I met her when I met Ian. It was our second date and he brought her to my house in Sedona, AZ. She was about one at the time.
She walked in and immediately pissed on the carpet. Ian was shocked. I am pretty sure she did it because my dumb puppy chihuahua was still being house broken.
Everyone loves Seti- She was a work dog and she did work, well if you call fetching work. She loved to play ball, in fact just saying the word "ball" caused her head to swing and frantically search for a ball. Frisbee also created the same response. She liked to travel too. We would take her camping with us and the second we hit a dirt road, she would start pacing the car and whimpering. She knew there would be someone to fetch for. She would literally play until her paws bled. And without fail, barely be able to walk the next day. She played hard.
Seti was the type of dog that didn't play with other dogs, she didn't like the aggression or confrontation. Even if the lazy Chihuahua, Meanie, tried to take her ball she would let him because that dumb little dog would just growl at her. The minute he let his guard down, she was take what was hers.
When I was training for a marathon, not once but twice, she would run with me. I ran on a canal and there were very few people on it. She probably ran 2 miles to my 1 mile. I didn't put her on a leash, I just let her run beside me and make sure it was safe. She would run up to people, I think just to see if they had a ball, but I soon realized that it kinda freaked people out. So I would call her and she would heel to me as someone passed. No training for that, just a damn great dog. She knew her place in our family.
We took her on a house boat, she went to the lake, the dog beach, the Dunes, endless camping trips. She was always welcomed at peoples homes, although she was famous for dropping a ball, a stcik, a piece of rubber, a water bottle or whatever she could chase, in front of you and just staring at you... waiting. She typically wore you out in the pool playing ball with her. Then she would get bored waiting and just nudge it in, watch it float and jump in after it.
The last time we took her to dog beach at Huntington Beach, she played so hard in the water, fetching and dodging the other dogs trying to get her ball. She swallowed so much salt water that she ended up shitting herself clean while on the sand. We then decided that we needed to take her away from her water and ball obsession. While walking up the hill to the car, clear water was squirting out of her butt while she walked. Ian had to tell Olivia to watch out as she was about to walk right into it!
Yesterday we found out she is very ill and we decided to let her go and be in peace. What a terribly hard decision. Do you wait and let them go on their own, do you just humanely love them right into the white light? We are all devastated. She is part of our family and a true joy of an animal. She has been so loved by us and everyone that knows her. It is so hard to know that Ian is hurting so much. My girls are hurting and I am hurting. Such sadness. But still a blessing that she was in our lives.
Love.
7 comments:
So sad. Pets always go too fast, no matter how long you have them. I hope you can convert the sadness to more stories of happiness, like this one. Human or animal, its always best to celebrate a life well lived.
Dedicate a few shots of tequila to her while in Mexico. I'll do my part from here.
Awe, she has had a great lived and loved life. She has always been low maintenance and easy to please. All she wants to do is please. We are keeping her happy with beef and bones and more love than she wants.
It is sad. We were blessed to have her all these years, we just thought we would have had her another 4 to 6 more...
Oh, that is so sad. I had to put one dog down. A black lab named Odin. It was probably about ten years ago now. I can't believe it's been ten years. Gah. Brings tears to my eyes to write that. I pat his head and looked into his eyes as he went into the great beyond...his tail still thumping right up until the last moment.
Hang in there. We are lucky to have them in our lives.
seriously, such an amazing dog. one of my favorites actually. i remember dog sitting, well dog-napping actually. linda had her, but i took her. it was february (or some other cold month) and sure as shit, all she wanted to do was jump in the pool. since i didn't plan my dog-napping very well, all i had to throw for her was a pinecone, at her suggestion. i'd throw it in the pool and she'd jump in, get out, drop it at my feet, repeat. we went through 5 pinecones!! people that don't believe pets are family don't have a heart. i'm sorry for the mcinblad's loss. love you
I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I know how hard that is, the decision to make and the losing your friend. When it comes to deciding how much to let your pet suffer, everyone has to decide that for themselves. The animal can't do it. Your dog looks like a dog we had when I was in middle school. We played ball every day after school. She even learned how to play tackle football, wrapping her paw around my ankle and leaning on the back of my knee with her shoulder to take me down when I had the ball. I tackled her much the same way, reaching under and grabbing her opposite front paw and pushing her that way until she fell. She loved any game with a ball and wrestling. And water, oh Lord how she loved the water! One January on a walk she ran off and reappeared covered in icicles. She had found a frozen pond somewhere and broken through for a swim. Then she came back dripping and frozen at the same time. It didn't seem to bother her at all. She was happy.
Thanks for reminding me of my dog. I still miss her sometimes. But she was a great dog.
Thanks for all the love. It as been a week since we laid her to rest. She went peacefully and with her family all present. I miss her presence in the house.
Thanks for sharing your pet stories. It feels good in some way to bring that time back to a pet that was so special.
Ah hell. I'm so sorry. I've always wondered why such awesome animals have such short life spans.
I think about my dog Midas often and hope he's happy wherever he is. It's been a couple of years and I still get teary when I think about him. Like you and Seti, I'm so glad to have had him in my life for the time I did.
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