Yet another good-bye -- to Miss Pip

[connie]

When Pip was diagnosed with liver disease, I thought I knew how it would end: she would decline to the point that she couldn't keep food down, she would be nauseated constantly and tired, and I would have to call Dr Matt to come over to the house for a final visit.

Boy, was I wrong.

Miss Pip was hanging out in the yard with the rest of the Hooligans yesterday, and when I rounded them up to go back in so I could get ready to take Alex to Nosework class, Pip stopped by the pond to get a drink. She did this frequently; she also liked, on warm days, to lie on the flagstones sides of the pond, enjoying the coolness and the shade from the big red-twig dogwoods out there. Often I'd look up from my book, in my lawn chair on the other side of the pond, and see Pip enjoying the day there.

This time, as she got a drink from the pond, a tendon in her heart apparently snapped, and she swan-dived into the pond, we think she was dead before she hit the water. There are cinder-blocks in the pond, and any dog that falls in can use them to stand on and/or to get out, but when I found Pip just minutes later, she was in the pond, dead.

How's that for a freakout on a summer afternoon? I screamed loudly and long. My next-door neighbor, Bill, came tearing out to see what was going on. We removed Pip's body from the pond -- NOT something I ever want to experience again, thank you!! -- and I called the vet clinic, which was closing in 10 minutes, to tell them they had to stay open for me to bring Pip's body in. They did. They were so, so nice. From the vet tech who let me cry on his shoulder and offered to run across the street to get me a bottle of water or pop, to the admins who came into the exam room and hugged me and said 'oh, no, not Miss Pip!', to the vet, Elizabeth, who hugged me before she turned her attention to Pippi. When she looked at Pip's physical signs, she said 'absolutely, she didn't drown, this is a cardiac event. This looks like a chordeae tendon snapped, Connie, and she would have bled out immediately.' My rescue Irwin went that way, two years ago. It's fast, and there isn't really any suffering.

So GOOD FOR YOU, MISS PIP, for cheating the liver disease! I'm so happy you didn't decline and feel crummy and I didn't have to decide if you were good for another week or month ... what an exit, my Pippi! You were a piece of work all your life, and now you are unforgettable in your departure!

One of a kind. Much missed. She would have turned 17 on November 11 this year; I'm going to give her the extra 2 months and say she made it to 17. With such style!!

[Yankee]

Connie - I'm so sorry. It's so hard.

[SherriA]

I was so shocked to read this. While I'm really glad that Pippi went quickly and without the dreaded decline, it's always too soon. My heart goes out to you, Connie. I can't imagine the hole she leaves in your family.

Go find Sundance, Miss Pip. I know he's been missing you.

[emmas_mom]

Oh Connie, this made me cry and smile at the same time - cry that our Miss Pip is gone, smile that you were able to put such a positive twist on it, Ms Pip cheating liver disease.
We shall miss Miss Pip here at ODO, yet I know that there is a whole herd of ODO shelties at the rainbow bridge, barking up a storm and running around with excitement right now.
Hugs to you Connie - no matter their age, no matter the situation, they always take a piece of our hearts with them.

[Calypso]

Such a shock - I am sorry. I do appreciate that she was able to put a glimmer of a smile on the faces of those who loved her with her final antic. What a Pip!

[Sabine]

I'm so sorry, Connie. Run free, little Pip...

[LisaT_II]

Oh my gosh Connie, I am so sorry you no longer have Miss Pip physically there , and for the loss you are feeling now. It sounds very traumatic to go through, but definitely something you can embrace - that she didn't suffer, and, true to form, did things her way. I hope you are doing something kind for yourself now...

[JudyL]

I'm sorry too, Connie. I have to say though that, as traumatic as it was, if this is a really quick and (mostly) painless way to go out of this world without veterinary intervention, then that is what I hope for all dogs.

ETA - I hope this didn't sound like I was making light of what happened. I only meant that I'm glad there wasn't a long period of suffering and that she didn't go through weeks or months of feeling really horrible that her liver disease might have caused.

[UpwardDog]

That must have been so upsetting even if it's probably the best possible way to go for Pippi. I think we all need to drink a toast to her and for you to recover from the shock. ((hugs))

[Moemer]

Wow. I'm so sorry for your loss, and the shocking way to find out, But I'm also glad she didn't have prolonged suffering.

[EllaBella]

I am so sorry for your loss. She really did things her own unexpected way till the end though. I am glad that she did not suffer.

[maxs_mommy]

Connie, it's been a rough month for you. I'm sorry to lose Miss Pip but I am happy that she was able to go on her terms. RIP Pippi.

[Sweetgrass Farm]

Rest in peace, Miss Pip, good dog.

[connie]

This was a really rough one for me. I just can't believe she's gone. My regular vet, who was not at the clinic on Saturday, called me yesterday morning and he was almost in tears; my next-door neighbor, whom I have known for nearly 20 years and who was once my landlord when I lived in the carriage-house on his property, said 'oh no, no, I just saw her the other day, she was barkin' at me!' He remembered when I got Miss Pip, I was his renter at the time.

I miss her terribly.

[Calypso]

She was not only a huge presence in the personality sense, but she was there for so much of your life. She's the dog you've had the longest, right? It's obviously always hard to lose a dog, but when they have been part of your life for such a huge chunk of time, I think it is all the harder, just from a mental adjustment apart from the heartache.

<<comforting thoughts>>

[LisaT_II]

I love to hear the stories from other people, how they were touched too. We know that some dogs have such a presence, but the testaments in their honor are just nice to hear, and they support us in our grief.

You had Pip with you much longer than many marriages last. It's a profound loss ((more hugs)).

[connie]

Jill, yes, by several years. I got my first Sheltie in 1989; I got Sander in 1991; and I got Pip in early 1998. Sundance came later that year, and Shiri in late 2001. Of those 'original' Shelties of mine, only Shiri is left now.

Pip was kind of a 'goddess of the hearth' in that she was happiest and most comfortable at home, and she never wanted direct attention, but she was always there, wherever I was and wherever the family was. After dinner she wouldn't be on the couch with me -- never, not once, did she do that -- but she would be in 'her' spot across the room, watching everything with her bright, alert gaze. She interacted with the other dogs far more easily than she did with people, including me. Puppymill origins, most likely. The only place she liked being the sole focus of attention was in obedience classes, and then the leash kept us at the distance she felt was proper. Otherwise she preferred to be part of the group. She was an excellent 'auxiliary dog', as my sister called her.

It is indeed a big mental adjustment!!

[QBert]

Oh no. I'm so sorry.

[SherriA]

I'm still reeling over this, so I can imagine how it must be affecting you, Connie. I remember the hole Jack left; he was with me for 18 yrs and it's a really significant adjustment.