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> My Beloved Rusty
waflady
post Feb 21 2005, 08:37 PM
Post #1





Group: Pet Lovers
Posts: 39
Joined: 12-December 04
Member No.: 609



Where do I begin to tell you about Rusty? ......
In 1988, I was in field training to be a police officer. My training officer and I stopped at our Sergeant's house to see the litter of puppies. The mother, a tri-colored collie, had eight beautiful bundles of fluff, some tri-colored like her, some with standard collie markings. I set my heart on choosing one like the mother, and easily talked my dear husband into acquiring a puppy. When we went to choose, a pot bellied little fellow, colored in the lovely white/brown/ black markings most collies are noted for, waddled over to me and parked himself between my feet, rolling over for a belly rub. That was it. He chose us, and there was no argument from us. ( So much for one that looked like his mother!) We took our new baby home and named him Rusty, after the many dogs in the then-popular "Far Side" cartoons.
He was nothing but a joy to us always. Extremely smart, expressive and energetic, Rusty house trained in two weeks. His vocabulary was vast, and he could fetch any toy by name. He loved to go to yard sales, where he would carefully select a stuffed animal for himself, and proudly carry it home. He loved his brothers and sisters, the three cats we also had. His heart was as brave as it was loyal, and he once chased two thieves breaking into a neighbor's car at three in the morning. He never destroyed anything in the house, and was the only dog I ever met who wouldn't eat eggs. He was most generous in waiting until we got out of our bed before he got on it. His face displayed a thousand emotions.
When Rusty was three, we decided he needed another playmate, so we had a daughter. But, despite the care and concern he obviously felt for her, he remained most loyal to us, his mom and dad. Rusty was overjoyed when we decided to leave the city lifestyle and move to a more rural area. I became a stay at home mom to both my babies. Rusty really didn't mind sharing his land with the deer or rabbits, but he barked at every bird he ever saw. He would bark at a lone feather in the yard if he confronted it! He reveled in the chance to run and generally considered himself the lord of all he surveyed. We never argued this fact.
Over the years, he suffered through surgeries on both his knees, but in general remained in excellent health. Old age slowly advanced, as it does for all of us, and his runs became walks, his hearing was lost, and his back legs became lame. Nothing could dim the bright shining intelligence and devotion in his eyes, though. The last six months of his life, we gently carried him on his necessary trips outside, and up and down the stairs. He endured the indignities of incontinence, and his once proud and muscled body began to atrophy.He could not walk more than a few steps without falling. In December, shortly before his sixteenth birthday, my beloved adopted son, as much a child of my heart as my own daughter, began to vocalize his pain to us and the look in his eyes became one of pleading. That terrible decision had to be made, and we helped our beloved Rusty cross to the other side, to be a companion to my father, and all the other great and noble dogs and cats I have had the honor to know and love. My heart is forever broken, but I am also forever blessed just to have known him. I wish I could write a novel, a sonnet, an epic ode to this great and wonderful friend. I can't wait to see him again, and pat his beautiful head, and once again watch him run.
P. S. This picture is of Rusty at approximately age 15. Still beautiful in my eyes. Always beautiful in my heart.
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Posts in this topic
- waflady   My Beloved Rusty   Feb 21 2005, 08:37 PM
- - Kathleen032   Rusty sounds like an absolute joy. Thank you for ...   Feb 22 2005, 12:50 AM
- - Ann H   What a beautiful tribute you wrote to your preciou...   Feb 22 2005, 02:47 AM
- - Steph   That is a very moving tribute to Rusty that you wr...   Feb 22 2005, 09:23 AM
- - jillybromley   The love in your heart for your dear Rusty comes t...   Feb 22 2005, 10:21 AM
- - waflady   Thank you, thanks to all of you. You have helped m...   Feb 22 2005, 03:20 PM
- - Rusty's Mom   My hearfelt condolences on the loss of your belove...   Feb 23 2005, 04:37 PM
- - zoeysdad   Thanks for sharing the wonderful story of Rusty...   Feb 23 2005, 09:02 PM
- - waflady   It has been six months today that we let you go, m...   Jun 8 2005, 08:48 AM
- - Kathleen032   Dear Waflady, I know these big anniversary dates...   Jun 8 2005, 04:08 PM
- - Rusty's Mom   Dear Waflady, Thinking of you on the 6 month anni...   Jun 9 2005, 06:29 PM
- - jillybromley   I'm thinking of you at this time of Rusty...   Jun 10 2005, 09:03 AM
- - waflady   It's been a little over a year now that we let...   Dec 23 2005, 05:10 PM
- - waflady   Three long years have passed without Rusty to shar...   Dec 12 2007, 07:39 PM
- - waflady   Four years. Where does the time go? I miss Rusty e...   Dec 8 2008, 07:11 AM
- - waflady   We will never forget. Love you always buddy.   Dec 8 2009, 09:37 PM
- - waflady   Six years gone. I will always miss you, my beloved...   Dec 8 2010, 08:50 PM
- - waflady   Although it has been seven years since we were tog...   Dec 8 2011, 06:59 PM
- - waflady   Can it really be eight years since we last saw eac...   Dec 8 2012, 08:53 AM
- - Gretta's Mom   Dear waflady Your love for Rusty shines through e...   Dec 8 2012, 02:43 PM
- - waflady   Nine years later, I still miss you every day. Fore...   Dec 8 2013, 01:48 PM
- - waflady   My dearest friend, loving companion, faithful hear...   Dec 8 2014, 08:08 AM
- - moon_beam   Hi, waflady, thank you so much for sharing your an...   Dec 9 2014, 01:31 PM
- - Gretta's Mom   Good morning, Waflady, What a very fortunate dog ...   Dec 12 2014, 05:45 AM
- - waflady   Eleven years, my beloved Rusty, and we remember. W...   Dec 8 2015, 08:46 PM
- - waflady   A dozen years are not enough to make us forget. Lo...   Dec 8 2016, 05:41 PM
- - waflady   Rusty. Always in my heart. Never forgotten. Loved ...   Dec 8 2017, 08:26 AM
- - waflady   Still missing my boy.   Dec 8 2018, 05:07 PM
- - waflady   Never forgotten, always missed, love you forever.   Dec 8 2019, 09:31 AM


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