Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Much Loved and Missed
While none of the following pets were ferrets, they have huge places in my heart and I hold out hope that they will be waiting for me on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge...
KRISHNA
Krishna is a Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound)--one of the tallest and fastest dogs known to man. They are in the hound group (sighthound) and have an odd, piercing wail as opposed to barking (reminiscent of the call of banshees). They are absolutely amazing and beautiful to watch in action (check out this video clip).
Krishna came to live with me on her first birthday. Since my meditating Buddha was the first of MANY of my belongings that she destroyed (Krishna being the black Hindu God) and due to her crazy long fur ("Hairy" Krishna)--Krishna fit. She suffered from separation anxiety (don't all of my pets) and was big enough that she was even able to remove items from my walls and destroy them. Any dog that can stand, put their front paws on your shoulders and still have their head be a good ten inches above yours is a big dog.
Due to the fact that I was working 12-15 hour days and she was home alone that entire time, I began seeking out a new home for her. Shortly after this decision, the roof of the apartment that I was living in caved in and I had to move immediately. I was unable to find any place that allowed dogs and the official wheels were set in motion.
Krishna went to live with an older couple that had a Borzoi in the past and longed for another one. They live in the country; have a large fenced-in yard and numerous small dogs for Krishna to romp with. The dogs have their own sofas and the woman does dog grooming. Her name is now Krista (better than Liza, as she came to me with, I guess). I still have visions of getting my house and land and Krishna coming to live with me again...
VINCE
Vince was a gorgeous German Rottweiler with a large head, clear expressive eyes, and a beautiful bone structure. Vince was almost three when he came to live with me. He had always had male owners and his behavior problems were in part due to his belief that he was the boss in my home. He came to me with the name Vince.
Vince hated all other animals--dogs, cats, ferrets, birds--if it wasn't human he would go mad trying to catch and kill it. He was also a large, powerful dog making it difficult to control him when he decided something needed to die. He killed all of the stray cats I had adopted and had been feeding. He attacked my landlady's boxer (thankfully we eventually were able to get him off of her dog and he ended up being okay). He nearly destroyed my TV one day because I was watching Animal Planet and upon hearing cats meowing, he thought there was a cat behind the TV and set out to find and kill it.
Vince was always angry when I went into the ferret room and would head butt the door (think Cujo) and would pee all through my house when I was in there. He "marked" several of my friends as his (including my roommate)--always fun when your dog lifts his leg and pees on your friends! Yet I loved him and tried to look beyond these things.
Vince was my sole companion after my six-year relationship ended. We walked through the State Game Lands daily. My car windows were covered in slime and drool on a regular basis. As for his aggression; I got him neutered, we went through obedience classes, yet nothing worked. While he loved people, his aggression did eventually begin to show towards me also. The next step would have been moving near Cornell University and hoping that they could help figure out and stop the aggressive behaviors--thousands of dollars that I didn't have...
As I mentioned, Vince was my sole companion for quite some time. What finally pushed him over the edge was when I brought home a guy that I liked a little more than just friends. While Vince adored the guy too, he had issues with losing his place as the "main man" in my life. He became increasingly aggressive and began snapping at me also. Eventually I had to have him put down.
I was unable to take the chance of him attacking a human the way he did other animals. He didn't give me a choice, when he started turning on people. Perhaps you would have to understand the sheer strength this dog possessed. I tried everything I could. There is nothing more difficult than taking a beautiful, healthy animal that you love dearly and is in the prime of its life and ending it.
I still miss him more than I should and cry over him even now. I never loved a dog as much as I did Vince and I have a special place in my heart for rotties as a result. While I hope to have another someday--there will simply never be another dog quite as special as Vince was.
GOITER
Goiter was an abused iguana that a friend had brought to me. He had burns all over his body, including his jaw and was starving to death because he couldn't open his mouth to eat. For weeks, he survived by having liquid minerals run along the outside of his mouth with the hopes that some of it would be ingested. He earned the name Goiter because of the appearance of having goiters all over his body.
Goiter never grew in length over the years, but he did end up becoming a beautiful iguana with few visible scars remaining. He was a gentle fellow, could be held by anyone and frequently slept upon my chest. He wasn't the brightest pet that I've ever had, but was certainly one of the sweetest.
RAZZMATAZZ
Razzmatazz came to live with us as a kitten. His mother was a large full-blooded Siamese and his father an unknown wanderer. When our mom took us to pick out a kitten, he crawled onto my lap and the rest is history! He was so little when we got him that he would stand in the opening of Kleenex boxes and shred the tissues with all four feet. Eventually he grew into a 25+ lb cat that we could count on to console our tears and he became part of the family. He was named after a prize-winning Samoyed.
Razz was with us for sixteen years. When my youngest brother turned eighteen, we had to have Razz put to sleep due to old age. Matt and I went together to have Razz euthanized and buried him together. As Matt put it, we grew up with Razz--he was our connection to childhood, youth, and family--Razz's passing was like our mom's way of saying that we were all grown now and no longer needed watching over--Razz was free to go.
KRISHNA
Krishna is a Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound)--one of the tallest and fastest dogs known to man. They are in the hound group (sighthound) and have an odd, piercing wail as opposed to barking (reminiscent of the call of banshees). They are absolutely amazing and beautiful to watch in action (check out this video clip).
Krishna came to live with me on her first birthday. Since my meditating Buddha was the first of MANY of my belongings that she destroyed (Krishna being the black Hindu God) and due to her crazy long fur ("Hairy" Krishna)--Krishna fit. She suffered from separation anxiety (don't all of my pets) and was big enough that she was even able to remove items from my walls and destroy them. Any dog that can stand, put their front paws on your shoulders and still have their head be a good ten inches above yours is a big dog.
Due to the fact that I was working 12-15 hour days and she was home alone that entire time, I began seeking out a new home for her. Shortly after this decision, the roof of the apartment that I was living in caved in and I had to move immediately. I was unable to find any place that allowed dogs and the official wheels were set in motion.
Krishna went to live with an older couple that had a Borzoi in the past and longed for another one. They live in the country; have a large fenced-in yard and numerous small dogs for Krishna to romp with. The dogs have their own sofas and the woman does dog grooming. Her name is now Krista (better than Liza, as she came to me with, I guess). I still have visions of getting my house and land and Krishna coming to live with me again...
VINCE
Vince was a gorgeous German Rottweiler with a large head, clear expressive eyes, and a beautiful bone structure. Vince was almost three when he came to live with me. He had always had male owners and his behavior problems were in part due to his belief that he was the boss in my home. He came to me with the name Vince.
Vince hated all other animals--dogs, cats, ferrets, birds--if it wasn't human he would go mad trying to catch and kill it. He was also a large, powerful dog making it difficult to control him when he decided something needed to die. He killed all of the stray cats I had adopted and had been feeding. He attacked my landlady's boxer (thankfully we eventually were able to get him off of her dog and he ended up being okay). He nearly destroyed my TV one day because I was watching Animal Planet and upon hearing cats meowing, he thought there was a cat behind the TV and set out to find and kill it.
Vince was always angry when I went into the ferret room and would head butt the door (think Cujo) and would pee all through my house when I was in there. He "marked" several of my friends as his (including my roommate)--always fun when your dog lifts his leg and pees on your friends! Yet I loved him and tried to look beyond these things.
Vince was my sole companion after my six-year relationship ended. We walked through the State Game Lands daily. My car windows were covered in slime and drool on a regular basis. As for his aggression; I got him neutered, we went through obedience classes, yet nothing worked. While he loved people, his aggression did eventually begin to show towards me also. The next step would have been moving near Cornell University and hoping that they could help figure out and stop the aggressive behaviors--thousands of dollars that I didn't have...
As I mentioned, Vince was my sole companion for quite some time. What finally pushed him over the edge was when I brought home a guy that I liked a little more than just friends. While Vince adored the guy too, he had issues with losing his place as the "main man" in my life. He became increasingly aggressive and began snapping at me also. Eventually I had to have him put down.
I was unable to take the chance of him attacking a human the way he did other animals. He didn't give me a choice, when he started turning on people. Perhaps you would have to understand the sheer strength this dog possessed. I tried everything I could. There is nothing more difficult than taking a beautiful, healthy animal that you love dearly and is in the prime of its life and ending it.
I still miss him more than I should and cry over him even now. I never loved a dog as much as I did Vince and I have a special place in my heart for rotties as a result. While I hope to have another someday--there will simply never be another dog quite as special as Vince was.
GOITER
Goiter was an abused iguana that a friend had brought to me. He had burns all over his body, including his jaw and was starving to death because he couldn't open his mouth to eat. For weeks, he survived by having liquid minerals run along the outside of his mouth with the hopes that some of it would be ingested. He earned the name Goiter because of the appearance of having goiters all over his body.
Goiter never grew in length over the years, but he did end up becoming a beautiful iguana with few visible scars remaining. He was a gentle fellow, could be held by anyone and frequently slept upon my chest. He wasn't the brightest pet that I've ever had, but was certainly one of the sweetest.
RAZZMATAZZ
Razzmatazz came to live with us as a kitten. His mother was a large full-blooded Siamese and his father an unknown wanderer. When our mom took us to pick out a kitten, he crawled onto my lap and the rest is history! He was so little when we got him that he would stand in the opening of Kleenex boxes and shred the tissues with all four feet. Eventually he grew into a 25+ lb cat that we could count on to console our tears and he became part of the family. He was named after a prize-winning Samoyed.
Razz was with us for sixteen years. When my youngest brother turned eighteen, we had to have Razz put to sleep due to old age. Matt and I went together to have Razz euthanized and buried him together. As Matt put it, we grew up with Razz--he was our connection to childhood, youth, and family--Razz's passing was like our mom's way of saying that we were all grown now and no longer needed watching over--Razz was free to go.
# posted by Basho : 11:02 PM
