Saturday, March 28, 2009

Paige turns 2



WOW hard to believe 2 years ago March 27th we were given the gift of life from our 13yr old dog Pris. She was a devoted family member before our first human child was born. when we were told to prep for long nights of nursing a pup because Pris was most likely not going to survive much longer. Her bladder was so inundated with cancer they were surprised she was alive. We had no clue she was pregnant, but did know who the father was as he was a recent rescue we took in. She hadn't cycled in 2 yrs so we thought we had time to get him neutered. An all nighter to keep getting up to let her out led to a vet visit the next morning and they were confused so did an xray and came out to tell us we were going to be grandparents?! WOW what rewind what did you just say she is 13! But sure enough xray showed one little baby in the bottom of the belly all stretched out...much like she still sleeps today...lol.

Well after some issues we finally a few days later of more complications to deliver naturally took her in for a csection. It was this or lose them both. While in delivering they discovered the cancer. I looked into her eyes later the next day after surgery and said no she will give this beautiful little girl a good chance to life. I think there was many give and takes with this situation. I can't tell you how horrible of a pet owner I initially felt like when finding out she was pregnant. However Teton "Paige" was a miracle and answer to 2 yrs of questions of what is wrong with our dog. There is 100 yrs of the bloodlines on her mamas side and having m/c pups from the father we wanted pups from figured we would never have one to carry on the lines on her end.

We learned alot from this situation: Her cancer was slowed down by her authritis meds, being introduced to a male dog apparently can get even an older dogs "motor" running so to speak so even though she hadn't cycled in 2 yrs living with a male dog for the first time in years got things going again, we have the most precious gift...life and her mother lives on. Paige isn't her mother and honestly had she not been left I can't say we would have a dog right now. So her gift of life as she was leaving this world was kinda like a thank you for the life she had with us. Being both parents had brown eyes, mom mostly black/white and dad mostly white with some merling red and blue... we never expected a completely blue merle 2 blue eyes dog.

Anyhow our precious blue eyed princess turns 2 and can't wait to see what the new year brings for her and us. She has turned into an awesome dog with great instincts and if she has reservations I trust her instincts and am on guard. Her mother was one hell of a dog not sure she will ever fill those paws, but she is coming close and our pain is lessened, but the loss of a best friend still leaves an empty place her mother filled for so many years. Pris passed away a short 7 weeks later! But Paige was well on her way. She is vocal like her mother, but unlike her mother I tell her no bark she does quiet down unless she is dead serious about something. LOL NOT Pris though she ALWAYS had to have the last word and didn't shut up until she said her piece! Paiges' father always quieted when told and wasn't very vocal.

We don't know much about his bloodlines but that he was a great dog. Like her mother he was a border collie/australian shepherd. He hated men and I felt very safe with him around actually, He had but one flaw....he couldn't travel and the vet said we needed to change our lifestyle or find him a new home before we killed him. Well I was too picky and no one was good enough for my little man so I took him to the local pet shelter only to find out the next day they considered the non traveling a health issue and would put him to sleep so I went back and they already put him to sleep:0*( I will never forgive myself for this as I feel like I killed him anyhow. He listened to no one but myself. He even took over parenting Paige in the final weeks of Pris' life and continued to do so after she passed away. Paige has a lot of both her parents in her and I feel she has the best of both worlds and has in many ways turned into her own dog.

We will breed her one time next year when we find the right Australian Shepherd. I want to tame some of the barking of the collie down. She is smart as a whip and there isn't much I ask of her that she won't do. LOL even on occassion she will give me some back talk like her mother did and all this does is make me laugh, smile and cry happy memory tears. OH and she is an AWESOME mouser. grosses me out, but I know where ever we go there won't be mice left alive. She and our old cat Freya fought over mice in our stick home. After the 3rd mouse I never saw another one again. We lived right by a hayfield, but I think word got around.

We got her this adorable birthday cupcake shaped cookie from the local doggy bakery. It was all frosted and even smelt of cake batter. I think she was insulted she only got one cookie when she was turning 2 yrs old, but at $4 a piece that is what she got this year. I spent $30 on her last year. Not that she isn't worth it, but she got lots of samples from the treat bowl there as well.

For the record her name comes from her roots are thru out the Teton Valley of Jackson Hole, WY and Paige was a combination of her parents name.... Pris and Patriot and a recent dog we lost 7 months prior...Sage. So where we are big fans of the series Charmed she wasn't named after the character.

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