Babs,
April 25, 1990 - April 17, 1994 I
never got a chance to say good-bye . . . she is survived by her dam, Lady .
. . Babs (Sterling's New Beginnings) didn't like the show world, but greatly
enjoyed therapy visits with the mentally retarded. She seemed to
take great joy in trying to draw a certain resident out of his shell *smiles*
the very same man who would, a year after Babs' death, cause my work injury
that left me disabled. She was taken too soon, before her first
and only litter of pups were ready to let their mommy go . . . Grandma Lady
stepped in, and raised her daughter's babies. You are missed,
Babs. . . .
Wookie, no pic available, records destroyed during divorce *smiles sadly*
. . . Wookie (aka Sterling's
ANew Beginning) was a shy little gal, never bred, never shown - except in 4-H,
by my son John. She chose John as her special friend, drawing
him out of his shell and helping him to trust somewhat. John was adopted
into my family, as a teen - after having been severally abused for the first
13 years of his life. Wookie seemed to sense that John had a wounded
spirit, and John, in turn, realized Wookie's temperament was similiar to his
own - though she had never felt a harsh hand or voice, as he had.
Wookie was also taken too soon, at the tender age of two when she crossed the
Bridge. She greatly resembled her grandsire, Champ. . . .
Smurf, pic coming soon.
Smurf
was a typical farm-bred, blue merle Rough Collie. While at a dog
show, in Toledo, Ohio, the Collie Rescue had a representative there, with Smurf.
Her age was unknown, other then she was a senior citizen.
When my daughter spotted her, she fell in love. Smurf came home
with us that day, and lived - happily - for 5 years with us, before she crossed
the Bridge. We knew she was ill, when my daughter went out of town
for the weekend. But Smurf held on, determined to see her beloved
mistress' face one last time. Smurf died, an hour after my daughter
came home.
 Champ, April 9, 1989 - June 1, 1998
The
cheerfully grinning little furball pictured to the right, is my Champ (aka Sterling's
Beats The Odds), sire of my CH. Heather.Champ,
12 weeks old, 7/1/89>My
little furball was well loved . . . my constant companion . . . I love you,
Champ . . . he had a true zest for life, and feared nothing - except being
apart
from me. If I had to be away for some reason, for a day or two,
Champ would lay listlessly by the door or by my side of the bed, refusing to
eat unless my daughter would feed him by hand - kibble by kibble.
He was my "fearless fly-catcher," and would defend me from any blue or red car,
even those parked in a threatening way . . . *smiles* My Lady,
pictured with Champ, below, is still with me today. She was 8,
when this pic was taken . . . at 10, she sorely misses her little buddy. .
.
.
 Lady,
February 12, 1988 - June 26, 1998My
Lady (aka Sterling's Lovely Lady), dam of my CH. Heather . . . the
one and only
true love of my life left me, just 25 days after our little buddy Champ was
taken. Champ was 7 when this pic was taken. (Even
today, over 5 years after her death, as I work on this Tribute page
. . . I
have to keep stopping, because I am crying so hard. I miss her as much today,
as the day she crossed the Bridge.) Lady was quite
depressed when Champ died, as was I, and moped around for a little
over a week - not taking
pleasure in our walks anymore, simply . . . acting old. Before
Champ's death, she still acted "puppy-ish." A lump formed above
her left eye . . . it was diagnosed as a brain tumor.
I made the difficult decision
to euthanise my girl . . . she had given me - and so many others - so much in
her life, I couldn't allow her to suffer . . . my girl trained many children,
via 4H and AKC Junior Showmanship, what they should do in a conformation ring,
gently 'bumping' them where they should be . . . correcting her stance after
giving them a chance to stack her . . . she also loved to come to work with
me, she so enjoyed visiting with most of the residents in the MR institution
. . . I recall one wheelchair-bound resident that every other therapy dog seemed
to want to avoid. His voice was shrill and sharp, and he twitched
and jumped - which caused his chair to squeak loudly. The first
time Lady came to work with me, she went straight to him - hesitating only briefly,
when the resident was overcome by spasms. He screamed shrilly
- and Lady simply rested her chin on his knee, waiting for it to pass, waiting
for him to pet her.
Lady, my best friend, my
confidant . . . I sent you across the Bridge, over 5 years ago . . . I miss
you as much
today, as the day you crossed . . . you took a large portion of my heart, with
you . . . you were my world, my heart, my soul . . . I miss you, my Ladybug.
. . .
 Decker,
December 24, 1989 - September 20, 2001Decker,
affectionately known as "Goofy," (aka Windsong Sharja Picture This)
was the first Afghan Hound given to my son, by a terrific lady. He came to
live with us in 1992, and was definately a goofy addition to our family!
Decker was a loyal, loving
member of our household, who single-handedly taught us the fallacy behind the
myth, "Afghan Hounds are the dumbest dogs on earth." Boy, was that
way off the mark! When we lived on our small country estate and had some beef
cattle, they escaped once. With a household of herding dogs, 3 Shelties were
called upon to herd them back. Decker watched the Shelties moving, weaving
here and there, gathering the calves - then loped out to join, herding 2 of the
stubbornest calves in himself! Quite a feat for a sight hound!
Decker loved my son, but became
totally devoted to me after a work injury left me disabled. He taught himself
to be my service dog, helping me walk when my balance was off, alerting me when
he sensed I was going to have a dizzy/fainting episode, and he would often wrap
his body protectively around me - in a horse shoe shape - when he felt I needed
that extra support. He even saved my life once, when my ex-spouse broke into
my home planning on doing, well, whatever he planned. Decker would not allow
him to pass by him, to get to me, even though he was being kicked and punched.
And knowing the gravest sin of all is to harm a human, he never growled or bit,
in his own defense. But he stood his ground.
Decker also missed Lady a
great deal. She was, I believe, his favorite Sheltie. When my Lady grand daughter,
Remi, joined the family, he simply tolerated her . . . until that silly
little twerp wrapped him around her paw! In the (then) two-years of Remi's
young life (still living, the silly girl *smiles*) Decker's health was failing.
Plagued with a kidney disorder, he still could be roused to play - only by Remi
- until the day he died. Greatly missed by our family - human and critter alike,
we'll always remember that silly Hound, lovingly known as Goofy.
AM CH Sterling's Lovely Odds, "Heather"
Pictures of Heather, in her prime, can be found on her page -
here. I had posted Heather's passing on a
Petloss page, and hadn't added her here. That was my grave error, as the site no longer has her info; I should have
placed her here, on my own domain. I will have to go through my old records, to get the accurate data, but suffice it to say,
she is missed. Heather began to have kidney problems, and eventually went in to renal failure. Before she crossed
the Rainbow Bridge, she lay in my arms, weakly wagging her tail as she happily listened to her favorite person in the world,
my son, tell her good-bye. He was living and working in Japan, so unable to come home to see Heather off,
but I held her in my arms and felt her quivers of happiness, hearing his voice coming through my computer.
 Remi, May 8, 1998-August 18, 2014
Remi (Lynstorm's Reminiscent Dame) could have been her grandmother's, Ladybug, twin in looks, and was aptly named to honor her grandmother. Like her grandmother,
she was my best friend. I was lucky enough to have her in my life for over 16 years; she was the best co-pilot, and absolutely
loved watching TV. She had her favorite TV shows and movies, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer her favorite television show and Spirit her favorite
movie - although she loved werewolf movies, too - but horse movies were her top favorites and I often said that she
was bilingual cause she spoke horse.
Remi acted very puppy-ish right up until she was 12 or so; around the time I moved to my current home, the end of 2011 when she was
a little over 13, Remi was finally slowing down some and getting a few grey hairs on her muzzle. Her vision seemed to be fading some; she got out of the fenced
backyard about a week or so after we moved here, and got 'lost,' wandering around a neighbor's yard and barking to be let in, at their front door. She was
slower, in 2012, and had some obvious vision problems, but handled the new addition to our family, Luna, very well. Remi started off simply tolerating
my Collie, but eventually seemed to grow to like her. Right before Luna's little sister, Stevie, joined the family, Remi began to have seizures
occasionally. They were scary to watch, but only lasted a few seconds and she always came out of them seeming none the worse. In 2013,
Remi seemed to be going downhill faster; she seemed to be going deaf, and was exhibiting vision problems. She was getting to a point where she didn't seem to like
to go for car rides anymore, too - hard for me to see my co-pilot not wanting to go for rides anymore. The first part of 2014, Remi
was moving into a pattern of lots more sleep, but her appetite was still good and every so often, she'd even get in a playful mood and chase her ball once or twice
before tiring. Starting in April, she began to have more and more seizures; she was showing more signs of vision problems, bumping into furniture every now and then, and snapping at
Luna and Stevie if they got too close. By July, she was running into walls and furniture, and during my finals week, in August, she was showing obvious signs of dementia.
Honestly, I'm not sure she even recogized me any more, by that point. But I still knew her.
The weekend before she was euthanized was her worse yet; she was incontinent, urinating herself in her sleep, and try as I might, I could not see that
she was getting any joy out of life any more. She would spin in slow circles, and looked very confused. I have two very tiny steps leading into my den, and she would fall
trying to use them, up or down. Monday, August 18, 2014 at 6:30p.m., I said my final good-bye to my best friend.
Image coming soon. Luna, January 18, 2012-May 17, 2023
Luna (Lynstorm's Dark Side of the Moon), a tri-color Rough Collie, was mentored by Remi to be the next leader of my small dog pack. And she took her training seriously, even though she was so soft-hearted it was hard for her to correct her little sister, and eventually my German Shepherd's, Joplin and Cooper. She preferred to just be with me, by my side, at all times.
Luna never got into watchng the TV like Remi did, but it would catch her attention, every now and then. She adored going for car rides, especially to the Hiram PetSmart where she took obedience classes and to the vet's office. Dr. Carpenter, head vet at the Hiram Animal Hospital, was one of her top five favorite people, beat out only by my adult kids and my youngest grandson. Even the quickie trip to the end of the driveway, made her day! Although she preferred the destination to be Starbucks. Luna was probably one of the best "nanny" dogs I've ever had, herding my grandkids away from steps, the fireplace, anywhere near the road . . . in fact, she preferred they just stay put in my den!
Luna was very puppy-ish, almost to the end. This year, 2023, she began to show some signs of her age. She began to move a little slower. Her hearing wasn't quite as good, anymore. Her sight seemed to be failing her a bit. Around the end of February, she began to have seizures that left her acting minorly confused. The seizures came every few weeks or so, and I couldn't find a cause - other than possibly sundowners or dementia. By mid-May, they were taking her down for hours, culminating in the final one the day before she crossed the Rainbow Bridge, that caused her right eye to bleed. She no longer seemed happy to be here. It was time to say goodbye.
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