A Lassie of My Own

Thursday night something amazing happened at my house. 

And when I say amazing I mean hilarious, yet truly remarkable and uncommon. 

When I say uncommon I mean this does not happen often and especially not [yet] in my house.

Not [yet] in my house... 

Until Thursday.

When the something amazing happened.

You may or may not know, I have a dog.

Her name is Ava. She is a little 46/47lb Lab mix.

I love my little girl more than I can express or anyone understands.

She is the best gift I have ever received and has such a huge place in my heart.

She is absolutely adorable and so sweet. 

She is squirrelly, stubborn, and independent. 

She is so caring, especially about her peers in crisis mode (ie. howling or whining dogs). Cue story.

Last night, Ava was outside going about her business, sniffing, running, checking things out. 

After a bit, we began to hear her bark.

This is not uncommon, as Ava will bark at a leaf in the pool. And more recently, our neighbor who likes to do yardwork in the later evening. [I would bark too.]

After several minutes of us doing our own thing inside and not checking on her, she obviously needed our attention.

Suddenly, she jumped on the door, making herself as tall as possible and began barking her aggressive not-so-little bark. 

As soon as we looked at her, she got down on her four legs and ran away.

It was apparent she wanted our attention.

We then went to the door, me calling out 

"What is it Lassie?!" (Clearly, I was joking......)

Once we stepped outside, we looked toward the pool to see her along the side staring intently in - glancing up at us, then back into the pool, then up at us, then back into the pool.

Again, not an uncommon sight. Ava will stand at the side of the pool and stare in at her ball for hours on end, praying someone gets it out for her.

But there was no ball this time. 

We continued to walk to the other side of the pool to stand next to her. 

Finally we saw the problem.

A rather large grasshopper had hopped into the pool. 

He was alive and still. [Probably frozen by fear from the dog barking 2 inches from him.]

My mom walked around the pool to retrieve the pool net, all the while, Ava showed her where it was. 

Then she lead the way back to the grasshopper and watched as mom fished it out of the pool.

She maintained her stare as it was dumped into the bushes.

Since Ava is notorious for eating bugs and being relentless in trying to get something, I told her to leave it alone.

But there was no more urgency in her.

She was fine to walk away at that point.

She walked into the house to return to her ball play or Brinkley play. 

At that point, we knew she didnt want us to get it out for a midday snack.

No, she purely wanted that little guy to be saved. 

It was surprising, but to her it was all in a days work.

My mom wondered if she would do the same thing if a child fell in the pool.

I think she would. 

Add to her character traits:

Nanny
Hero

Lifeguard

911 Dispatcher

Lassie

Casey May

Ive been avoiding and waiting to write this blog for a while now, but at the same time Ive been wanting to write it. Avoiding because I know its going to be difficult; waiting because I need to become a little stronger before sharing about it; wanting because it is important to me and deserves a memory... or rather, she.

On April 23, we made a very difficult decision, as a family. We said goodbye to my sweet Casey May.
Casey was my yellow lab. Was was 13 years old, though according to a chart at the vet, she was about 102. She was my baby. I chose her out of a litter of many. She was my little buddy, my play mate, my partner in crime. She chased me around the house, took naps on my bed, hung out with me... She was the sweetest dog and the happiest. Everyone who met Casey instantly fell in love with her.

She underwent several surgeries, including two torn cruciates (in human terms - ACL... although I dont know if it was her anterior or posterior or what but now you understand the pain that is involved in that type of injury). Shes had arthritis since she was two years old, and it only spread and became more painful as she got older. Shes had numerous strange injuries that werent always the easiest to figure out (yes, she most certainly was mine). But despite all the pain she suffered through in her life, she never lost her smile. She never complained. She always made sure she was with you - even if it was difficult to get up and move to be with you.

She was so intelligent. Like smarter than us sometimes. She knew not to go swimming if she wanted to come in the house. She knew how to bring a bowl in the kitchen when she was done with it. She knew how to look pitiful, to get what she wanted. She knew how to find any - any - pill we tried to give her... and she knew how to work up a pill that was at the back of her throat. Yes, she was a brat. But her stubborness made her one of the girls in this family...

She was, in some aspects, the core of the family. If you found Casey, you found everyone else cuz she would be in the middle. Shes more than half my age so Ive known her for more than half my life. Shes brought us so many laughs, so much love, so much protection. She was also Sammys best friend. He always followed Caseys lead. She barked - he barked. She ate - he ate. She went outside - he went outside. This has been hard on him, but hes hanging in there. One of the sweetest, yet saddest things is that he has taken on some of her characteristics. I love him for it.

Apparently, Im not as strong as I thought I would be writing this. She was my baby... an amazing dog. I miss her so much. I miss her bark, and how excited she would get when we praised her for it. I miss how her whole body would shake when she would wag her tail. I miss her greeting me everytime I walked in the door. I even miss how she would get up and move away from me when I would love on her - because she liked to be with people, but needed her space at the same time. She was my best buddy. She got me through a lot - I could always count on her to provide a smile. Losing an animal is one of the hardest things to experience, but I wouldnt give up the time I spent with Casey for anything.

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."