogs as his reward for good behavior. During this time he got to go with us on a road trip where we learned two things. One, he had gotten too big to fit on the center console of the truck, but wouldn’t give up his spot. Two, a canine hot dog fart hits like a hammer.

 

He loved chasing whiffle golf balls almost as much as I loved hitting them to him. On more than one occasion, he got so excited over a new pack of whiffle balls that he would mash them before they could make their second journey through the air.

 

Getting old was no picnic, but he always gave it his best (Another life lesson). Cancer hit him pretty hard about a year ago. Seven months ago, the vet said he would be lucky to make it another six months. You showed them, Old Pup.

 

This morning it was obvious that his time had come. Frankly, I’m amazed he made it through the night. We made the decision to put him down and am not the least bit ashamed to say that I haven’t cried that long and that hard in a long time.

 

He’s buried a few miles from the house under a nice, big mesquite tree. There’s a cattle trail nearby, so he can keep an eye on the herd. I tucked a whiffle ball next to his body and told him I’d be in Heaven to hit some to him when the time comes.

 

I’ll never be able to fully explain what that dog meant to me. And that’s frustrating. He got me through some tough times when no human could.

 

I called you Auscar, Auscar de la Doodle, Doggo, Pup, Old Man, Old Dog, Old Pup and several other names that never seemed to confuse you. I probably called you Good Boy more than most of the nicknames because that’s what you were. I love you. I miss you and I hope these strangers on the internet got to have a glimpse of what you meant to me.

['Ike']

One of the toughest things I've ever had to do, when I put my Tule down...I feel for you! The memories live forever...

[6ANut]

Tears early in the am. Dogs sure are amazing.

[CouesWhitetail]

Very nice tribute.....you are lucky to have had him for 15 years....and he is lucky to have had you.

[JLW]

very cool tribute!

my condolence to you sir!

 

James

[tjhunt2]

Thanks for sharing Auscar with us in a very deserving tribute to him. 15 years of love and devotion is just about all we can ask of our dogs. My condolences as well.

 

TJ

[Snapshot]

Thanks for sharing your story, and making my eyes water. I am a big softie, when it comes to pets.

 

It's amazing how dogs can be a friend to us in ways that a person can't be. Unconditional love is special.

 

All good dogs go to heaven. They will be waiting for us when we arrive.

[Hunterjohnny]

Many of us have been there. Sorry for your loss.

[muledeerarea33?]

Im very sorry for your loss, dogs are like children and i respect them more so than i do most people. A few years back I lost my Australian Shepard guy. He was also 15. I remember the first week we got him my dad figured we'd see how he was around guns and hunting and such (he was 6ish months old and a stray when we picked him up) well on our way out dove hunting, guy decided to sit up on the tool box in the back of the truck. Around a corner we went.... He slid off and caught "his boys" on the edge of the tool box and tore them right off!!!! It hurts to talk about. We stopped and put him in the front seat of the truck and off we went hunting, once we got to the pond we noticed he was missin something between his legs. We layed him on all the soft gun cases and off to the feed store (where the vet was) well, 1800 bucks later we had a neauterd pure bread Australian Shepard haha. He began to go blind and deaf a year before he passed but acted like a happy puppy til the night he died.