Saying goodbye to a dear friend...

Farley
November 5, 1996 - November 20, 2006
We will miss you forever.

The sky was a wonderful blue, grey, black color as I drove home from work. It was the color of Farley's fur. I knew it was a sign from him that he is pain free and playing frisbee in the sky.

The most amazing sound...

The howl. Farley's howl. It used to throw the whole household in a tizzy yelling "Farley, "NO" It was his annoying voice that let us know that he was separated from the ones he loved and was dedicated to. Whether it was getting himself locked in the bathroom, or in a crate at a dog show, at the groomer or the vet. If he was alone, and he thought someone was within earshot, he'd let out this "HOWWWWWLLLL" It was pretty much a mix of a coyote meets a firetruck. And it was annoying as heck.

But I woke up this morning to his howl. Long and low. His cry for company. And it sent a sense of comfort through my body. He's still alive. He's still with us. I found him trapped between the treadmill and the wall. His back legs aren't strong enough to hoist his body up and over the treadmill. And he couldn't get turned around.

The howl. It's amazing how perception changes. What once used to annoy me is such a comfort to me right now. My Farley is still here. And he still needs me.

A VERY SAD DAY...

For those of you who have been touched by Farley, my australian shepherd, please say a prayer for him. Last Thursday, we had two lumps removed from him. Yesterday I noticed a new one forming. And today we got the results back from the vet on the first two lumps. They are Hemangiosarcoma. It is the type of cancer that starts in the spleen. The vet is not expecting him to live more than a month or so. He started limping on his back leg a couple weeks ago. It is because there is a tumor in the leg as well.

But as I write this, he is happily chewing on a tennis ball. He greeted me at the door with his aussie stub of a tail wagging. He wanders around looking for someone who will just throw the ball one more time. None of us will. He turned 10 years old just a couple weeks ago. Not much of a birthday present for any of us.

He is one incredible dog. I have been lucky to have him in my life. I have been blessed to have him as my agility and obedience partner. I can't imagine life without his furry face, his obnoxious howl, and his spirit and energy that kept me on my toes. I have many great memories of times we shared together and all his crazy antics, and that is what will keep me going. Looking at him, if the staples weren't shining from his incisions, and he didn't have that stupid cone on his head, it would just be any other day. He doesn't look or act any different from normal. I guess that is what is such a surprise to all of us.

Please pray that he won't suffer. And that we will know when the time is right to let him go.

Take a walk...

Sometimes you just have to get outside and commune with nature even if it has rained constantly for 2 weeks. Here's Jazz in the fall leaves...

Lumps and the leg

Poor Farley. He just turned 10 years old on Monday, and as a Happy Birthday gift to him, he got to celebrate at the vet office with surgery to remove two lumps, one on his side and one on his shoulder. And they x-rayed the leg that he hasn't wanted to put any weight on for the past couple weeks. It looks like there is a problem with his knee. They have him in Rimadyl while we are waiting on the results of the x-rays.

Halloween

It wasn't tough to decide who gets to go downtown trick or treating this year...

Chelsea's too old.
Farley is not walking on his back leg
Kishi's still a mess (although doing better than last spring).
The crowds downtown would be Don Juan's nightmare.
Jazz went last year (and made the front page of the newspaper)
our buddy, Tomo, went with us on 4th of July.

Guess that leaves Tama. It's her turn. So very last minute I went through my costumes and found one of my old favorites - A bomber jacket given to me by my friend Tamberlyn. It's at least 7 years old and I used to love to dress Kishi up in it when she was doing her skateboard trick. That and a pair of sunglasses used to make everyone laugh.

So, I dressed Tama up in it. The jacket is falling apart. The faux leather started flaking off. By the end of the night, there wasn't much left. So, I'm afraid this is the end for the bomber jacket. It has had it's final strut down the catwalk.