TESS

It's a bad day at our house. We put Tess down. She was so arthritic and I just hated to see her in pain. She no longer interacted with us much, mainly slept and avoided Tuck. I am feeling guilty since we were hoping she would just go in her sleep and instead I had to make a decision and take the necessary action. It was so hard. Tess was the best dog you could ever imagine. While I lived in Craig, we would go on walks thru town and I seldom used a leash. Tess learned to lay down and wait at the crosswalks for me. Then we would look both ways and then cross the street. She also laid down when cars would pass by when we were on the country roads. This worked extremely well except when I was on my bike. There were at least 2 occasions when we both ended up in a heap in the ditch because she laid down in front of me. And oh what a cow dog. There were at least 4 ranches that would invite us to help with round-ups. And I know it was not for my horse back riding prowess. Tess was a natural. The main thing I did was call her off the cattle, the sweeping behind the herd and pressuring and releasing was all instinct and a thing of beauty. I remember one neighbor just beside himself with wanting her. He made it up to a $400 offer. This was after watching her in the pastures then watching her climb a corral fence just because I told her to "come'er". He begged and begged for her and I finally told him if he could get her to follow him, without physically taking her, he could have her. I was sitting in a lawn chair and she was lying beside me and he was calling and baiting her with steak pieces but he was far enough away that he could not hear me whispering "stay" to her each time I sensed her leaning toward him. That just drove him more crazy and he could not understand why I would not sell her. But how do you sell family? And then there was the deciding cow herding moment. She got kicked in the head and thrown for a loop right in front of me. I saw it coming in slow motion. She got up and looked up at me and I knew this was going to be the moment that determined if she was a true cow dog. I told her "you get that bitch, Tess, get her!" and off she went and chewed the heels of that cow until she was at the head of the herd. And we shook our heads and laughed and laughed. But when we did not have cows to chase, Tess was a Frisbee chasing fool. We would play in the park or in the yard for hours and she would still be ready to chase it some more. She was insatiable and ended up with no incisors to prove it; the Frisbee wore off her teeth. There will never be another dog like Tess. I was lucky to have her and I will treasure those nearly 15 years that she was with me. Enjoy yourself sweet dog and chase those Frisbees and cows to your heart's content. I love you.