My Dogs - Pearl

Pearl is a true gem. She is a Smooth, or short haired Collie, meaning she’s all of the Collie, half of the work! Collies have an amazing personality; I always say that they’re bred to have a Lassie personality. They’re my go-to breed for people who’ve just had a rough experience adopting a seriously aggressive or fearful dog they aren’t capable of living with and, believe me, there are more than you’d think.

Collies are “easy” and I love them. Pearl is my 3^rd Collie but if you count all of the ones that have lived with

me while I find them a new home, it’s over a dozen. I like them.

As with all but a couple of my dogs, I wasn’t looking for her but she found me. She was a beautiful puppy that jumped out of an email at me and the only time I’ve fallen in love with a puppy by mail!

At 12 weeks old, she had a pretty bad urinary tract infection and after a long fight it, we decided to do an ultrasound of her bladder, which seemed normal, then went to look at her kidneys and the vet said “uh oh” and that was the last thing I heard before the “lalalalalala I can’t hear you” went off in my head.

They said she probably only had a few months to live and she was only 7 months old! I was heartbroken. I pulled her from shows where she had been winning and having so much fun and I stopped doing herding and, honestly, I stopped her training. I just wanted to have her home, being spoiled, running around the yard with the other dogs and I was worried about putting more strain on her kidneys.

Well, 3 months later she looked great! Took her for a follow-up blood test and it was crappy. “Maybe she’ll make it through Christmas” which was a couple of months away. Well, Christmas came and went and still she looked great. “the longest I’ve ever seen a dog live with this is to 2 years old.” Ok.

So, at 2 years old, we did one more recheck and her kidney ultrasound made me want to use eye bleach; they were awful. I made some decisions. No more bloodwork, no more anything at the vet. She’s happy and “healthy”,  BEAUTIFUL and sweet and she HATES going to the vet and kidney disease will kill her and I won’t interfere with our quality of life. When it’s time it’s time she’ll tell me. If she’s mildly uncomfortable I can treat symptoms but I won’t be doing anything invasive to “save her life” and I won’t be monitoring her decline; there’s nothing that can be done (no. Absolutely no transplant). She’s a happy party girl and her life will end with her being that.

We tried herding again. No interest AT ALL. Hahaha. We tried a couple of fun obedience classes, nope. She’s above it. With her impending death looming over us, I believed her and we went home. My dear friend laughed and said, “she’s going to live to be 16, completely untrained.” I got cranky and said he didn’t know what he was talking about; when kidney problems show up on bloodwork, they’re already thirty percent compromised. Kidney failure usually means “buy a small bag of dog food” in the words of one vet I knew and my friend might be right because, well, Pearl’s been through a LOT of dog food since her diagnosis. Everything points to her starting to feel bad, soon, but so far she doesn’t know it.

And she’s 3 now! Sstill happy,  looks as healthy as can be, eats like a champ, has fewer symptoms of her kidney disease, glossy, thick coat, active as can be. She’s not spayed because I kept expecting her to die in a couple of months and now I’m afraid that the stress of the surgery and the change in her hormones will throw her delicate kidneys into failure and I’ll never forgive myself.

But, that’s Pearl’s STORY; what I always tell people to leave behind. And I’ve let it interfere with our relationship, too much. Pearl is an amazing dog in every way, other than she hates riding in the car. She’s sweet and gentle and a great teacher to the other dogs. She is the benevolent adult dog in the household, no matter what other dogs show up. Incredibly tolerant yet with a tough “that’s enough!” when needed. She’s the quiet one when it comes to behavior.

I think I’ve always kept her a little at arm’s length because I keep expecting the worst soon. In reality, had we not done that ultrasound, I would never have known about her illness and who knows how different we would be? It doesn’t matter anymore; I adore her, I think she’s one of the most empathetic, silly, tough, willing, and bratty dogs ever. She’s spoiled rotten but (usually) doesn’t abuse it. Does she sit on “command”? Sometimes. Down? Maybe. Stay? HAHAHAHAHA Does she NEED to do any of those things? Absolutely not. She has wonderful manners and a natural ability to “be good”.  I love her; she’s been an amazing teacher about moving on and she is, as my friend says, “Practically Perfect in Every Way”.

- Trainer Trish

Connect With Me! : https://www.facebook.com/trainertrishwamsat

About these ads