To Misty

To Misty

I grabbed the new edition of the local paper and scanned through the small ads hoping that the same advertisement would be there. There it was “Cocker Spaniel puppies for sale please ring etc.……” I held my breath as I dialled the number, it had always been my dream to have a Cocker, and yet I always seemed to miss out. A lady answered saying she had just one blue roan girl left, if I was interested. I could hardly contain my excitement, and I arranged to go along with my husband John and our son Wayne, to see her. We went there in the evening, and were taken straight into a large barn, where there were several pens with puppies of various breeds, some of which were so young they were under heat lamps, I don’t think any of us expected there to be so many, this was no normal breeders.

Then we saw you, all alone in your pen, fast asleep curled up with a soft toy. The lady said I could pick you up; when I stared into those deep brown eyes, I fell right in, and as you snuggled into me, I knew you were the one. We arranged to pick you up the next morning, so we went home full of excitement and started thinking of what your name should be. After several suggestions, we settled on Misty, as it seemed to fit you perfectly with your colouring, and it just felt right.

We went to collect you the next day, and all the way home you cuddled into Wayne's coat, and truly made a friend for life. We got you home and I settled you into the basket we'd got ready for you, as you seemed very sleepy. When I picked you up a little while later, I noticed you were bleeding, so I rang the breeder's number but there was only an answer-phone message. I left our number and explained what had happened and could she ring back as soon as possible, a couple of hours later after no return call, I could see something was very wrong, so I rushed you to the vet. “She has Gastroenteritis” he said “and is very sick.” He gave you an injection and went on to say “If she makes it through the night, you need to bring her back tomorrow”. We stayed up all night with you, watching as you fitfully slept. Against the odds, by the morning you were running around and chasing your stumpy tail, even the vet was impressed with your recovery, when we took you back to see him.

As you grew, no one could have pretended that you were easy to handle, but there again with the start you’d had, who could’ve blamed you. Over the months and years, you’ve learnt to live with us as much as we learnt to live with you, and you're still teaching us from time to time if we don’t get it. You've always loved nothing more than to prove you were the boss, and even things like dusting became a major chore, because whenever I put the duster down for a minute, you would grab it and shred it in seconds, then stand there with bits in your mouth, growling and defying me to take it back. So many times, you tried to show us who was in charge, but as they say, love conquers all and although we had our battles, we built a loving relationship, there was no, “I am the pack leader” just a mutual respect. Besides whenever you were naughty, a lick and a wag from your stump of a tail, seemed to melt my heart a little more and I couldn’t be cross for long.

When you were about 6 months old, you met up and fell in love with a retriever over the local park, and you would chase and run together until you were both exhausted. We decided then to get a retriever ourselves, and along came Bonnie. You both became life long friends and would not go any where without each other. Holidays were extra fun, both of you running endlessly along the beach and swimming in the sea. She was always very protective over you, like when you swam a bit too far out in the sea and she went after you and turned you back, or if ever a dog came too close or was a little too boisterous, she would step in and come between you. You in your turn would try to keep her in line, but always worried when she wasn't in view, and followed her wherever she went.

You always loved nothing more than chasing the birds on the common, which have always been a lot faster than you, but that never stopped you. Digging was another pastime you loved, and several times I’ve had to put your lead on as you got deeper and deeper under ground, just in case you got stuck. When it was hot, you really loved to dangle your paws in the pond watching the fish, but you never tried to touch them.

Time seems to pass a little too quickly now, and on one of our famous walks to the common, I realised something was wrong, you were hanging back and Bonnie seemed worried as well. You fell over backwards and lay on the grass, then couldn’t get up, you tried so hard but it seemed as though your legs were not working. I rushed to sit with you while John took Bonnie back to the car, but she kept looking back at you, so it seemed to take forever. I sat with you, tears running down my face, I remember telling you how sorry I was, as you laid your head on my leg just looking up at me with those deep brown eyes.

John brought the car nearer, and we managed to get you to the car, then on to the Vet. He said he thought you'd had a stroke, and to take you home and keep you quiet and we would know the next day if you were going to make it. Once again, you defied all the odds, and were back on your feet again in no time, but a week later, you went off your food, which is a very rare thing for you, and still seemed to be struggling with your back legs. We took you back to see the vet, and he advised us to leave you there and he would do some tests and take some x rays.

Collecting you later on, he showed us the x rays, and I could tell by his expression it was not good news. He showed us a picture of your spine, and pointed out how the vertebra are misaligned, especially in your neck, and told us how all the pain you were feeling was why you weren't eating. We've always had a good relationship with our vet, and I think he read our minds as we thought 'please not now give us just a little while longer', so he moved into a more positive mood and discussed how he could help us to best manage it. He gave us painkillers, and we took you home to see how you would cope with them. Bonnie was as pleased as us to see you back home, but was also very gentle, as if she new you were in pain. You relaxed, went to sleep with your head on Bonnie's back, as you often did.

Well old girl, we now just have to keep going from day to day, and as long as you have a reasonable quality of life, and are not in pain, that's fine, even if you are a bit unsteady at times, we’ll always catch you. Of course we'll still keep going for our walks, and you can tell me when it is far enough by sitting down, perhaps the birds won't be chased any more, or holes dug now, but that's fine by me if it's OK with you. Don't worry because I promise that anything I can do to make your life good I will do, like today when it was hot and you struggled to get down and dangle your paws in the pond, I just filled it up a bit higher with the hose so you could reach. When you had had enough I helped you up and you looked at me with your liquid brown eyes as if to say thank you.

I suppose I just want to tell you, that when that time comes that you think you cannot manage life any more, rest assured old girl that your not going to face it alone, I will be there for you, so you just rest your head on me and I will be your strength as you have been mine for so long.