In Memoriam | Opari Australian Shepherds | Kathy Glaes

Our favorite Xena photo

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:04:23 -0400

Photo by Pooch Smooch Photography, Reading, PA

This was a great catch by the photographer. You can just imagine Xena saying "Throw it! Throw it! Throw it!" I laugh when I see it because Xena was so nervous and was trying to jump off the set. But the look on her face is the same one she always had when waiting for her tennis ball. I am so glad we had these photos taken before we lost her. In all her 13 years we had never had a portrait done of her before this. It's a treasure!

Xena, July 4, 1996 to September 1, 2009

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:01:46 -0400

If you were working in the kitchen, you knew where Xena would be: on the big corner step where she could keep watch over her people in the kitchen and over the world outside to ensure no intruder went unbarked at.

We adopted Xena in Texas when she was 9 months old. She was a mixture of blue heeler (ACD) and, allegedly, black lab. We think there must have been some sort of scent hound in there--she ran with her nose to the ground unless she was fetching a tennis ball. She nurtured Shiner and made sure he knew how to catch a ball and play bitey face and catch-me-catch-you.

We lost our Xena Warrior Princess to cancer that was too advanced to stop. We will miss her forever.

Xena, October 31, 2008

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:04:26 -0400

Photo by Pooch Smooch Photography, Reading, PA.

This truly shows the sweetness of our Xena. She was a good girl who loved two things in life: her tennis ball and her people. She would happily snuggle in your arms as long as you could hold her. For a 25 pound dog, she took up a lot of room in our hearts.

Shiner portrait

Thu, 07 Sep 2000 20:32:38 -0400

We lost our beautiful Shiner boy at age six when the disease had stripped his life of all quality. We will miss him forever.

Last photo of Clancy

Sat, 08 Feb 2003 08:56:22 -0500

We delighted in sharing our home with Clamcy for 2.5 years. He developed congestive heart failure at age 12, but was doing fine with medications. Then December 26, 2002 we discovered a large tumor on his gum. The tumor was removed and biopsied right away, but it was malignant melanoma, a fast growing cancer, and there were cells at the edge of the tumor, meaning it had not all been removed. The tumor grew back even larger within two weeks. We made Clancy as comfortable as possible for his last weeks with us and let him go in February 2003. For all that he was with us such a short time, he had taken his place in our hearts and we mourned him as though we'd loved him from infancy.

Clancy

Tue, 01 Aug 2000 09:43:01 -0400

Clancy, June 4, 1989 to February 12, 2003

After Suzie came into our lives, we began fostering for ARPH. One day on the ARPH email list, a call went out to see if ARPH would take in a 13-year-old Aussie whose owner was dealing with a preemie with life-threatening health issues. She was living with her mother, who had no fenced yard for Clancy. Clancy was living in the garage nearly 24 hours a day because with a sick baby, he could not be allowed in the house. Nobody would take such an old dog and it was suggested that he be euthanized. Clancy was living just down the road from my younger son in West Virginia, whom we were planning on visiting the next weekend. We offered to go look at him to see what shape he was in. Well, he was in great shape and had personality to beat the band. So we adopted him and brought him home with us that day. He was a character--he would jump and catch frisbees, retrieve tennis balls endlessly, and was ready to take a walk or go for a ride any time of the day. Kevin's cousin Sheila took one look at him and said, "He's a Brookridge dog!" About a year and a half later, the former owner found Clancy's registration form (never sent in), and sure enough, his sire was Brookridge Quincy's Invasion, the kennel's foundation sire. And it turned out that Clancy had not been 13 when we adopted him, but only 11.

A Beautiful Dog

Thu, 27 Sep 2001 14:16:06 -0400

Shiner grew into a beautiful dog, resembling a cross of Lab/Golden/Great Pyrenees. He had severe hip dysplasia, but we kept his rear strong with daily leash walks and glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. Shiner, Suzie and Xena would play for hours. You would never have known he was dysplastic. Unfortunately, at some point he developed masticatory myositis, an auto-immune disease that attacks the facial muscles and, if left undiagnosed and untreated as his was until too late, it attacks the muscles in the whole body. I knew there was something wrong with him, but our vet insisted it was just itchiness due to contact allergies. A new vet in the practice recognized it immediately at one visit, but by then it was too late.

Shiner the Walmart pup

Thu, 27 Sep 2001 14:21:02 -0400

Shiner, Great Pyrenees mix, May 5, 1997 to June 23, 2003

When we lived in Elgin, Texas, I would do our weekly grocery shopping at the Walmart in Bastrop, about 20 miles away. One Saturday as I was walking in, I saw a woman who had a grocery cart filled with 8 puppies in front of the door. I had to stop and look, of course! They all looked like different breeds, with different colors and markings. One cute little cream-colored pup caught my eye. I picked him up and decided to take him. The woman wrote my name on the blue ribbon around his neck so he would be waiting for me when I came out of the store. On my way out, I plopped him in my cart full of groceries and he came home. Shiner was the first baby puppy I had ever encountered. I was not ready for 3 nights of screaming for mommy. I learned fast why God made puppies so cute! But eventually he settled down and started growing.

Clancy the black nosed reindeer

Thu, 27 Sep 2001 14:22:24 -0400

Clancy was a good sport. He had a great sense of humor, but was the household sheriff. He and Shiner worked out a deal where Shiner could be in charge of all the toys, but Clancy was in charge of maintaining order in the pack. It was very interesting to watch the two boys together. Early on there was a scuffle or two, but never any injury.