Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tip


velvet sack has all kinds of blogs and I discovered this one this morning. It is about her blind dog. I found it very interesting and suggest she might write a book about her blind dog never the less also telling her that my take on animals were very different than hers.
My father was a farmer and he held the belief if an animal was very sick it needed his help which usually was him putting it out of it's misery since he had no money to spend on vets..
So if my dog went blind or had other major health problems I would dispatch them to the happy hunting ground with speed but then I remembered Tip.
Tip was a black and white collie which we owned for 12 years. He ran a million miles following my sons' on horse back as they grew up and I am sure Tip would have died for my children.
The sons' grew up and left the nest but I still had Tip. He was nearly blind , deaf and stiff in his walk. He spent most of his days sleeping but still I made sure he had food and I have been know to check on Tip as soon as I got home from work before I sat down to rest.
One day I hurried out to the car to go some where in a hurry, I have long forgot where I was in such a fizzle to go but I jumped into my car and began to back it up, then I heard this thump and yelp and Tip crawled out into my view, I was heart sick and since he disappeared from my view I began to search for him. After several hours our neighbor stopped and told me Tip was at his house and seemed to be hurt. I went at once and loaded the poor thing into the back seat of my car. I looked him over and realised he had broken bones and other unknown injuries
I went in the house and got my 22 gun got back in the car and drove down a side road. I got Tip out of the car and Since I had a chain on him he couldn't leave even if he had been able.
He tried to pull away and I said "You might as well stand still I have to do this and I swear that dog under stood me. he braced him self and I shot him between the eyes. It was the hardest thing I ever did and I will always remember Tip. He was a faithful dog and he was my dog

5 comments:

Donna. W said...

That is EXACTLY how our old Chow died a few years ago. She was deaf, and Cliff backed up in the car and hit her. He had to go ahead and shoot her also.

Linda@VS said...

Patsy, Tip sounds like a wonderful dog. It took courage to do what you did, and though I might not have had the courage to do it myself, at his age and under the same circumstances, I would have chosen euthanasia.

Butch was only seven when he began to lose his eyesight, and except for his painful eyes, nothing else was wrong with him. In the beginning I expected I would have to have him put down. It was the Internet that saved his life.

As I began to read about his condition (primary glaucoma), I found canine medical websites and websites published by owners of blind dogs. The more I read, the more I discovered the amazing capabilities of dogs to adapt quickly and thrive in spite of visual disability.

And, boy, did Butch adapt! The surgery to remove his eyes put an end to his pain, and he quickly learned to rely on his other senses. Except for periods when he had other, unrelated health issues, he lived happily for another six and a half years. In the end, when I knew he was dying from melanoma, I cared for him as long as I could keep him comfortable. After he had a stroke on top of that, a stroke that left him with legs that didn't work properly, I made the same decision you would have made and ended his struggle.

Thanks for sharing the story of Tip. Our views about animals may be slightly different, but I don't think we're as far apart as you think we are.

Thanks also for the suggestion about a book. I'll think about that.

Galla Creek said...

We are shaped by the life we have led. I am not sorry for the lessons I learned along the way. My lessons were different from other children my age and that shaped who I am just as your path of life has shaped you.

Galla Creek said...

Patsy, I guess the picture came from Grandma Gaddy. It is an original photo and not a copy. What was the occasion?

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