For brightdog lover (vet, breeder, black, skin)

[Dashdog]

Hi Brightdog lover, I have a question as I just read the post under letting go of Dakota and I saw you mentioned an old dog that you adopted by the name of Ezra. By any chance was he a little cattle dog from Best Friends in Utah?

I ask because that is not a common name and in 2005 I was at Best friends for a week and in old dog town there was an old cattle dog ( I think his owner had died) and he stole my heart and if my Jazz wasn't so hard on most dogs I would have taken him home but she would have never tolerated his wanting to be near me as that is her place and being part cattle dog she does inforce her laws on the others.

Anyway Ezra would come and just plant his head in my lap and stare into my eyes as if asking if he could go home with me sort of " I am a good dog and I don't know what I did wrong to end up here as I am really good. Please take me home and I will show you how good I am"

It broke my heart to leave him behind and I still look at some of the photos I took of him with that pleading face so I hope that he is the Ezra you speak of as I do know he got adopted . I wrote and asked them. It would do my heart wonders to know that he was adopted and able to spend his remaining days with some one that loved him not that best friends is a bad place to be if you are a homeless dog as you get so much love there but it just isn't a real home and a sweet old guy like him deserved a real home. So if he was your Ezra thanks for giving him a home . Jan

[brightdoglover]

Yes, that's the same Ezra, how neat that you met him!
I adopted him in January of 2006, when he was about 14. He marched out of his crate at the big scary airport (after flying from Salt Lake and transferring in Newark, coming to Boston). He wasn't even panting. Was very interested in the ride home, checked out his environment for a couple of days, and settled right in. I had him in great and vigorous health until March of 2008. I think he might have been going into kidney failure- drinking lots of water, having lots of accidents towards the end. He also lost some of his incredible mental sharpness towards the end, wandering into corners and seeming confused. But he still ran up for his treats, followed me all the time (even going up steps) and herding my much younger/much larger cattle dog mix.
He had only two bad days at the end. He vomited copiously one day, and couldn't keep rice/chicken down, then one day of looking blank, restless, unfocused. I gave him a pain pill and took him to the vet the next morning. While waiting in the back room for the vet, Ezra snagged a dish of cat food and ate it! The vet was in tears as she injected him- she loved him, as did everyone who met him. What an amazingly wonderful sturdy little guy. I had him two years and two months. I think he was about 17 when he died.
Email me if you'd like me to send you a couple of pictures of him. He was a great little dog. I emailed Joyce at Old Friends to tell her when he died, and he sure had a lot of friends there in Kanab. (I visited in August of 2007 for the first time- had to board Ezra and the rest of the gang. At the time, I also had Chippy from Best Friends. I had had Powell, who died the year before. I now have Eloise).
ileneb4@comcast.net
For what it's worth, I think Ezra put his head on everyone's knee and just expected his just due of attention. I didn't read into it "why did I lose my home" but, then, he was in my home when he did it. Joyce said he was an "out dog" at Old Friends, because he was so friendly and well behaved- a real good ambassador to visitors.
I'm so happy that you met the little guy, and that your heart is somewhat eased to know he had a loving home. I miss him dearly, and wouldn't have given up a moment with him. When I adopted him at 14, I knew he'd be a short-timer, but he had over two years of very active life. I'd told the adoption coordinator that my other dogs could get rowdy, and she said, "He's no fragile old guy" and boy, was that the truth. What a sight, to see him herding the others.
Please email me for pics. I don't know how to get them up on city-data. So nice to "meet" someone else who knew Ezzie!

[brightdoglover]

P.S. on Ezra.
I thought his back story was living in Richfield Utah (and I think likely having a real herding job, he was so into it) and then his person went into assisted living or nursing home. Whoever was supposed to take care of him just put him on a chain outside, so he was rescued and ended up at Old Friends. I think he was there about three years. I do remember seeing him up for adoption before age 14 but at the time wasn't as gungho for having multiple adoptions as I soon became!
Ezra's only problem from losing his home the way he did was, at first, a real fear of being outside without me, even if the other dogs were out there. He'd yowl and attack the door, so I'd let him in as soon as he'd taken care of business. Over time, he got more comfortable, and would explore the yard and all, and not yowl to come in. Since he had trouble with his hindquarters in sitting down, I'd bring him in anyway, so he could lie down more comfortably.
He enjoyed off leash walks on conservation land until the last winter's weather put a halt to that. "Smell the roses" indeed, he'd wander and amble. I swear he got more exercise playing with the others in the yard. He really would gallop around. He got monthly Adequine shots, which did wonders for his hind stiffness.
He lived a good life right to the end and made a lot of friends and memories. I have his portrait over my desk as I write.

[leorah]

What an amazing story! Ezra must have been quite a guy...

[brightdoglover]

Really he was. Vigorous, and a sturdy boy, in body and spirit. He just strode into any situation and expected his place in it. I think he must have been extraordinary for Best Friends to put him out for adoption at age 14! I think they found him too vigorous to keep at Old Friends (the old dog residence) and figure he's too old to adopt. He's spoiled me for any other cattle dogs, that's for sure. A grand little guy. I'll miss him for a long time.

[Katie1]

Pic Please~~~

[Calibound-Yorkiemom]

What a precious story. Please post a picture

[brightdoglover]

I'd love to, but am not sure how to get a pic onto city-data. I have a couple of pics in emails- how do you post them?

[Dashdog]

I can not tell you how happy I was to read your post right before I left for work last night. It put a smile on my face as well as in my heart that stayed there all night. ( I work a 12 hr night shift at the hospital). I told alot of my coworkers this story and it made them feel good too so Thank you. I will E-mail you later after I have had some sleep as I would love to see more pictures of Ezra. I thought he was the perfect gentleman when I met him very polite but a little pushy for attention (but that is a breed thing)

Anyway I am so happy to hear about what the rest of his life was like and it warms my heart to know he had a good home and was loved very much at the time of his death.
Who could ask for more?


Here are some photos I took of Ezra in Oct 2005. If you click on them they do enlarge

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What is so funny is this is the 2nd time something like this happened . A few years ago I helped with the rescue of 5 homozygous merle aussie puppies. They were all deaf and had vision problems There was one that was deaf and totally blind as his eyes had not even formed. We called him Mr. Black as he had on the black collar ( they went by the collar color names). After my parents fostered the puppies for me for a week I drove them from So. California to Aussielads in Phoenix AZ. Mr Black had been adopted before he even arrived by a family with two young boys that lived in Arizona. After they got him Aussielads posted some photos of the boys with the puppy and there were some of the older boy who must have been 6 or 7 and the puppy where they both had huge grins on their faces and there was so much love in those photos. This boy did not care that his Puppy could not hear or see and hey it did not slow that puppy down one bit! The photo burned into my memory.

I am sad to say the puppy got very sick very fast and despite being rushed to the vets could not be saved and that left a broken hearted family as well as the rest of us that knew the puppy. The vet figured it was probably some defect the puppy was born with that killed it. Anyway fast forward to a few months later and I am in San Fransisco visiting my friend we are out eating and suddenly that little boy appears in the room. I spotted him and told my friend there is the boy that adopted Mr . Black. She said " how do you know?" I told her the photo of the two of them is burned into my brain so I got up and followed the boy and when he reached his parents I asked them if the had adopted a deaf blind aussie puppy we clled Mr. Black and sure enough it was them. We talked for awhile and decided that for some reason we were suppose to meet as how odd was it we were both visiting the same city at the same time and were at the same place at the same time and that I would even notice their son and be able to recall where I had seen him? I was happy to meet them as what great people adopting such a puppy and what a great lesson doing so was for their boys. Even though the puppy had died it was once again great knowing he did so with people who loved him there with him. (The breeder was going to drown all 5 and they were 6 weeks old at the time!)

Things happen for a reason for what ever reason I was meant to know what had become of Ezra and for that I am thankful as I said I do think about him and do look at his photos from time to time as he was just that special. Don't you forget I knew him first lol!!!

[brightdoglover]

What great photos of the Ezster! Thank you. So many people loved him.
Please, email me or DM me with a way I can send paper photos to you. I had his studio picture done (like kids' school photos) and his three poses came out great. Little devil was photogenic! A real find at Best Friends.
He was even a "bathroom" dog. Thought I might have a secret exit under the shower or something, so would push past the door and wait for me in in the bathroom. I had to race to the door to keep him out when I took a shower, and he'd be waiting outside the door. If I tried to play movie star in the jetted tub, having the little guy standing there staring at me sort of took away from the daydream of the tub.
Boy, I miss him.