Journey, Uncategorized

His Last Words

by  • 

Ash

I had two wonderful years with Ash. He raised me from a little squirt and was so proud when I graduated from my last training class. We celebrated by playing a game of bump and run and had a cup of doggie ice cream.

Our last summer together was magical. Road trips, hikes, the swimming hole, visits with friends, life was full of fun and adventure. Up at sunrise, wolf down our breakfast, then run the fence line to check on the alpacas.

I marveled at how the alpacas behaved when Ash was around. All he had to do was give them the stink eye and they would shuffle off minding their manners. The alpacas didn’t respect me and if Ash wasn’t close by they would spit at me and threaten to stomp me. That made Ash furious and he chased them off with a stern warning.

It’s hard for me to talk about losing Ash. He woke up sick one day. Mom rushed him to the emergency hospital where they did an ultrasound and found he was suffering from hemangiosarcoma, a horrible cancer that is almost always fatal. Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs

I still remember the shock when Mom told me Ash was going to die.

“No, No, No!” I sobbed. “Not Ash! How will we live without Ash?”

As sick as he was Ash spent the last two days of his life trying to comfort me and his people. Ash didn’t have much energy but he greeted everyone who came to the house. Friends came to pay their respects and say good-bye. People sat around and told silly stories about Ash and how he made friends with everyone he met. There were lots of tears and hugs. Everyone left with a lick from Ash.

On the last day that Ash was in this world I lay next to him on his blanket. He told me everything would be all right once we got over the pain of losing him. He said I would live a long and happy life at Asherpark. It would be my responsibility to bring joy and laughter to people and help other dogs find their way in life. His last words still echo in my soul:

“Be brave, Journey, and love life. For every heartache there will be joy. You will always have me in your heart. No one can take that away from you.”

And then he was gone, running wild on the other side of this life, making new friends, chasing another adventure. Oh Ash, I miss you so much!

Journey and Ash

Journey

Remembering Ash

by  • 

Ash and Journey

Ash was my hero and role model. Whatever he did I copied. It was a sign of respect and it’s also how we dogs learn from each other. When you’re a pup you need a good example to look up to. Ash was everything to me.

I’ve been trying to write this Bark for the last three days. I can’t seem to get past the first paragraph. I want to tell about all the wonderful things me and Ash did together. Chasing rabbits, barking at the neighbor dog, swimming in the river, long hikes with Mom. That’s all great stuff but it doesn’t have a happy ending.

Mom says I can leave out the ending for this Bark and maybe write about it later, but everything is connected in my head. The more I remember how much I loved Ash, the more it makes me miss him. I can’t seem to separate the two.

Ash had lots of nicknames. My favorite was “Flyboy” because he could sail through the air like a big bird. He could catch any ball that was remotely close to him. He could pirouette and spin and land light as a feather on his feet.

Mom liked to call him “Magellan” because he was always escaping the fenced yard to go on an adventure. Sometimes he’d come home covered in brambles and bleeding from the blackberry vines. Mom would scold him and he’d just laugh and wink at me. Then Mom would laugh and we’d roll around on the ground together and be silly.

Over time I noticed that Ash didn’t want to play bump and run as much. Mom noticed it too. She took Ash to the vet. They checked him out an couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He’d have days where he was his old self and then he wouldn’t want to run or play for a day or two. We were all worried about him but Ash said everything was okay.

I wonder if he knew how sick he was but didn’t want us to worry. Or did his life just slowly start to slip away. He was ten years old. He’d used his body hard. But ten is young. I’m ten and hoping to live a lot more years.

I’ll write more about the last weeks that we had with Ash, but right now I don’t have the heart for it. Instead I’m going to post some pictures of Ash that are sure to make you smile. It’s what Ash would want. Live, love, laugh and leave ’em smiling.

Ash

Ash

Ash

Journey

Follow Your Nose

by  • 

Journey

It was the summer of my second year when I finally quit going to classes. I did still go to the play groups once a week but that was more for Mom than me. She really liked the other moms and they had fun hanging out while we dogs played.

I met my first boyfriend in play group. His name is Percy and he is a beautiful black and white border collie. He noticed me immediately and started chatting me up. Pretty soon it was just me and him hanging out together.

Percy has a little bit of the devil in him and we were always getting in trouble. Yes, I was right there with him. We both got time in the penalty box when we misbehaved. It was all good fun. Percy doesn’t have a mean bone in him. He just happens to have a mind of his own and doesn’t always take direction well.

Mom kept hearing about this sport called nose work or more precisely Canine Scent Work. https://nacsw.net  It seemed almost too good to be true. Dogs get rewarded for finding hidden scent. There are classes and trials and people travel all around the country with their dogs to enter competitions.

Me and Percy started nose work class about the same time. He was better than me at the beginning but I soon caught up with him. We began in this big training classroom. Only one dog at a time could be in the room. Each dog did a search independently while on an extra long leash. The other dogs had to wait outside so they couldn’t see anything. The instructor hid little treats in weird places all over the room. All we dogs had to do was find the treat and EAT it! It was so much fun. I could hardly believe my good luck.

After a couple months the instructor started pairing the treat with a little odor box. That was to teach us to search for odor, not just food. We would find the treat in the same place as the odor box, eat the treat and go on to the next hide. Eventually the treats next to the hide went away and we searched only for odor. BUT – the minute we found the odor we were fed a treat from our handlers.

Percy eventually dropped out of nose work. His mom wanted him to learn to herd sheep or something more athletic. I’ve continued with nose work since I started nearly nine years ago. I passed the three odor recognition tests that allow you to enter trials, but we decided not to compete. Maybe I could have been a star, I don’t know. I do know there was a lot going on at Asherpark and we needed to stay home more. That was fine with me. Never a dull moment at Asherpark and plenty of quality time with Uncle Ash. Life was good then and still is, despite the sad things that have happened over the years.