Country Life The Retirees: Goodbye Mickey Blue Eyes

Country Life The Retirees: Goodbye Mickey Blue Eyes: He was named Mickey Blue Eyes by my husband.  My children had wanted a dog when they were growing up.  What child doesn't want a do...

Goodbye Mickey Blue Eyes

He was named Mickey Blue Eyes by my husband.  My children had wanted a dog when they were growing up.  What child doesn't want a dog?  We were a busy family of 6.  My husband and I were both employed and the kids were rarely home.  It just didn't seem like bringing another responsibility into our lives was a good idea at the time.  Once my husband and I retired and we moved to acreage it just seemed right to have a dog.  So we became the proud owners of two furry kids.  Mickey was an Australian Shepard/Pyrenees Mix.  My daughter knew we were looking for a dog so she began to search for rescue dogs.  She found Mickey Blue on Craig's List in Austin about 150 miles from where we were still living at the time.  She sent the picture to me and I instantly fell in love.  I had to have that pup.  My husband, not a real dog lover took one look into those blue eyes and said, "We will go get him tomorrow."  We borrowed a crate from a friend and headed to Austin early the next morning.  He was such a furry, cuddly little fellow, full of mischief and very loving.

We moved to our acreage and Mickey Blue adapted well.  He was very loyal and protective.  We had goats and chickens and he watched over them the way any good herd dog would.  He knew our habits and interpreted our moves.  He herded us every where and sometimes it was annoying because he would stop short in front of us, his way of saying "pet me" or keeping us from going into the house.  And then some days he would herd us to the door and stand there until we went in.    He always knew when it was time to eat.  Each morning he would sit outside our bedroom windows staring at us till we got up.  If we ignored him he would push his body against the window so his identification tag would hit the glass making noise to get our attention.  At 5pm every evening he would sit at the living room window staring us down till we fed him.  He was a perfect dog for a dog food commercial.  He would jump into the air with all four paws in mid air and dance backwards until his bowl was set in front of him.  When our house was under construction the workers were complaining that their gloves and tools kept disappearing.  When they turned their backs Mickey would sneak in and steal away with them.  They would chase him down to collect their tools.  He thought it was such a fun game.

Mickey was very protective of me and would lunge at vehicle tires when we were walking.  He always saw them as a threat.  He once took a chunk of meat out of my son's dog because the dog was running in circles around me and Mickey perceived him as a threat. Unfortunately that gained Mickey a bad reputation with my family.  He was a dog and thought like a dog.  In order to understand dogs you must try to get into their minds.  They are not complicated like humans.  They have no evil, premeditated intentions.  They act on instinct. I understood Mickey and respected him.  He returned that with plenty of kisses and hugs.  He was like a cat.  He would rub his body all over my legs and wrap himself around me.  As big as he was, he thought he was a lap dog.  I loved watching him roll down the hill in back of our house.  So many times I wished I had my camera to get a video of him slithering down the hill.  He enjoyed it so much.  When he got to the bottom he would lay on his back and let the sun bake his soft belly.  I wish more than anything now I had gotten that video.

At Christmas time this year, we began to realize that he was not himself.  He couldn't keep his food down and didn't have much of an appetite.  When all our house guest left a few days after Christmas we took him to the vet.  That was the beginning of a two week journey to sadness.

After many xrays, two veterinarians, 2 ultrasounds, hospitalization, an endoscopy with biopsy we finally got the results we had been dreading.  Adenocarcinoma, an aggressive cancer of the gastro intestinal tract.  We knew he was very sick.  We had him on all kinds of meds....steroids, antacids, intestinal motility, anti nausea drugs.  It was hard to get it down him because he was having a difficult time eating.  We tried everything, chicken breast, chicken broth, oatmeal, brown rice with sweet potato, chicken broth and raw eggs.  He decided he liked raw chicken and raw salmon so we gave him little bites throughout the day until he began to refuse all food.  He tried so hard to eat and keep his routine.  A few times I even thought he was getting better, I think because he was trying so hard just for me.

When we got the diagnoses we realized it was useless.  We had to do the right thing.  My husband and I have always believed in "the right to die".  I myself would not want to be in pain or fight a useless battle.  Unfortunately as humans we can't help each other out in that way without being accused of murder.

This morning we took him to the vet for his "final exit".  He went out silently, with dignity, a deep breath and then total relaxation.  We brought him home and laid him under an oak tree below our house where we will begin the long difficult process of digging through limestone rock.

We will miss our Mickey Blue Eyes terribly.  He was a good friend to us and Shadow our black lab.  Even though the two of them got off to a rocky start, they learned to respect each other and became best friends.  Every chance they got to run through an open gate they would take off on long hunting trips which always scared me.  Sometimes they would come back with their faces covered in blood.  I had no idea what they got into but I suspect it was probably a deer carcass left behind by a hunter or a poor little rabbit they managed to corner.  They were very talented hunters, working in tandem together.  Oh how they loved chasing cows.  It was the highlight of their lives when my husband would drop his sense of caution and let them out for a got at those black angus than sometimes ventured onto our property.

Mickey was our first warning system.  No one came up our drive without his knowledge.  Part of my sense of protection is gone now.  Shadow will have to patrol on his own.  Mickey had the most beautiful tail that he carried like a flag.  I will miss watching it wave in the breeze.  I spent his last night in a little cabin on our property with him, my way of saying goodbye.  I told him I would meet him again someday and we would have more long walks together through the trees.