From: "Linda J. Anderson" <nightsky@direcway.com>
Reply-To: pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
To: LGD-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM, PYR-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM, Pyrnet
<pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org>
CC: Catherine de la Cruz <cdlcruz@sonic.net>, "Cruz's folks Mike &
Lynda" <michaelmarshall43@sympatico.ca>, nightsky
<nightsky@direcway.com>, Jazz Glastra <huejazz@hotmail.com>, Josh
Glastra <joshglastra@hotmail.com>
Subject: [pyrnet] Re: HEALTH, CHAT: Toby went over the bridge today
Date: Mon, 04 Jul 2005 21:27:06 -0700
Well, Toby's cancer caught up with him and he went from doing well, to not
eating, not drinking, panting and horrible coughing - almost overnight. He
had bone cancer and we did do an amputation April 5, but knew it would only
buy us time. It did buy us time and for us, it was worth it to have three
more months that were pretty darn good for the big guy. My husband ,
daughter and I took him for the last van ride (he loves van rides) and the
vet was very kind and we did it right in the back of our van - arms around
the big lug. He was such an amazing dog .. truly the Large Stuffed Animal
sort of Pyr. He was ten.
Toby was my first involvement in Rescue for the Great Pyr Club of Puget
Sound. You all might have noticed my musing on what dog I might add to the
crew around here .. maybe a smaller one? Well, Toby was supposed to be a
Corgi!~ Yup.. we had Ski - we wanted a buddy for her and I even had a
litter of Corgi pups to go look at. But in the meantime I agreed to get
Toby in Bellingham where he was a resuce - he was a working dog and the
owner had died, leaving Toby and brother w/ no home. Brother was adopted
to a new working home. toby was much more interested in people and loving
than working it seemed. He was 18 months old and as I drove home , he kept
hanging that big ol' head over my arm -- And looking at me with those
amazing brown eyes. And.. (no! I need a smaller dog!!)... and... he never
went past rescue at my place and the Corgi was never purchased.
He made a much better dog out of Ski - she quit being dog aggressive and
they always just loved one another. He worked little.. always letting her
do the heavy lifting of guarding our challenging few chickens.
But later.. as she got older and more arthritic.. he did begin to guard
more. He helped out with the Pyr club at sheep show and the fair as an
ambassador of good will for the breed and loved everyone.
So... I will miss him so very much. Ski keeps on keeping on (age 13) and
we have our new pup Sampson.. but Toby was and is in a class by himself.
I've included a couple photo links.. Hope they work and thanks to everyone
who has over time, given us good wishes and hopes for his struggle. It is
just so valuable to have a community like this to ask questions and just
share .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/lindapeaches/tobychickens400x600.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/lindapeaches/Tobyalone8-5-04.jpg
Linda Anderson
Night Sky Farm
Stanwood, Wash.