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In Memory of my sweet boy Casper (1996-2011)


Ancient_Dog

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We put our dear boy Casper to sleep on Friday. His general health was good but his dementia was getting progressively worse and his back legs had failed him (arthritis). His gradual decline had been happening for a long time. I know it was the right thing to do for him so why is my heart breaking?

 

For the last 25 years I have mostly worked out of our house as an automation consultant (mostly in the petrochemical industry). Up until we got Casper all our BCs had been bonded to Gladys (DW). At some point in 1996 I decided I needed a dog. I found Casper on the internet at Heartland BC Rescue in Kansas City, Kansas. After talking to the folks there we hopped in the RV and made the trek from Houston to Kansas City. He had been picked up as a stray by Animal Control, foraging on the streets for anything he could eat. He was so infested with ticks they gave him a burr so they could get them all. When we got him his fur was starting to grow back but he still looked like he had a case of the chicken pox. For the first few months he was still in the foraging mode, pouncing on any insect, lizard, or other delicacy he saw in the yard or on his walks.

 

He was a very soft dog, easy to train, and loved to do his tricks. He was the official greeter with his loud “Wooo Wooo!” He was always on guard at the house and warned away any suspicious looking characters. One afternoon when he was taking a break in the yard a meter reader jumped the fence (they are NOT supposed to do that). I heard Casper’s bark and hustled our geriatric BC back in the house and went to see what the commotion was. Casper has the meter reader trapped in the corner of our fenced yard. Every time he moved Casper would growl/bark until he was perfectly still. When I got to the scene I gave the meter reader a piece of my mind and released Casper. The guy was very apologetic... I doubt he will ever do anything like that again.

 

Casper was a low key BC. He dearly loved his walks. We did agility training but never competed. When we first got out of the car at the agility field he would go run the obstacles by himself as if from his last memory of their order, loving every minute. He was an easy dog, my puddin’ boy. My constant companion and best friend for the last 14 years. I could never understand how somebody could just lose or let go of such a great dog. Their loss, my gain. I will miss him greatly.

 

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“For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes he leaps through your dreams actual as in life, eyes kindling, questing, asking, laughing, begging, it matters not at all where that dog sleeps at long and at last. On a hill where the wind is unrebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream he knew in puppyhood, or somewhere in the flatness of a pasture land, where most exhilarating cattle graze. It is all one to the dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained, and nothing lost -- if memory lives. But there is one best place to bury a dog. One place that is best of all.

 

If you bury him in this spot, the secret of which you must already have, he will come to you when you call -- come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel they should not growl at him, nor resent his coming, for he is yours and he belongs there.

 

People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper pitched too fine for mere audition, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them then, 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

 

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So now he resides here, in my heart, forever!

God Speed! My puddin’ boy Casper! (1996-2011)

 

Howard

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What a wonderful tribute to a beloved dog! Casper will always be there in your memory and heart, and what greater compliment can we pay to these faithful companions?

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That was a lovely tribute to your good dog. Casper sounds like the kind of dog I would have loved to know! As time goes by and the big hurt you're feeling now eases, it's clear he will have left you with some wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing his tale and pictures.

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I feel so sorry for you. And I know what it's like: it hasn't been a week yet.

 

You'll come in the house and expect that special nose and tail that don't come to greet you. Dinner time comes and you go to fill the dish that isn't there. All your routines are gone. All your cuddles and games and walkies.

 

But, as a friend told me, the cliche is true: it does get easier with time. But a lot of time.

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What a wonderful tribute for an amazing dog. I will print your tribute and hand it to everyone who asks me how can I adopt a rescue? Would the dog ever bond to me since it is not a puppy. My four - Duchess, Cody, Grace and Boots want to thank you for giving Mr Casper such a loving life. Much sympathy to you and your family.

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I am so sorry for your loss. It seems there are no words to really describe the bond that exists. We let them into our hearts knowing that very likely we will outlive them and yet we do so with open hearts. Casper knew love for all those years and will always be with you.

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Go in peace, my valiant friend.

Suffer no more; sweet sleep has come.

Be welcomed by our friends;

They have blazed a path for you to follow.

Wait patiently, for I will join you again,

Your keen vision restored to lead our way,

Strength renewed, for we shall journey forever.

I learned from your courage

In the waning of your days.

You fought bravely through the pain,

A whimper never passed,

Always by my side as I was by yours.

Your battle is over, our grieving begins,

As I lay you to rest

In the yard were we played.

Your place in my soul

will always remain filled.

So rest now in peace, my gallant companion,

Knowing how much I loved you

And will miss you at my side.

 

~ Eulogy posted by “Baby’s Dad” for his beloved Zeke

 

Vaya con Dios, Casper.

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