Ms. Pearl was half Labrador retriever and half Australian shepherd, which meant she possessed excellent retrieving abilities and spent much of her time when there were guests shepherding them, circling the crowd, imploring everyone to please, please stick together. "Pattie, my sister in law once said, "Why won't that dog lie down?" I told her, "She's keeping us together."
She was an excellent retriever, too, Tom's hunting buddy, always ready for hunting. On her last turkey hunt, Tom and Pearlie were sitting on a hillside, calling a lone turkey across the valley, but the big bird didn't seem too keen on seeing who was making turkey noises. As Tom often does, he nodded off and took a little nap, his dog right next to him. Tom felt a nudge at his knee and woke up to see Pearl point her nose at the turkey, now walking their way. Tom said it was if Pearl was saying, "Hey, stupid, wake up! There he is!" She was a good hunter to the end.
It's always devastating when a dog has to go, and when a dog has been in your family for thirteen years, it really is like a family member has left. We knew we wanted another dog, though, so started looking for Aussie-Lab rescues on the internet. We saw a few likelies in Colorado, but they wouldn't adopt to New Mexico. New Mexicans must have a bad track record with dogs. In fact, many rescues and shelters in New Mexico send their dogs to Colorado for adoption. So Colorado was out. There were some Lab mixes in Arizona, but they wanted us to go to Arizona to spend a few days with the possible dogs we found, which is a good idea so one can see if they are compatible, but just too much red tape for us. We kept looking, though. And looking. But back to Ms. P.
Our Ms. Pearl was probably the smartest dog we've ever had.
She herded cattle. Well, sometimes they herded her.
She was a world class cuddler.
A good friend to Miss Bonnie. Bonnie was her frenemy.
Loved to swim
and the snow
Was a good traveling buddy, although in later years after a traumatic drive through thunder and lightning, she needed drugs.
And she was the best hunting partner a man could ever have.
Why do we have pets when they die so soon? I guess Will Rogers says it better than I can.
"The misery of keeping a dog is his dying so soon...but, to be sure, ..."if there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."
Did we get another dog? Yes.
Love your tribute to Ms. Pearl. My caregiving client has a lab/cattle dog mix named Gracie and she is going to be 13 years old this month and gives so much pleasure to my client and is a great guard dog for her also. I can feel your pain about losing a family pet, as have had to say goodbye to 4 of my cats and it is never easy, but getting a new pet soon after seems to speed the healing. So glad you were able to enjoy life with Ms. Pearl and now with your new doggie too.
ReplyDeleteAwwww Goodbye Ms Pearl...I loved you too...I kinda knew when you did not answer my inquiries...and I too hated to know. A new dog is like a daffodil...never the rose you had before but lovely as the new daffodil....sending love your way..actually on the wind from Florence xo
ReplyDeleteA fine tribute to a great dog.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your loss. This is a beautiful tribute to your dog. Your new puppy is so cute!
ReplyDeleteLovely Bridget. I look forward to the postings of your new dog adventure, It seems that when one pet crosses the bridge another dog, waiting for a family, has their dream answered. I think this passing of the torch helps with the sadness. 🐶
ReplyDeleteLovely Bridget. I look forward to the postings of your new dog adventure, It seems that when one pet crosses the bridge another dog, waiting for a family, has their dream answered. I think this passing of the torch helps with the sadness. 🐶
ReplyDeleteBridge can’t get Sybjanke associated with my post.....maybe you can help.
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry for your loss. She sounded like a wonderful companion. Your new addition is adorably bright-eyed.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of Tom's students from EHS, back from 2001/2002. Was hoping to send a long-in-coming update (there are finally some things happening in my life that are worth talking about), but the Verizon email address I have for you isn't active any longer. Glad I found this blog, though. Your ranch sounds wonderful. Would love to reconnect to see how things are going.
Sincerely,
Bryson Jacobs
EHS '03
So Sorry about Ms Pearl. It is soo very hard to let our fur babies go. The new puppy is adorable. She will have your hearts soon enough.
ReplyDelete