She Had Friends All Over the World

　

November 21, 2011

When we built our big family home and decided to get a dog the stars lined up for us. Our nurse at work Mary Vaughn had a Brittany Spaniel who was ready to give birth and after the litter was born we got first pick. My daughter Kathleen and my wife went to Mary’s home and brought back the cutest little bundle of fur you ever saw. Kathleen said she pushed all the other pups aside and tried to climb out of the pen to get in her arms. I have my doubts about her breed but Nicky was a wonderful dog. She played us like Heifetz played the fiddle. The first night we had her she slept in a beer box we had in the service porch with Kathleen right next to her on the floor. As she grew up she became an outside dog and unlike Kathleen’s current Lab she wasn’t allowed on the furniture or in the kitchen. But for those first six weeks or so she slept in that box. I was working on the night shift and since my work shoes weren’t always carpet friendly they stayed in the service porch. On morning I came downstairs to find Nicky in my boot. She was just sitting there waiting to have us see her. Since her breed were water dogs we worried about her with our pool but she fell in by accident a couple of times and never went in again. When the kids went in she ran around the poll barking furiously at them because she thought they were in danger. Nicky was an excellent judge of character. She knew which kids were trouble and let ‘em know she knew. Her favorite place to sleep in the house was under the end table and woe betide a stranger or someone she didn’t trust if they tried to remove her. Nicky patrolled the back yard at regular intervals, she walked the perimeter, looked in the pool equipment running or not, and let us know immediately if anything was going on. Kathleen joined 4-H and one of her projects was to take Nicky to obedience training. The meeting took place at a country house near one of the many schools the kids attended. They had a huge gravel side yard and once a week a dozen or so 4-H’ers and their dogs gathered to be trained. Nicky loved to ride in the car and I learned very quickly to turn onto the country road and shut the engine off. If she heard or saw my car she would tow Kathleen across the yard like a tractor. When she rode her head was always out the window, for Nicky the perfect ride was down the road by the dairy farms, the cows and all the smells really interested her. Nicky was very smart, she learned tricks in a heartbeat. She would sit in a patio chair and catch a tennis ball as long as you would throw it. She loved to run circles around the back yard. Nicky befriended every exchange student we had. She knew they were family members and showed them all her affection. Some had never had a dog and at least two went home and talked their parents into getting one. She had friends in Italy and France and they all lived her. We never worried about her diet, she ate table scraps, pasta, veggies (she liked zucchini) and from time to time she’d take a sip of beer from the palm of my hand. Time passed, the kids grew up and moved out. Her muzzle got gray and she quit getting in the chair to catch the ball. She didn’t want to run anymore and her walks got shorter and slower. When she had problems urinating we took her to the vet and he discovered bladder stones. Gave us the choice of surgery or putting her down. Since the surgery could restore her to some reasonable level of comfort we did it. She didn’t respond well, hid in the pool equipment and prepared to leave us. We offered steak, pasta, every treat in the house, nothing worked. She wouldn’t even raise her head. So I tried as a last resort beer. She licked some off my hand and in an hour she was as close to herself as she was going to get. Had just about what the Vet said, another year. Worth every penny to take her for a walk or a ride in my FIAT with the top down. So lucky to have such a wonderful animal. I am posting this today because Kathleen reminded us that  it’s her birthday. Wherever she is I hope the grass is green and she get to run from time to time. And everybody scratches her ears and pets her. She was special.