It was just last summer when Ty called me from Texas to tell me he was on his way to pick up his new puppy.  She was a german shepherd, about four months old.  He and Megan had just bought the homestead and what goes better with horses than dogs?  Megan had a dog but Ettie is crazy and won't let anyone but Began anywhere near her.

So Dolly was mostly Ty's dog.

I met Dolly when Josie and I went down last June to help paint the interior of the house.  Beautiful house, gorgeous property, big red horses and the most well behaved puppy I've ever met.  Even as a pup, Dolly never jumped on anyone or behaved in any way that could be described as unladylike.  At least not when I was around.

Last night, Dolly didn't come when she was called for dinner.  It was a nasty, rainy cold night in Texas and Dolly always comes when called, so Megan and Tyler headed for the road, to make sure she hadn't met with some accident but they found no trace of her.

This morning, Ty saw her; laying out in the pasture in the back of their five acres.  In with the horses, where she's not supposed to go.

He ran across the yard and almost lost a boot in the thick mud.  She was hurt; a large bloody gash on her back.  She could move her head but that's about it.

They took her off to the vet.

Poor Dolly had apparently been teasing (biting the ankles) the horses.  She had bothered them before and Ty had already made plans to fence in the yard to keep the dogs out of the pasture.  Dolly had pushed her luck and one of the horses had kicked her, breaking her back.

There was nothing the vet could do.

So, Ty held his dog as the vet put her down.  I've been there; it's sad.

Ty told the vet he wasn't heartless, but this didn't come close to the way he lost his first dog.

He told the vet the story of Max, the golden retriever puppy we got just before Ty's tenth birthday.  We had  that dog one month when Ty took him for a walk, Max got away from him, ran into the street and was mown down by a car right in front of Ty's eyes.

It was Christmas Day.

The vet listened to Tyler and said "I've been a vet for thirty years and of all the sad stories I've heard of folks losing their pets, that definitely makes the top five."

I don't want to know the other four stories.

Megan, a rancher's daughter, cried over the death of Dolly, looked tearfully at her husband and said "I can't believe that cost us three hundred bucks!"

Do I have the coolest daughter in law ever, or what?

Hey, that's life on the farm.

The fence is scheduled to go in tomorrow.

 

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