Thursday, November 17, 2016

Sweet Camille




So... how do you sum up thirteen years of love, memories.... good bye... and looking at this photo and seeing where it all began... and wondering, where did the time go... but maybe that is what our dogs do for us. They make us think, appreciate.. love.. understand.. and so, Camille has done her time on this earth and I know (in my heart of hearts) has reunited in Heaven with the other dogs that have gone on before her. And me... though I also know that one day I will see her and Hunter, and the others... I am forever changed while I remain here. 
I go threw my photos... trying to choose just certain ones.. but I have so so many, because we did so so many things. She was a show dog.. earning obedience titles... she was a therapy dog and brought so many smiles to people... she helped me raise my own children and went on to the grandchildren... she raised puppies, both ours and service dogs... she was a credit to her breed and to the world of dogs...

she was part of what I always called the "second crew".. my first four being Diggie, Beau, Frosty and Randi... and the second group, being Moxie, Hunter and Trevor and herself.... as the old ones have moved on.. and the new ones step up.. the crew changes... to be honest, after losing Hunter in august, I assumed Trev would be next and never thought our Cam would go ahead. 

She loved so many things... the snow, and walks in the woods and living near the beach and then moving to the farm... she went with the flow of life and did much to share all of this with me...

She like being at camp..she wasn't much of a swimmer, but she loved being there...

As a therapy dog, we often did what I called the dog and pony show... Camille, Livy , Mocha and I made a good showing if I say so myself. Because they were all so easy to handle, it could have all three of them together and I can't even begin to think of the smiles that they brought




And babies.. she loved little kids, and when Abi came along and lived with us for a while at the farm.. they were always together... I love this photo of them peeking out the window... I always called it "looking for Santa"...

And then the service puppies came into our lives.. and little Cam took them under her wing. We raised a number of puppies together.. and she always went to the graduations to see them off....


As she began to age, I could see retirement was coming, so Livy came into the picture.. and Cam showed her the ropes, and over the past few years.. Cam has began to be truly retired and I could see that she was truly OK letting Livy take it over... I remember this is how it went when Moxie retired and Cam stepped up... 

And then age stepped in... a year ago we discovered heart issues... so meds came into play... teeth were another problem that we go threw.. and she rallied every time, but I could see the grey in her face and loved her all the more for it. 

She had an ulcer in her eye that was taking way too long to heal. We saw a specialist and on Wednesday we finally got the "it's all healed".. but he notice (as Ed and I had) that her breathing was off. I had already gotten a appointment with our vet, thinking that her heart meds needed changing.. however, he encouraged me not to wait. He worried it might be pneumonia, so I got an appointment sooner.....

The news.. was in simple words.. devastating ... X-rays showed many many tumors in her lungs and some in her chest... the word cancer came up.... it was the tolling of a death bell.. I was in shock. I was told to take her home... say goodbye and not wait too long. It was aggressive and I think they feared we could get into a critical situation all too fast. So... we brought her home.. last night she slept in her little bed.. beside mine... today was photos... love, and all the "bad" foods she wanted (not having really eaten in a few days, I was happy to see her enjoy those)..



And as the sun began to set at the end of the day today... Little Camille went away with it. I see in this photo she was tired... she had done all her good works.. she was ready to head to a better place and allow the next "set" to have their time. 

I will never know how you say goodbye to good dogs..I guess you don't... you carry them with you all the rest of your own days... you remember all the things they brought to you and you try to carry that on...

so, my darling little girl.... Still Pine's S'more Sweetgrass, RN, CGC, CGCA, therapy dog...you will forever loved.. forever remembered...

please give Hunter and Cole, and Moxie my best... say hello to Diggie, Beau , Frosty, Randi, Holly and the others that you knew here...

and one day.. my little girl... I will be with all my good dogs who are waiting....


 Camille   5/10/03-11/17/16