It's a worrying old time

Haven't had much to write about the last few days until now.

Midge my ancient border collie has had to go to the vet today to have a tooth extracted. She had about ten removed 4 or 5 yrs ago when I lived in Norfolk, and wasn't too good afterwards, mainly due to some antibiotics she was allergic to. This time it's just one tooth to come out, after a really nasty abcess the other week, and a good clean of the remaining teeth.

So I'm on tenterhooks today. Not only is she very old to have a general aneasthetic, she also has a heart murmer. So they are monitoring her while she's 'under' to make sure nothing goes wrong. But you still worry don't you?

She's been a wonderful companion. I've had her since 1995, when I bought her from a farm in Dizzard, near Crackington Haven. She was in a litter of about 6 pups. Two girls and the rest were boys. They all looked typical border collies with white ruffs, apart from Midge who didn't have a ruff but white legs, chest, end of her muzzle and the tip of her tail. She's a Tri-colour, so has lovely golden feathers on her legs and gold fur on her face and chest. She's a beautiful dog.

The man who bred her loved his Border Collies, and had entered most of them in One Man and His Dog, and local sheep dog trials with great success and his house was full of certificates and cups. Sadly he had died prior to Midge's litter being born, and his wife and their 'mentally challenged' (retarded) son didn't want the bother of the dogs, so was selling them all off to get rid of them. Midge cost the princely sum of £10 and she's been worth £1,000,000 to me. Had the old chap still been alive Midge and her siblings would have cost around £1,000 each due to their pedigree and bloodline, but we got nothing with Midge, not even her pedigree as 'the wife' didn't know how to fill them in and couldn't be bothered. Not that I cared, I just wanted a pet and I also wanted to get her away from that place.

The pups and their mother were down in the bullock sheds, covered in cow pooh and wet and cold. To catch the pups the retard son put 3 shredded wheat in an old metal pie tin, the kind that you buy meat pies in and take the lid off. Well the lid was off, looked like it had been hacked off with a chisel, as there were rough and sharp edges all around it.

The adult dogs rushed up to get at the food, and the retard started hitting them with a piece of blue alkathene pipe. I immediately had a go at him and he and his mother just stared at me. Several of the dogs, including Midge's mother had open cuts and whelts on their backs, heads and ears from what was probably regular beatings.

Finally the pups rushed over to get some food and the retard picked Midge up. I'd said I wanted a girl and as he dangled her infront of me by the scruff of her thin filthy little neck he said 'I think this one's a gurl, cuz the boys look a bit diff'nt, they got dangly bits.'

I could see she was indeed a little girl, and snatched her from him and put her inside my coat, cow pooh and all.

I wasn't very well off at the time, between jobs I think, I can't really remember, but money was tight. I paid the ten pounds, wishing with all my heart I could afford to buy all the dogs just to get them away from there and then rehome them, but I just couldnt afford it.

I kept wondering how they were all getting on and if they'd been rehomed or sold for months afterwards.

Once I got home, I ran some warm water in the sink an shampooed Midge. She looked like a little teddy bear. Short stubby nose and tiny tiny triangular ears ontop of her head. She just sat there and let me wash her, massaging the soap into her fur to get the cow pooh out, and being careful not to get any in her eyes. What eyes they were too. Great big brown ones, full of sadness.

I showered her with love as soon as I had her, and still do. She was so intelligent, almost knowing what I was thinking. I taught her the basic sit, stay, down and come commands and then decided to take her to dog training classes.

I had to drive to Okehampton, which was quite a drive. The classes were held in Okehampton Town Hall/Community Centre.

The woman taking the classes suggested Midge go into the intermediate class, as she was by then 6mths old and too old for the puppy class. We sat at the edge of the ring, and watched as each of the owners walked their dogs around, teaching them to walk to heel, sit, lay down and stay while they walked a few yards away then called their dogs to them. Finally it was our turn.

Midge was amazing. She did everything the other dogs had done, and better, and I didn't even have to tell her to do anything. I was shocked to be honest at how intelligent she was.

After the class was over the woman told me that she didn't think I need to take Midge anymore as she was very obedient. I'd never had a dog that good at learning things before. I felt so proud of her.

For most of Midge's life we lived on a small holding, where we kept orphan lambs and a few sheep, a couple of piggies for the freezer, a herd of pedigree Anglo Nubian goats, which we milked and also had a stud billy called Cupid. We worked part time to buy things we couldnt make or grow ourselves, and the rest of our income came from our milk, eggs, and meat. We also bred and showed Rare Breed Poultry and Waterfowl, and were very successful at the shows. I think we had about 19 breeds of large fowl, and 11 miniatures with 4 or 5 different true bantams. We also had lots of different breed of duck and Embden Geese.

I remember one day hubby and myself were in the large vegetable plot and Midge came running over with a wet chick in her mouth and dropped it at my feet. It had obviously fallen into the stream and she'd rescued it, within seconds she'd laid 2 more at my feet. I dried them off and put them in a box by the Rayburn in the kitchen where they soon fluffed up and could be given back to mother chicken. Midge has always been so gentle with the chicken and ducks. Any young animal she seems to know has to be treated with care and protected.

She was never very good with the sheep though. They, the sheep, used to gang up on her and push her into a corner and try to head butt her, so she's always been frightened of them and would stand behind me or run ndoors if they came too close. But she did have a herding instinct. She could herd the chicken and ducks and when we used to take her to Widemouth Bay for a day out, she'd run from side to side behind us to herd us together.

She loved going to the beach, nuzzling amongst the rock pools and looking for crabs, which she'd grab and throw into the air. Not sure the crabs were so keen on being launched into the air though.

Midge has been with me through thick and thin, good times and bad. Especially when my husband was very ill. That was a traumatic time for all of us, myself and the animals. He'd had a very bad car accident and couldnt work anymore. Sadly he became mentally ill, suicidal and alcoholic. It must have been frightening for him, it certainly was for us. Midge would hide behind the sofa or run up the yard into the barn until things had quietened down.

After my husbands death I couldnt manage the smallholding on my own, so sold up all the stock and Midge, myself and the 6 cats moved to a small cottage with a normal sized garden. There, in the summer, she would lay on the lawn and watch the birds and bees. She still loves to do that now, but she can't see so well nowadays.

She's been a very healthy dog, I've been very lucky really. The only problem was 4 or 5 years ago when she had about 10 teeth out, after having several abcess in her mouth. Since then she's been fine. So today will be a bit of an ordeal for her.

She has suffered and still does with Arthritis. She's almost at the end of her month's course of injections, and will be taking glucosamine tablets for the rest of her life, but it has helped her a lot. She still creaks a bit, but she can manage to jump up onto the sofa again, which she hasn't been able to for some time, and her walking is 50% better than it was already. She also has a heart murmer now, but thats all due to old age.

She's a great age for a dog, but everyone who see's her tells me that she doesnt look her age. She has no grey hairs at all, unlike me.

So today is a bit stressful for Midge and myself. She's a tough old bird, so I'm sure she'll be back home this afternoon a bit groggy but ready to go on for another year or two yet, bless her.

Update: 1.40pm Thursday  11 March - The vet has just phoned and Midge got through the operation ok, heavily monitered. She had two teeth removed, the one that had the abcess underneath last week, and one on the other side that was also rotten after having the plaque removed. They're now cutting her claws which are rather long as she doesnt walk much, and I can collect her at 3.30pm today. Phew! What a relief!