Prissy died today.
Today is July 13, 2017.
July 21 this year would mark Prissy’s sixteenth birthday.
Several of my friends have reached out to me today to offer
their thoughts and kind words. Karen
Brown and Lisa Goodman sent notes about some of their favorite memories of
Prissy. Lisa will always remember Prissy
filling in for missing Quadrille members when needed. Karen noted that Prissy has had a “wonderful
and interesting life with you.” Karen
will always remember Prissy’s antics helping Julian water the horses at Blue
Fox Farm.
Our friends and neighbors Pam and Kenn, Rhonda and Dave, and
Kathy and Dan all remember Prissy for the sweet girl that she is. My barn buddies Lauri (who knew Prissy at
Blue Fox), Siri and Andrea have all given me hugs today.
Blue Fox is where Prissy and I spent many happy hours
together. Prissy came with me every day
to visit the horses for several years.
She loved to help me catch the horse I was going to ride, and always
seemed to know exactly which horse in the field I was going for.
Prissy loved water, and loved to swim. Especially in natural bodies of water
including ponds, rivers, lakes and even the ocean one time. Prissy loved running through and catching the
water hose. When I first adopted her
from Patricia Hardmeyer at Crutcher Ranch, I remember Prissy almost always
being wet from hanging around the water hose when the horses were rinsed or
watered.
Patricia graciously offered Prissy to us when it became
clear at the ranch that Prissy chose me.
After my Australian shepherd Roo died from cancer, Prissy began
following me closely and hanging around me and Delphinia (my horse at the time
we adopted Prissy) when I would be tacking up and getting ready to ride. One day Prissy was going out on a trail ride
with her owner Patricia, which she did regularly, but instead of leaving with
the posse of trail riders she waited back at the barn with me until I was
ready, and we set out together much later than the rest of the group. But Prissy wanted to stay next to me. Prissy made it very plain that she was
interested in me, and Patricia offered to let me take her home to meet
Chris. Patricia was her fourth owner
after a string of previous owners, and had promised Prissy she would have a
forever home. Prissy let Patricia know
very clearly that it was ok to give her up for adoption to me. That was ten years ago Labor Day, and we have
had so very many great moments together as a family since that day I brought
Prissy home.
Prissy almost immediately bonded deeply with Chris, and
loved him from the first moments. When
she first came home Prissy was very shy around new people and new situations
for a very long time. With Chris she
always loved him from the first and they had a close father-daughter
relationship right away that has lasted and I believe grown even stronger. In fact we always joke that it was Prissy’s
deep love for Chris that prompted me to want to adopt a second dog, Rosco. We adopted Rosco after we had Prissy about a
year. We adopted a second Border collie,
Gunner, only about nine months ago.
Prissy always has had a sweet relationship with both her brothers, and
tolerated them well in her stoic style.
Prissy was with me in 2008 when I was in my car
accident. Our veterinarian at that time Dr.
Terry Hugo (who has since retired from veterinary practice) said Prissy was “a
bb in a barrel” in the car. Prissy
thankfully survived the crash just fine and Patricia took care of her again
while I was in the hospital. Prissy was
my constant companion during my full recovery, and especially enjoyed her walks
with both her grandpas who came to stay with us to help after my accident. Prissy loved both her grandpas, and
especially her Pop Chaffin.
There are so many wonderful memories involving Prissy. She has been with us through a decade of
marriage anniversaries, holidays, birthdays.
Prissy was there the day Delphinia was picked up to be transported to
her new home by the same trailer service that delivered Rijkens. Prissy was always eager to chew hoof cookies
(what I called the trimmings from the farrier when cutting the horses’ hooves)
and was there to chew on Rijkens’ first trim.
Prissy has lived with us faithfully through a several-year whole house
remodel.
Prissy loved her walks with us along the bayou and through
the neighborhood. She wore a leash
because it is polite, but never needed a leash.
She was not one to chase cats or squirrels (except for squirrels in the
back yard) and always just wanted to be near by her person. Prissy spent her days with me at the farm off
leash and was always dependable to stay right with me, on horseback or on foot.
She just wanted to be with me
constantly. I wanted the same.
It has been a wonderful ten years with her. I am grateful to God and to Prissy for so
much love, so many perfect moments together.
Here is another excerpt from Prissy's history:
Prissy was born on a
sheep farm outside of San Antonio, Texas in the spring of 2001. Her first
owner, a cowboy named Jason, adopted her as a puppy, gave her the name Prissy,
and had her for five very happy years. Sadly Jason passed away due to a
heart condition and Prissy was adopted in the short term by a kind woman who
lived near Houston but was a native to Thailand.
Unfortunately though
this owner also had a heart condition and had to move back to Thailand to be
with family. With very good intentions but a poor outcome, Prissy was
left under the control of a well-meaning though
not-very-knowledgable-about-dogs (and especially Border collies) real estate
agent who was helping the Thai woman sell her house.
Those were bad times for
Prissy. Later it was found out that Prissy had been left alone in the
house for several months, with the realtor friend coming at first every day,
then every few days, then Prissy was just left alone for a week or more at a
time with food and water left out. Prissy was forced to break her potty
training and never got to exercise or have social interactions for several
weeks at a stretch.
Fortunately, my dear
friend Patricia Hardmeyer discovered what was going on with the realtor and
Prissy being neglected alone in her owner's previous home. As soon as she
discovered this, Patricia wasted no time in getting Prissy into Patricia's own
custody. Patricia is a teacher at a Texas children's correctional
facility, and truly believes there are no throw-away lives, which she lives by
the example of working relentlessly and tirelessly with both human children and
animals that have been forgotten or discarded by the rest of society.
At that time, Patricia
was working as the hospitality manager at a local horse boarding stable called
Crutcher Ranch (Patricia often works two or more jobs to help subsidize all the
extra mouths she has to feed). Mr. and Mrs. Crutcher, the owners of Crutcher
Ranch, knew Patricia well, owned a hundred-acre horse ranch, and were both
retired and living just the two of them in a large mansion on their horse farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Crutcher willingly accepted Prissy into their home, with
everyone thinking it would be a good match. Yet because their house was
so large and Prissy recently had a bad experience that caused her to break her
normal good house habits, the older couple rightly gave Prissy back to Patricia
as the match just was not working as everyone had envisioned.
When the Crutchers had
to return Prissy, Patricia then and there promised Prissy she would never again
have to worry about having a safe forever home, and that she, Patricia, would
always love Prissy and care for her. This is where I enter Prissy's
story.
Three days after I lost
to cancer my previous dog, an Australian shepherd named Roo, I was at Crutcher
Ranch preparing my horse for a trail ride with my friend Patricia and some
other folks at the ranch. It was customary for each person's dog to come
along with the posse on our rides, but on this particular day Prissy very
obviously hung around with me as I groomed and tacked up my horse. Even as
Patricia left with the trail ride, Prissy stayed back at the barn with me as I
had planned to work my mare in the arena and join the posse later in the trail
ride. Prissy stayed with me the entire time and remained right with my
horse and me even after we joined the already ongoing trail ride. After
that episode, Prissy very obviously made it clear for several days in a row
that she wanted to hang around me, singling me out at the ranch and befriending
me in a profoundly obvious way.
For literally the first
time in my life, I was without a dog since I had lost my Roo several days
before to cancer. Patricia, in her wisdom, offered to let me take Prissy home
to meet my husband Chris. Patricia explained to me Prissy's story, and
that she had promised Prissy she had a forever home and would never again have
to worry about being re-homed. Patricia told me "But I believe Prissy is telling
me it is ok to let her go. Prissy has clearly chosen you."
Prissy and my husband
Chris bonded very quickly, and continued to have an excellent father-daughter
relationship. I first brought Prissy home and we adopted Prissy in August
of 2007 when Prissy was six years old. Prissy gave us an additional
decade of happiness, and was at my side for most of that time-- day and night.
She was invaluable to me as a helper at the horse farm and at home.
Yes, I admit I became
Prissy's slave, she trained me well. Especially during her last few
silver years, our already close relationship deepened even further. There
were some very precious moments of love and togetherness near the end of
Prissy's wonderful life. Prissy remained vibrant, alert and healthy until the
last day or two when it was very clear what decision had to be made. Our friend
and veterinarian Dr. L.D. Eckermann put Prissy to rest on July 13, 2017.
The last three years of
Prissy's life we had a good time learning sign language together because she went
completely deaf. Dogs naturally excel at reading body language and Prissy
learned our own sign language which I have now also taught to my existing two
dogs, Prissy's adopted brothers.
Dogs really do add so
much to life, don't they? I'm so grateful the original proto-dogs chose
us some thousands of years ago and domesticated us, and I'm especially grateful
Prissy chose to spend this past decade at my side.
