I have a nearly 14-year-old working border collie, who is just not yet at all showing her age (thank heavens). She is a Canada goose management dog, and works on private and public sites to remove the geese which are considered pests on the properties that they share with humans, which are their housing and humans have encroached on their nesting grounds.
Two days ago Quill, my border collie, and I worked all our goose sites, drove way up north on business (we currently reside in the city, in Tower Grove East), then went way south down Kingshighway for me to deposit a check at the nearest Regions Bank that I use.
Afterwards, I decided that I was thirsty, and dropped in on a nearby QuikTrip for a soda. I was standing in line to pay for it, and the next thing that I knew, I was lying on the floor looking up at two policemen, who were very concerned that I was unconscious on the floor.
They made me lie prone and would not let me get up until the ambulance got there, and my primary concern was that my dog was in my car. She is shy of strangers and was loose in the car; there are many leashes in there but she was not wearing one.
One of the ambulance paramedics recognized me, as having come to my house two months ago for a similar seizure, and was a dog lover. He got permission from “The Dude” (aka his boss) to take the ambulance to my home ON THE WAY to the hospital, with my dog in tow, and take my keys, open my door and take her into the house to safety and sanctuary before I was taken to the emergency room.
I still have my ID tag on one arm and a gauze bandage to stop the bleeding from an IV catheter on the other arm, but Quillie and I are home, both my parrots are on the main floor and both my chookie chicken people are content in the basement. I am planning on trying to get them outdoors for a projected beautiful day—things can only get better.
I just am amazed at the resiliency and the concern of paramedics over a working dog/aka “pet” and their care of her, and I am beyond grateful. Go, St. Louis! As a reluctant non-native, I am certainly appreciative of the care that I have gotten.
Dorene and Quill, happy border collie, TARA Training and Behavior, Teaching Animals with Respect and Affection
Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened
Dorene, I’ve loved and lived with only one dog all my life. Maggie had some huskie in her heritage so she was black and white with blue eyes. I lost her at thirteen–kidney disease. I loved her too much.
Hi Maureen, thanks for your kind words.
Quill is my 4th Border Collie, we just lost Anna, an import from a working farm in Nova Scotia, within the last year. Meryln, pictured above, was a dog that I drove to TN to get, he went through Katrina on a chain that could have tethered an ocean liner. He is incredibly sound phobic and bolts at loud noises, making him impossible to work in the field, but he now lives with a friend who uses him as a therapy dog and a hospice dog, he is in much demand to sit with the dying. If you look at his face and can see into his eyes and his soul, you can appreciate that this is exactly the work that he was born to do. I miss him but he does more good by himself than he can do with me helping the geese. My first Border Collie, who came to me named “Blackie” but that offended all sensibilities and I re-named him Piper, lost one of his rear legs to the cancer that eventually took him at the young age of four. He was often written up in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, you may have seen him. Good luck with your senior, they have hearts of gold.
Dorene
Dorene, St. Louis is full of this level of kindness, but our dogs are the ones who exhibit the trait most boldly! I love your dog, and my 13 year old 3 legged mutt—who rescues me on a regular basis!! thank for the story, Doug!