A young dog goes to heaven and the old dog grieves....

Saturday morning 2 yr and 9 month old, Murphy, suddenly, shockingly suddenly, died in our garage. We both knew she hadn't been acting herself for some time and was losing weight, I found that Mollie had been bullying her in the cat house where they both eat so we had lessons on eating etiquette, with some delightfully spiked dog kibble and the situation improved. Also, Murphy was such a scavenger, she ate anything she killed so I also dosed her with wormer. She still liked to ride in the gator, go to the pond, go to the farm to hunt rats and I thought all was well.

When I arrived home from Omaha Friday night I was taken back about how bad she looked and early Saturday morning took her to see Dr. Lisa. She found a tender spot in her belly, took an x-ray and found a mass that was pushing her intestines off to the side. There was no indication that this would not keep until next week to continue treatment and was sent home with antibiotics and some soft, easily digestible food. Bruce could hardly get Murphy out of the car, he carried her into the garage where I made a bed and set the food and water in front of her, she looked away, laid down on her bed with a big sigh and went to sleep. I left to help Bruce haul in corn stalk bales and returned not an hour later to find Murphy had died.

Bruce and I met her when she was three weeks old, she was the puppy that came to me so I knew she was the one.

Murphy came to live with us when she was 2 months old, in a snowstorm and met Mollie who took her under her wing and tried to teach her how to be a good dog.

A puppy that plays hard needs lots of naps....

....with all their friends around them.

An industrious puppy helps with household chores, such as pre-washing the dishes.

The highlight of their day was when Bruce came out of the house in the morning and he always took time to greet both dogs.

Murphy loved the snow and plowed tunnels through it.

She was my water baby, I've never had a collie that liked water but she reveled in it.

She never thought she was too big to be a lap dog.

Both dogs loved riding in the Gator, vests meant we were headed to the pond. 

She loved her camo vest, thought she looked HOT and couldn't wait to put it on, Mollie - not so much.

Murphy was always ready to dress up for Christmas.

People would ask me how I told them apart, I said Mollie was the sweet one, see that look on her face (R)? I called Murphy my devil dog and doesn't she look it?

"What can I get into today??"

Murphy never believed in laying on the ground when you could have a soft bed...

....and was a notorious chair hog.

We are a house in mourning and Mollie is grieving, keeping 'Lambikin' close by for comfort. When we went to the farm to feed the Lady Porky, instead of the excited yips, Mollie whined and looked all around, waiting for Murphy to come.

The hardest part was burying Murphy, Mollie didn't understand and was so distraught, she keep looking in the grave and back at us, "What are you doing?? This isn't right!" 

After Sadie died, I wasn't in any hurry to get a puppy but out of the blue, Bruce said, "Well, I suppose you are thinking of getting another collie." I took that as "go for it" and we had Murphy about 4 months later. I can tell you now that it's going to be some time before I'm ready, this really rocked me and I need to get rid of the load of guilt off my back for not taking her to the vet sooner. When we take these animals into our hearts and homes, we are responsible for them and I feel that I let her down. I do know one thing, my original schedule last week had me coming home sometime on Saturday, I wasn't supposed to come home and find her dead.

In the mean time I'm loving on the animals I have left so they will never be left wondering.