Thursday, April 24, 2008
It doesn't sound very kind to say, but Willa was one of those foster dogs who just never got adopted. She was a good dog but she got over-excited with all the commotion at the adoption center, so the people there never got to see her sweet, gentle, sensitive side. Her large size also intimidated many potential adopters. Even though we already loved her we were reluctant to adopt her ourselves because of her somewhat dubious fascination with cats. Nevertheless, after one and a half years of fostering, we knew she had every reason to think she belonged with us. So we finally made it official, and I'm very glad we did.
Willa was a beautiful dog, a German Shepherd and Collie mix with the most expressive big brown eyes. Somebody dumped her at the pound when she was about five years old, allegedly because she shed on the furniture. The shedding excuse is kind of ironic because, compared to the other dogs I've known, she had a coat that was actually pretty easy to maintain. She did most of the work herself, up until the last year or so when she needed a little extra help. They also gave her a rather unbecoming name, so when we adopted her we named her Wilhelmina - Willa for short, Willabean or Willabear for fun, and Pretty Girl for whenever she was being good.
Willa was a major homebody. Going out in public was for the most part just too exciting and stressful, but she still found all kinds of ways to be happy. She liked to chew on tennis balls and to carry around her rope bone, squeaky barbell, or donut shaped toys. She even played fetch, although she wasn't very good about giving the ball back after she'd found it. One of her more humorous habits was to bite at water spray from a hose. She never seemed to get tired of doing that. Her most favorite thing of all though was to roll around in the shady grass with her feet dangling up in the air. As part of a group she'd initiate play by stamping her feet in front of the other dogs. They would all dance around and mouth and chin each other, and wherever they would run she would follow, just to be part of the pack. As she got older she had to kind of bunny hop instead of run, but she never missed an opportunity to frolic. She also liked to "kiss" the other dogs by bathing their faces.
Willa had ears that were positively huge. They gave her extraordinarily good hearing. She really enjoyed patrolling the yard for strange noises, with her head held high and her feet prancing along the way. She also had a hefty bark to let everyone know there was something going on. Not only was she alert, she was also very protective and extremely loyal. She seemed to like to guard me whenever we were out in the yard together. I'm sure I never did anything to earn that kind of devotion. She just seemed happy to be able to follow us around. She did this even up to her final day, in spite of the fact that walking had become very difficult for her.
Willa must have had a bit of luck on her side. Not only did she make it out of the pound, but with the aid of emergency surgery she also survived a bout with "twisted stomach". I've been told that the dogs who make it through surgery have about a 50% chance of survival. Those are not good odds but somehow she beat them. In spite of the risk, the hospital had to discharge her early because she simply refused to eat while she was there. So we brought her home and cooked rice and chicken for her. She was so relieved to be home that she ate for us pretty much right away.
After recovering from twisted stomach early on, she had a relatively trouble-free life, other than some grass allergies. Then, just a little over a year ago she had to have a bloody growth removed from her tail. The biopsy came back negative, but only a few weeks later she became suddenly and progressively weaker in her back legs and tail. Ten months after that she developed another larger but otherwise similar looking growth. When we had that removed, the biopsy came back as Hemangiosarcoma. Various articles say that this is a very aggressive cancer originating in the lining of the blood vessels, and that German Shepherd dogs are more prone to it. Within just a few weeks of the second surgery Willa had several more visible tumors. Prednisone had been helping to keep her mobile, but we could see that one way or another she was running out of time.
When the end came, it happened quickly. After a few days of sporadic eating, and then one final rally where she had a good meal and a walk around the yard, her health completely deteriorated in less than 24 hours. Willa had been with us for nearly eight years when we had to make the incredibly sad decision to put her to sleep on a cool spring night, April 21, 2008. She was thirteen years old.
Willa was one of those dogs who had a beautiful soul, a true joy just to be near. Our lives feel so much darker without her here, but I also feel fortunate to have had the chance to know her.
Shhhhh, don't tell the other dogs, Will, but you were always my favorite.
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