Trooper Dog

Captain's Log: Day 13

I will always remember the day when the Hubs showed me a picture of some little border collie puppies that he found on Craigslist and said that he thought we should pack up the kids and go take a look at them. At the time, the Eldest was 6, the Middle was 4 and the Youngest was 2 years old and we strapped them into their car seats and took them over the hill to the neighboring town full of orchards and farms. When we got to the farm where the puppies were, we were met by a truly "working dog", who protected his flock from the dangerous car coming down the driveway, until we got to the little hutch where about 3-4 puppies were. We fell instantly in love with one of them, paid our $60, and took him home. He proceeded to puke his little heart out in the car on the way home and never liked driving anywhere from that day forward. I honestly don't think he ever voluntarily jumped into any car and usually you had to carry him from somewhere deep inside the house to the car once he realized what your plan was.

At that time, the Middle child had a HUGE fear of dogs after having an encounter with a super excited neighbor dog who jumped up on him, so having his own little puppy to play with was the perfect remedy. We named him Trooper, partly because he was a Trooper for joining our family and partly because the boys were super into Star Wars when they were little. All three kids adored him. True to his breed, Trooper was a VERY protective dog, to the point where we started putting him in a bedroom when we had guests because he had been known to nip at people who were new to him. But if you were part of his herd, you were IN and he would stop at nothing to make sure you were safe.   He also would have made an amazing agility dog if we had the time and ability to train and develop him.  He was crazy fast and could seriously leap high into the air.  When the kids and I played with bubbles in the backyard, he could leap almost as high as my shoulder to try to pop them with his teeth.  In his adolescent doggy heyday, I would have to stand on a chair in the backyard, bubble wand in hand to avoid his happy leaps and sharp teeth.  He had a war path through the whole backyard along the fence where he would burn his energy chasing squirrels, birds and just running for the shear joy of it.

Unfortunately, last week I made the hard decision that it was time to put Troop down.  He had been declining for a while, was totally deaf, started sundowning and while we didn’t have an official diagnosis, I was pretty sure he had cancer.  He spent the majority of his day sleeping, but he was still loving and happy and right underfoot with me while I was working from home.  I really waffled with this decision because he was still eating and doing all the doggy things, but I could just tell that he was tired and didn’t feel very good.  It was in the way he slept –stretched out on his side with all four legs straight out; sort of how I feel like I sleep when I’m sick with the flu and just want to lay there and not move.  I called a wonderful woman (Cheryl Ramos with Pet’s Eternal Rest if you’re in the Bay Area…) who comes to your house and helps your animal transition in an incredibly peaceful way.  She and I had had a couple conversations about Trooper, and when she saw him, she agreed that putting him down before he really started to suffer was the humane thing to do. Trooper went to Doggy Heaven in the backyard that he loved so much, on a beautiful morning.  Dr. Cheryl talked me through the whole process and told me how she expected Trooper to react with each step, which was exactly what happened.  I am so thankful that it was painless, peaceful, and I feel good knowing that he is resting easy and running through all the fields he could ever want. I’m sure Trooper is glad that he didn’t have to make one more trip in the car….

Rest in peace buddy - we love you.

Weather: Hot, but doable.