Rainbow Bridge

My heart is still in pieces...one huge dog print in the middle of it.

I so clearly remember the night I found Gem was coming into my life; we were out fishing, on the Walnut River, when Greg, Gem’s breeder, announced to the group that I had a female Border Collie pup coming. No, No, I said, I’m not ready for a new dog; I had too many as it was!

And so, Gem entered my life, and of course, my heart, my soul. Bit, her mother, died when the pups were only not quite two weeks old, of a ruptured lung abscess, caused by a grass awn; Gem came to me then.

I was introduced to the world of working stock dogs in a huge way; Gem turned on to sheep at a mere six months of age, and I became hooked. Hooked on the breed, the ease of working sheep with a good dog, and I learned so much. And each day, became closer and closer to this little waspy, opinionated dog of mine. I learned I had basically no clue how to work livestock, although I thought I did. I learned to read pressure, and I learned the toughest job of all, to trust my dog. I was privileged to work with some of the best stock dog handlers in the Nation, and drug around by my shirt collar to my correct spot more than once. I learned, sorta, to get tough with this little opinionated dog, and to make her do it my way…although, many times, she was right, and I was, as she thought, wrong.

For over 15 years, this dog and I were seldom separated; she opened my life to hundreds of friends and causes. We trialed, we won some, we placed some, we lost a lot, but we had a grand time together! Some of the memories of various trials bring laughter, some joy, and some tears; but all of them are great.

She was my friend, my workmate, my left leg, and my right arm. My co-pilot in the truck, and very much the fun police with the rest of the dogs here. She was, as I was told, very much a hard dog for a first time handler, and although I considered placing her with someone with more experience, I’ve never regretted the decision not to. Well, except the “what might have been”s for her sake…because she had way more talent than I do, and deserved better. She’s gone now; and buried underneath a baby Cottonwood tree, that when I planted it, told her she would have to wait to leave me, until the tree had grown. Gem, as always, was impatient to get to her next flock, and couldn’t wait

that long.

Thanks to Greg, Geanna, Kevin, Bill, Chuck, Kathy, Jack, to all of you who helped me learn with her. And who will help me in the future, with other dogs

GodSpeed, Gem.

We believe Gunther was about 5 years old when we found him at Wayside Waifs, a shelter in Kansas City.  When he first walked in the room to meet us he spotted me (sitting on the floor), ran to me, slid into my lap on his back with his paws in the air and his tongue hanging out and if to say “Here I am; I’m your guy!”  We had no idea how right that was.

The folks there told us he had been “on the street” and they had no real details about him or his past.  Little did we know how hugely he would fill our lives for the next 6 years.

Knowing that border collies need a “job” to do we arranged for him to go to doggie daycare while we were at work.  Gunther quickly found his calling: keeping all the other dogs in line at daycare.  He would “correct” dogs that got too pushy or antsy, and quickly earned the nickname “The Sheriff” at daycare.  New employees, as part of their training, would be told “Watch Gunther; you see what he does?  That’s what you should do.”  Many times the daycare told us that they should be paying him instead of us paying them!  And Gunther loved his job.  Every morning he’d be out running around the car, waiting to jump in, barking, as if saying “Come on, come on, I’ve got work to do!”

Unfortunately Gunther’s body dealt him a lousy hand.  He had an autoimmune condition that resulted in his body destroying his own platelets.  To correct this, he had to be on prednisone and the immunosuppression ultimately led to septic shock and kidney failure.  He went quickly.  Only two days before his kidneys failed he was walking around the neighborhood, playing tug-of-war with his stuffed toys, and enjoying his life’s passion: work.  He went quickly, but he went way too soon.

We miss him so much.  He was filled with so much life and so much love.  There really are no words to say.  If all dogs give unconditional love, border collies are the champions of it.  And Gunther was a champion of champions.

We love you, G-man.