Tesse ~ September 10, 2012

The joy my dogs bring to my life is sometimes difficult to express. The sorror and pain I feel when they leave me, cannot be measured.

Today, we bid a sweet and tearful farewell to our beloved "token" Border Collie, Tesse. She came to us at age two, a working-bred girl whose owners were going to shoot her because she kept chasing their stock. Go figure. Her breeder, a personal friend, said he knew of nobody who gave their pets as wonderful a home as we did ... and so she joined us. That was over 12 years ago.  I drove to Trochu to pick her up and when I opened the car door, she hopped in the back and settled on the floor.  I offered her a blanket on the seat, but she was happy where she was.  She showed me with one simple gesture just how grateful and appreciative she was to have this second chance, and to be welcomed into a home where she would always be treated with kindness.  We stopped at a drive-in on the way home and shared a burger on a bench outside ... and thus began the relationship.  Always polite, with beautiful doggie manners, how could anyone not fall in love.

She chased our stock, too.  She even chased the neighbor's a few times.  It didn't take her long though, until she learned what was expected in the lines of good behavior, but she also rarely passed up an opportunity to chase things that moved ... sheep and Belgian horses being her favorite.  Over the years, she had a few trips to the vet to pull a broken tooth or suture a lip when she got herself just a little too close.  She had a trench worn around our corrals that was a foot deep.

She's had a few serious health scares in the last couple of years, but always rallied. She recently suffered a bout of "old dog vestibular syndrome", which included severe dizzy spells.  Although recovered, she walked with quite an unsteady wobble, her head tipped to one side ... this quirky little gait only adding to her character.  We knew each additional day with her was a gift.  She had her moments, skipped meals, or days of just not wanting to get up, but she still kept on going.  This morning, the "energizer bunny" trotted around outside with the rest but when she came in, we knew she was in trouble. At her age, and with the sudden onset, I suspected heart failure and the obvious abnormal twitching of her chest and heart indicated atrial fibrillation, and phoned our vet. Tesse was comfortable, lying on a cushion in the sunshine. I whispered to her that it was okay to go, and I asked God to please take her gently and quickly. She left on her own terms, and before Jodi could make a housecall. We buried her under the trees toward the back of our property, where she joins the others who have gone before her, equally cherished. I tucked Niki's container of ashes in with her ... they may not have been friends on earth but dammit, they were gonna be close in heaven. 

If you ever visited our home, a sweet and happy Border Collie girl was always the first to greet you, tail wagging. We gave her a good life, she gave us nothing but love, and we will miss her terribly.  Rest well, sweet angel.

Happy Trails ... Theresa