Said goodbye to a dear old friend yesterday.....

[CouesWhitetail]

Well, I know it's not coues related but I also know there are several people on the forum who value dogs as I do. So if you don't mind, I would like to tell you about my friend of the last 15+ years.

 

We got her from the dog pound in Maine when I was attending graduate school there. If I remember correctly they said she had been seized from some drug dealers and that is how she ended up in the pound as just a puppy. We decided to take her home...one of the best decisions we have ever made....

 

Her name is Maura and we named her that because we found out Maura means "dark-faced one"

 

here is my husband holding her:

 

 

here she is on the beach where I did some shorebird surveys for a few years.

 

 

 

Normally her ears would flop down a little, but occassionally we could get her to put them straight-up....like this photo...

 

 

 

I did a bunch of bird surveys all over New England for my graduate work and she would get to ride in the canoe sometimes:

 

 

 

 

We did all kinds of camping in Maine. I taught her to forage for wild blueberries with me and she would grab them right off the bushes. She loved them! She has camped with us all over the east coast and then when we moved out here for my job on the rez, we camped all over the San Carlos. I still remember one night when we were camped on the San Carlos rez listening to bugling elk. We had elk bugling and walking very close to the tent and Maura was so scared she was practically sitting on my head in the tent....hehehe...

 

here is a photo of her on a hike on the rez....I think it was sycamore creek? She looks so strong in this photo! It was about 10 years ago I think....

 

 

 

She was such a beautiful and every so graceful, gentle dog. She didn't seem to enjoy normal dog things, but she seemed to consider herself more like a person in a dogs body. That's very different than my other dog, Molly, who is all about being a dog and doing dog things. Here is Maura sitting on a couch with my husband....of course she sits on the couch, only dogs sit on the floor!

 

 

here is her "don't hate me because I am beautiful" look:

 

 

 

She had incredible stamina. My husband used to take her and several other neighborhood dogs along with him as he rode his mountain bike. She had this perfect trot that she could do for miles and miles and miles and never get tired. The other dogs didn't have that same gait and they would tire out. She was definitely a marathoner type....

 

My husand also took her and Molly on long walks in the Pinal Mtns. Here she is with Molly in the fall foliage:

 

 

 

And here is one of the last pictures of her enjoying a hike with the hog mtns in the background.

 

 

 

Putting her down was an extremely hard decision to make but I think it was the right thing to do. She had been fighting cancer for years and finally it spread to her lungs and she couldn't breathe well and she pretty much stopped eating a week ago. It's so hard to say goodbye to such a faithful friend who we enjoyed so much. She had a good set of walks in the sun during her last week and an especially good one the day before she died. I loved her as a my friend and it hurts so much to let her go....

[Kilimanjaro]

Amanda, sorry for your loss. I know how much a dog can mean in one's life.. Just be thankful for the long years you got to spend with her!!

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

Very sorry for your loss. My wife had to put her "old girl" down a year ago..... it is amazing how attached to them you become..... Some days I swear I hear her bark in the yard......

 

You gave your dog a far better life than what it start as..... it looks as though it was a full and exciting one.... and you have lot of great memories to carry with you.

[shortpants]

Very sorry Amanda.

[TLH]

Amanda,

 

Fighting back the tears as i read this post. I had to put my best friend down last Oct and i have had a very difficult time getting over her not being there to nudge my hand to pet her. I miss her so much. This morning i went up to Prescott and met with Jim McCasland, he had been given a GSP that was 10 months old. She has been abused by her previous owner and she was about ten pounds under weight--when i saw her i had to choke down my feelings because she was a spitting image of my old girl. I decided to take her home with me and now that i have i have been having a devil of a time keeping the emotions in check. Yea, i am a big tough old fart but i got to tell ya, those dogs are our family and when they pass away it is just like loosing one of your own blood.

 

I have to tell you that Jim is a real good guy--he loves his animals and he did a great job getting this dog where she wasn't afraid of people---we will see how long she will be with our family but i am sure in the end i will be sharing the time when we all have to do what is right for our friends.

 

I hope you can make it through the long days and a few weeks that lay ahead for you--i feel for you i truly do.

[COOSEFAN]

I'm with TLH on this one.......trying to wipe my eyes right now. I too lost my best friend last summer and can relate. I think the best thing for me was when I brought "Drake", my new puppy home a short while after "Zeus" passed away. Drake has somewhat filled that void and has kept "Harley", my GSP happy during this absence of her best friend as well! Very sorry to hear about your loss, Maura was a very lucky dog to have been a part of your family and the pic's show she had a very full life as well, take care, JIM>

[ScottAdams]

I'm very sorry Amanda.

[KGAINES]

Very sorry for the loss to your Family Amanda.

[firstcoueswas80]

that is tough to stomach amana, sorry about your loss. when i was young, prolly less than 10, we had to put both of our dogs down in less than a month! my freshman year of college, the first time i went home i walked out back to see my ole Rottweiler Frazier, this dog was awesome! anyways, i walk out back and he didnt run to the door... hmmm. he was laying on the porch, passed on. it was very fresh also, rigamortus hadnt even se it. that was hard to take.

 

 

Amanda, Maura looks alot like my dog "Ojos", markings are very close, white chest, half white paws, just brown.

 

it is always hard to put a loved pet dowm especially a dog! i am sorry to hear the loss!

[Hunterdan]

Amanda, Sorry to hear of your loss.

[singleshot]

Very sorry Amanda. I have chocolate labs now, but none could ever bring back the memories of

The rat terrier mutt I found floating in the canal as a child. He was the size of a tennis ball when I brought him home and my folks let me keep him. I carried him in my shirt when he got to tired to walk as a pup while I roamed the hills, and grew to do backflips whenever I opened the guncase.

I would lock him in the house when I walked off to check my traplines and several hours later when he was let out he would track me down like a bloodhound. He was thirteen pounds of jack rabbit, cottontail, dove, quail, and duck retrieving machine ( as well as lizards, pack rats and anything else he could catch ). He was my constant companion, my friend.

He stayed with my folks when I left on my own and my Dad taught him every trick imaginable.

I came home early one December morning to meet my brother for a late whitetail hunt and my dad told me that he had been killed by another male dog while chasing "the scent on the breeze",

I had to leave the room and walk out in the cold air for awhile. 22 years later it brings a lump to my throat to even write this.

Time heals all things,

In Fondest memory of "Starsky".

[az4life]

Tough post to read Amanda. I saw the title and almost did not open it cause of the sad feelings it stirs up from our most recent loss from last year.

I am sure you are hurting about this bt I hope that our "sharing" will help us all.

 

We only had our little "Sport" since October 2001 (My wife brought him home the day I was almost killed by the mountain lion) but he was the best companion of many that we have had. Sport was super smart and just a wonderful lap dog that Loved everyone as well as dogs and cats.

He was our first JRT (Jack Russell Terrier) probably will not be our last. We have not made the decision to adopt another since the sad fact is it does take time to heal deep wounds. With Such a companion, it is hard to accept a loss at a young age.... but I am sure it is probably even more so, with a lifelong companion such as your Maura.

 

Just yesterday I read a farewell story on a JRT website. Maybe it will help you in these tough days. Darnit... Tearing up again... Gotta go

 

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal

dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow

Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can

run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our

friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old

are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made

whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and

times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing;

they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They

all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and

looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers.

Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs

carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your

special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be

parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress

the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so

long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross

Rainbow Bridge together....

 

[AZP&Y]

az4life - nice poem.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal

dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow

Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can

run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our

friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old

are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made

whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and

times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing;

they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They

all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and

looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers.

Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs

carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your

special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be

parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress

the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so

long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross

Rainbow Bridge together....

 

Dogs really are man's and woman's best friend. very sorry to hear of your loss.

 

AzP&Y

Doug

[Chef]

There is nothing in this world like the love from a faithful dog.

My deepest sympathies Amanda.

 

You will see her again.

[Dan H]

Amanda, sorry to hear that.

Here is a picture of my old boy had him for 14.4 years,we lost him 2 years ago, on Jan 5th.

Strangely enough he passed on on the same date that my dad did.

That dog followed me so many miles.

In the end he was like a silverback gorilla.

 

Dan