Goodbye Old Girl

I don't like maudlin descriptions of somebody's dog's last days, because it might discourage would-be dog owners from adopting a dog. Besides, a melodrama about the human is not the point. I put Coffee Girl 'down' this morning, at age 15.5 years. She did not suffer. And her old age did not cost me much money.

In a high meadow in New Mexico a few years ago.

.What could a newbie dog owner learn from her marvelous career?

1. Don't be afraid of animal shelters.

2. Don't take 'dog breed' books literally. They will tell you that a herding dog needs 10 hours per day of chasing cows or sheep or it will come back into your house and chew the sofa into a million pieces. They will make you think a herding dog can't be a good household pet.

3. Herding dogs can have exemplary behavior off-lease. This adds a lot to the owner's and the dog's pleasure.

4. When adopting a dog, tune yourself out, especially your eyeballs. Choose a dog for their behavior, not their appearance. Study the volunteers or employees at the animal shelter: which dog have they fallen for?

5. Don't be afraid of veterinarians because of some of the high prices you've heard about. Go to vets in impoverished rural areas, not in cities. In particular, large soft fatty lipomas under the skin look scary, but a rural vet can remove these tumors for a couple hundred dollars.

6. Barking problems, perhaps connected to separation anxiety, are treatable with modern ($50) collars.

I hope this encourages a would-be adopter to have one of the best experiences that life has to offer.

There is a nice piece of music that captures the experience of losing a Coffee Girl.