By foster home Sarah Krauss

Right before July 4th, 2015, a driver traveling down a country road close to the rescue noticed movement in a ditch. Thankfully, they pulled over and to their dismay, they found a dog lying in the ditch, unable to get up. They assumed the dog had been hit by a car. Since it was close to the rescue, they thought the dog might have gotten out of the fence. They were able to get the dog to their car and made contact with the rescue. When they took the dog into the vet’s office, someone recognized the distinctive looking dog and the owners were contacted. After a few weeks, the owners did call the rescue and they shared the dog’s story.

In 2000, a couple purchased a beautiful ball of fur, a blue heeler/australian shepherd mix. They named the little guy, Blue. He was a typical puppy, full of energy and unfortunately, it was not long before there was an accident and the puppy’s back was permanently damaged. The puppy was too much for the couple so an aunt offered to give the young dog a home. For 15 years, the aunt and Blue gave each other company. Then, in June 2015, the aunt passed away. The couple who originally purchased Blue brought him back to their home. Shortly after bringing Blue to their home, Blue turned up missing. They looked for him, but they felt he had wondered off to die. But we think our Blue was heading home to the aunt’s house…the only home he had only known. When he was found that night in July he had traveled approximately 7 miles over several days. A dog in fairly good health could easily travel 7 miles in a day. But our Blue had a bad back and terrible knees. Each step took effort and without food and water, only his determination could have kept him going. During the time Blue would have been traveling, the heat and humidity were awful and there were terrible thunderstorms. The owners explained they cared for Blue, did not want anything bad to happen to him, but they really did not want him back. In the rescue world, that is often heard. But that is ok, Carolina Poodle Rescue was there for Blue and he had a home for the remainder of his life. He had been given the name Gibson, so his formal name was Blue Gibson

Blue did not seem content at the rescue. Anytime he was out in a field, he headed toward the road and seemed to search for an opening in the fence. Whenever inside, folks felt he was grieving, he was eating very little.

I visited to the rescue in July to meet a friend who was adopting a pet. When I went into the kennel area, Blue got up and came right up to me. Donna even made a comment about how he had directly approached me. So it was no surprise that when I headed home that day, Blue was traveling with me. smile emoticon

Blue quickly learned the Krauss routine and it was perfect that he slept most of the time. He enjoyed our walks around the yard. He could go as far as he wanted, or simply sit on the back porch. For the first few months, Blue would always go down to the pond and watch as I walked the poodles around the pond. He thoroughly enjoyed meal time. While Blue was not particular fond of our small dogs, we made it work.

We tried to help Blue with any pain he was experiencing, but medication impacted his liver values to the point that pain medication was not an option.

In the middle of January, we noticed Blue slowing down, stumbling. Blue was a proud and regal dog and it was very hard to see this change. We saw him have bad days but then he would rebound.

February brought more stumbling. And more often than not, we had to help our Blue to his feet all the time. We knew Blue’s body was giving out. I would talk to him and tell him it was ok. But his eyes seem to be telling us, I cannot continue. We noticed Blue not trying to get up to go outside with us or to move from room to room with us.

This past Friday, my husband was home and Blue watched him move around the house. When Blue did try to get up, my husband definitely noticed Blue could not get his back legs to support him. On Saturday morning, we worked with him. But Blue was telling us it was time. We arrived early at the vets office and we talked through the changes we had seen. Our vet checked Blue, talked with us some more and agreed that Blue’s body had given out. We held Blue, rubbed his soft and thick plush coat, told him how much we loved him. We brought him home, wrapped in one of his blankets and buried him on a hill overlooking the pond.

We are mourning and have cried and “thought” we heard Blue in the house. His bed in our den is empty, the other dogs have yet to use it.
We miss him so very much. He was such a regal and loyal companion.

Blue, it was truly a honor to have you in our lives and we will always be your forever family who love you dearly.