{"id":2453393,"date":"2020-01-17T21:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T04:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/tony-vagneur-dogs-life-goes-too-quick-but-leaves-lasting-memories\/"},"modified":"2020-01-17T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T04:44:00","slug":"tony-vagneur-dogs-life-goes-too-quick-but-leaves-lasting-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/tony-vagneur-dogs-life-goes-too-quick-but-leaves-lasting-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Vagneur: Dog\u2019s life goes too quick but leaves lasting memories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s still strong in my memory. We\u2019d just fed the horses in the morning before sunrise and headed back to the house, he started that little jump-run he had, dashing up the driveway in short spurts, looking back, encouraging me to follow. \u201cNo, not today, T.\u201d<\/p>\n

We hadn\u2019t been on that walk for a while; either he didn\u2019t feel like it or I didn\u2019t want to get him too far away from home and have to carry him back. Neither one of us realized, at that moment, that we\u2019d never take that walk again. He wanted it so badly and seemed to have the energy \u2014 how I wish I\u2019d gone with him that day.<\/p>\n

If we compressed ourselves into dog years, we might see the brutality of our declining last days, but we don\u2019t have that option, thankfully. Watching a dog, a friend and companion of almost 11 years go down that road toward demise, is tough, especially if you spend almost all waking hours with them.<\/p>\n

A leaky heart valve, it was said, \u201cmaybe a year, maybe two.\u201d Who counts in the beginning \u2014 that dog was tough as nails, still covering every smell the woods had to offer as we rode after cows or packed salt through 20,000 acres of high-mountain pasture.<\/p>\n

But the forays off the trail became less and less, and instead of always being in the lead, he sometimes lagged behind, just so he didn\u2019t have to worry about it, I reckon. And his frailty began to show, a slip on a rock or letting the horses get too close when he was leading the troops, slower than before, refusing to give up his guidance position.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t complain much when I started leaving him at home. He\u2019d dug out a patch in the shade in front of the garage where he was shielded from the midday sun, a cleft in the soil that he engineered to fit his body perfectly. As the sun moved around the sky, he\u2019d move over to the lawn, a small dip in the yard giving him a cool, but sunny spot near the house. When I look that way today, I don\u2019t see a depression \u2014 I see Topper, his black coat glistening in the daylight.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d be in that grassy spot when I got home, and instead of running to greet me as he would have done before, he\u2019d wait until I got close, coming down the walk and then he\u2019d get up and jog over to give me all of his attention. I\u2019d pet and talk to him a bit and then we\u2019d both head into the house, glad that evening was fast upon us.<\/p>\n

He quit eating anything but boiled chicken breasts and dog treats. How I wish I\u2019d given him more treats when I could, but then, what was I protecting him from? Toward the end, the treats got spit out on top of the ignored chicken and the final curtain was coming down; the hooded, faceless creature with a life-ending scepter was quickly walking our way.<\/p>\n

The only thing we really know about people and animals when they die is that they go away and don\u2019t come back. It\u2019s OK to miss and remember them. But there are new memories to be made.<\/p>\n

The other day I traveled to a ranch near Hotchkiss to look at some border collie pups. It\u2019ll be a few more weeks before they\u2019re ready to take up with permanent homes, but one of \u2019em kinda seemed to like me, and the feeling was mutual. I\u2019ll go back and get him when the time comes.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there are things that need to get done. The right-sized kennel is paramount; a pup-sized collar, a good leash, and other important things, like a bag of the same food he is used to eating. Just little things like that. Topper and I went to the pet store in Glenwood several times before we had everything he needed. Alert the vet that there\u2019s a new one on the way.<\/p>\n

Anyway, there\u2019s an excitement in the air, knowing there will be a new companion enjoying the place; someone to make those long cattle drives and salt-packing trips more enjoyable; someone slipping into my office to get his ears scratched and have a little conversation. Margaret and I will have a hiking companion once more.<\/p>\n

The time with my new dog will be beautiful and unforgettable. And I look forward to it. It\u2019ll just go too soon, for both of us. It always does.<\/p>\n

Tony Vagneur writes here on Saturdays and welcomes your comments at ajv@sopris.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s still strong in my memory. We\u2019d just fed the horses in the morning before sunrise and headed back to the house, he started that little jump-run he had, dashing up the driveway in short spurts, looking back, encouraging me to follow. \u201cNo, not today, T.\u201d We hadn\u2019t been on that walk for a while; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 20:29:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}