Tag: Ben Hur Lampman

Tess, be in peace

The sad loss of our dog, Tess.

Over a couple of months ago, Tess was diagnosed with bone cancer, in the shoulder joint of her right front leg.  The vet thought that she might have only a very few weeks to live, this particular form of cancer being aggressive.

As it happened, Tess kept going for much, much longer.  But this morning (Wednesday at the time of writing) Jean made the agonising decision to end the pain for Tess.  Despite a daily dose of strong pain-killer tablets, this morning Tess was breathing more laboriously and showing clear signs of tiring.  It was time.

For me it was the first time that I had been with a loved animal that had to be euthanised and it was hard.

A few pictures to keep her memory alive.

Tess, far left (next to the plant pot), and friends
Jean & Tess, a few moments before leaving.
Dear Tess, you are out of pain and at peace.

Let me close with the same poem that was published when we lost our little Poppy,

“There is one best place to bury a dog.
“If you bury him in this spot, he will
come to you when you call – come to you
over the grim, dim frontier of death,
and down the well-remembered path,
and to your side again.

“And though you call a dozen living
dogs to heel, they shall not growl at
him, nor resent his coming,
for he belongs there.

“People may scoff at you, who see
no lightest blade of grass bent by his
footfall, who hear no whimper, people
who may never really have had a dog.
Smile at them, for you shall know
something that is hidden from them,
and which is well worth the knowing.

“The one best place to bury a good
dog is in the heart of his master.”

Ben Hur Lampman —
from the Portland Oregonian Sept. 11, 1925

Poppy, Be in Peace

A tragic loss of a wonderful dog.

Little Poppy

On Friday afternoon, Jeannie and I were out on our usual walk along a trail through the Granite Dells.  This is spectacular scenery with magnificent granite boulders, escarpments and mountains all around.  The trail that we use is a Payson Area Trails System/United States Forestry Service designated walk.

As it happens it’s just over a mile from where we live and it has been a regular place to walk Pharaoh’s ‘pack’ most days.

Pharaoh’s little group of dogs includes Dhalia, Hazle and Poppy.  Poppy is a small terrier/poodle mix and like Dhalia and Hazle is a rescue dog.  Indeed Jean rescued Poppy many years ago from a Mexican rubble site practically hairless and surviving, just, off food scraps she could beg, steal or find.  Poppy, at 15 lbs, was also the closest buddy of Pharaoh, at 90 lbs!  Pharaoh is our German Shepherd dog whose face is the subject of the home page of this Blog.

We walk all four of them most days along the trail described above; Friday was no exception.  The only difference was that when we were almost back to the car we stopped and chatted to a neighbour, Bud, who was in his truck with a couple of his dogs.

Bud then drove off and we immediately noticed Poppy wasn’t with us.

One minute she was with us, the next Poppy had simply disappeared!

And that really is it.  I could go on about the hours spent going over and over the area, re-walking the trail, staying there until nightfall on Friday, going back at 06.30 am on Saturday morning, then again twice more on Saturday and again on Sunday with an inch of snow on the ground and with heavy sleet pelting down.  Not a sign, not a whimper, not a clue.

Thus she remains lost in weather that for the last 48 hours has been brutal; it is unrealistic to imagine that she survived despite us praying for a miracle.  Jeannie is devastated; I the same.  What hurts so much is not knowing what happened.

So dear little Poppy we hope you are at peace and we thank you for the great love you have given Jean and then later on me and Pharaoh.

“There is one best place to bury a dog.
“If you bury him in this spot, he will
come to you when you call – come to you
over the grim, dim frontier of death,
and down the well-remembered path,
and to your side again.

“And though you call a dozen living
dogs to heel, they shall not growl at
him, nor resent his coming,
for he belongs there.

“People may scoff at you, who see
no lightest blade of grass bent by his
footfall, who hear no whimper, people
who may never really have had a dog.
Smile at them, for you shall know
something that is hidden from them,
and which is well worth the knowing.

“The one best place to bury a good
dog is in the heart of his master.”

Ben Hur Lampman —
from the Portland Oregonian Sept. 11, 1925

Poppy is beautifully placed in the heart of Jeannie, me and all her doggie friends.