When Josie Comes Home...

While a cancer diagnosis is bad news at any time, the timing of Margie's is even more jarring to us: on July 2nd, we put down our beloved eight year-old Australian shepherd, Mizque, because of cancer.

Margie and I considered Mizque our first-born, and she went everywhere with us. We got Mizque in April of 2003 from Kim Abney of Canyon Oaks Aussies, picking her up in Coalinga, Calfornia while returning from a spring break trip to Zion National Park. Because Margie was six months pregnant with Elsa and we wanted to avoid the inevitable "A puppy? Are you crazy?" comments, we told no one, and showed up to an Easter dinner at Susie and John's house with our new little dog. In the following eight years, Mizque was an important part of our life, and her cancer and early passing, followed by Margie's cancer diagnosis left us shell-shocked.

Although we had vague plans to get another dog "someday," we couldn't get over the feeling of how empty our home felt without Mizque. We live in a great neighborhood for walking, and we know many people because of being out and about with our black tri-colored Aussie. Margie works from home, and Mizque was at her feet all day long. With Mizque gone, there was a void in our home that we couldn't stop noticing.

A few weeks ago, while Margie and I were running at Bon Tempe Lake, we came across a little blue merle with her owners, and Margie lit up at the sight of her. Further along our run, we saw the dog again, zig-zagging along the trail as she herded her owner; Margie and I finished our run talking about the mighty Aussie, and what great dogs they are. We decided there could be no other breed for us, and later that night, after the girls were in bed, Margie again commented on Mizque's absence. We talked a bit more about how much we missed our dog, and how having a new pup during Margie's treatment and recovery would be good therapy for all of us. I e-mailed Kim to see if she had any litters planned, and she offered us a blue merle female she was going to keep out of a litter her dogs had produced in April. We planned to meet with Kim after our Tahoe vacation, and this four month-old girl would become part of our lives.

The wait was tough, but we made the best of it--just like the first time around, Margie and I told no one. In fact, we spread a little misinformation to our relatives: I repeatedly claimed I was tired of Aussies and I wanted a "small dog". During our stay at Tahoe, Hilary, my sister, came home from a run to tell me about a German short haired pointer she'd met out on a trail. I repeatedly told Elsa and Alice that I was thinking of getting a pug, and they'd just roll their eyes (kids know when you aren't telling the truth).

Yesterday I left our home at six a.m., drove up I-5 to meet Kim in Yreka to make the transfer, and was back home before dinner, walking up our stairs to surprise the kids with their new "sister."

In just a day, Josie has proven herself smart, fun, and loyal--in other words, totally Aussie, and just what we need right now.