| Author | Messages | |
MahonMacRi
Champion
Posts:5
 | | 09/23/2007 12:37 AM |
| | Although I have a wonderful new dog now, Tas "Chuffer" McGeek, who was born April 1, 2006 and came to his "forever home" when he was just six weeks old, I was then, and still am, deeply grieving over the loss of the most beautiful person I've ever known and best friend I've ever had, my beautiful Irish-born and farm-bred Border Collie, Beau Geste O'Mahuna, of whom you'll hear a lot more as I get used to this site and get settled in.
I got Beau back when I was living in Ireland for a few years in the mid 90s, and some friends talked me into getting a dog because they were worried about me being all alone (and possibly lonely) in the remote country cottage I was living in outside Cashel, County Tipperary. I thought long and hard about it, and finally decided that, even though I'd always thought of myself as more of a "cat person," it would be nice to have a dog around to keep me company when I wasn't playing gigs. I looked at a few dogs, but didn't really see anything that caught my eye until this one girl I knew brought her Border Collie out to meet me at my cottage. Her mother drove them all out and I invited them in for tea; while they were enjoying their tea, I was getting to know the most beautiful Border Collie I'd ever seen, and when I say "the most beautiful," I mean THE most beautiful!
Beau (that wasn't his name when I got him...I changed it because I didn't like the idea of standing around calling out, "Bilbo!") had wonderful asymmetrical markings on his face, almost a harlequin mask effect, and lovely white stockings on his feet, a "gay" tail that curled up and over the top, with kind of a "corkscrew" curl to it and a tuft of white hair right at the tip! Above all, he had the brightest and most intelligent eyes I'd ever seen on a dog! Like most Irish farm-bred Border Collies, he was a little longer of leg and deeper of chest than most Border Collies you'll see over here, bred for jumping over gates and hedgerows, running miles and miles up and down steep pastures and such, and he had the loveliest rough coat...silky soft, long fine hairs that rivalled some girls' hair for softness! In short, Beau was a picture of canine beauty, and I fell head-over-heels in love with him on the spot. Little did I know how much hard work and effort lay ahead of me once I found out about the abuse he'd suffered!
Beau was 11 months old when I took him in, and he'd already been through Hell...he had spent most of his life locked in an 8'x10' walled enclosure, wasn't fixed or house-trained or obedience trained (the girls in the family thought it was "cute" to leave him "wild," not realising or understanding that dogs need our guidance to teach them how to behave and fit in!) and they would spoil him rotten one minute, then their mother would take a stick to him the next! That's a perfect recipe for producing a very dangerous and extremely unstable dog, which is exactly what I got when I took him in, although I didn't know that at the time...I only knew that he was a very sweet and beautiful dog, and VERY timid...it didn't take long for me to figure out what had been done to him, and later on, a few of my friends filled me in on the worst. of what he'd been through. There were a couple of incidents where Beau tried to attack someone (usually the instant their back was turned!) and one time, when he tried that with my landlord, I came within an inch of losing my thumb when I reached out and snagged his collar, but as time went by he started to come around...slowly, and with a lot of hard work!
I worked very hard with Beau to bring him out of his shell and teach him to trust and love again, and in return he taught me how to freely give and accept love in return...something that had been sorely missing from my life until he came along. I'd been a loner and a thug most of my life, a brawler and a drunk who kept himself apart and drank to dull the ache in my soul. You see, I'd been just as badly abused as Beau had when I was growing up, and it had turned me into a very dangerous and unstable person, just as it had Beau. Beau was my redemption, my ticket to rejoining the human race, and I owe him a debt of eternal gratitude and undying love for the way that he rescued me...and here I thought I was the one who rescued him!
Without Beau in my life, I probably would have died a long time ago, either by drinking myself to death or in some stupid and senseless street brawl somewhere, or even from a lethal overdose of the powerful narcotic medication they put me on for the excruciating pain after the surgeon ruined me knees, all because I had such a terrible time adjusting to being disabled. I was always an intensely physical person before that, into mountain biking, martial arts, deep wilderness excursions and so much more, and after the surgeon took all that away from me, I almost didn't make it...only Beau's constant, unconditional love and total acceptance gave me the strength to adapt and to overcome my new circumstances.
Beau came with me when I returned to Canada, of course...I didn't even have to think about it for a second...and he was there for me when I was recovering from the arthroscopic surgeries that left me severely disabled. He adapted to my disability quite well, and didn't seem to mind when I could no longer ride my bicycle; we used to do 10 or 15 miles every day that way, with him running alongside the bike all the way, smiling that huge, laughing smile of contentment and the pure joy of really pouring on the energy and speed. Instead, he was quite content to chase frisbees and tennis balls and have hours-long play sessions with his friends in our back yard, and go to the local dog park two or three times a week. I still managed to keep him challenged enough, both physically and intellectually, to keep him very happy, healthy and fit, and that was plenty good enough for him! Beau was also by far the smartest dog I'd ever seen, and his feats of problem-solving intelligence would often leave me (and others) mouth hanging wide open standing there in utter shock and wondering, "how on Earth did he figure THAT out?" I can't even begin to count the times I wished I'd had a camcorder running when he solved another incredibly difficult problem like getting his frisbee down out of a tree or something like that, 'cause I know we could easily have won big money on one of those "funny and amazing video" programs!
Above all, Beau turned out to be a miracle of socialisation, especially considering how and where he spent the first 11 months of his life, and he loved everyone he ever met, whether dogs, people, or even cats if he was exposed to them in a reasonably controlled environment. He even willingly shared his home with cats, and became best friends and playmates with my ex-fiancee's crazy little cat, Keeko, during the years they lived together. They used to invent their own games to play, and would sleep snuggled up on the bed, and it was always very heartwarming to watch them together.
We lost Beau in March of 2006 due to an act of gross negligence by one of the neighbours I share my back yard with. He broke the law by storing his childrens' boat by simply leaning it up against the back wall of our yard, instead of putting it up on trestles well off the ground, even though he had a perfect example of the right way to store a boat, what with another neighbour's canoe that was properly stored in the yard. I guess he just didn't care, or didn't know any better, but either way his negligence led directly to Beau's untimely death. That he later threw the boat out only makes Beau's death that much more meaningless, and only angers me further every single time I think about this moron and what he cost me.
The reason storing a boat like this is illegal is that it serves as an "attractive nuisance" by offering shelter to pests like raccoons and skunks and the like. Sure enough, a raccoon took shelter there over the Winter months, and Beau went sniffing around its lair during the Spring thaw, then sickened incredibly fast and died from a virulent liver infection his docs think was Leptospirosis, in spite of the fact that he'd been vaccinated against that disease all his life. From when we first noticed that he wasn't feeling well until we had to let him go was only four days, the last two of which he spent in hospital. As if that wasn't heartbreaking enough, poor Keeko kept looking everywhere for Beau, for weeks after he died...she knew he was there somewhere, she could smell him, so Keeko would look all over the house for her beloved play mate and friend, calling and calling for Beau to come out and play...and then she would sit VERY far away from us and GLARE at us, as if to say, "Alright...what have you humans done with MY DOG?"
I didn't feel nearly ready to bring another dog into my life, but my ex and her friend Erin wanted to go and look at some puppies at a friend's farm, so off we went. This one little toughie of a tyke just latched onto me and followed me everywhere I went, and my ex was just gaga over him, so no matter how unready I felt, Tas "Chuffer" McGeek came home that day, and his brother Dash went home with Erin the same day. At first I was prepared to resent him for "taking up Beau's space," or even for not being nearly as smart as Beau, but Tas hung in there and worked really hard to win me over and steal my heart, and to his credit, the little guy did it, too!
Tas might not be a "rocket scientist" like my beautiful Beau, but he soon proved to be very easily trainable; he was housetrained inside of a couple of weeks, after only two "#1" accidents and NO "#2" at all, and by the time he was three months old he had mastered all the basics of dog obedience, and was impressing everyone he met with his very good manners and loving personality. A few months after Tas came home with me, Erin and her family moved into the neighbourhood, just a few blocks away from my place, and Tas and his brother Dash have been the very best of friends and frequent playmates ever since. Dash is the other dog visible in the pictures on my profile, by the way, and although they are different colours, there's absolutely no doubt that they're full brothers; since Erin had never raised and trained a dog before, I helped her train him, and the result is that you literally can't tell the two of them apart with your eyes closed...they have exactly the same personality and behaviours, right down to the way they both love to snuggle up against the back of our legs on our respective couches, and even the way they both like to suck on peoples' fingers! Oh yeah....full brothers for sure!
Still, even with Tas around to brighten my life, and with his brother coming over for frequent play visits, there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't suddenly start crying because I miss my beautiful rocket scientist, Beau Geste O'Mahuna, or something reminds me of him and I stop like I hit a brick wall...or how I'll sometimes accidentally call Tas "Beau!" Tas is such a very good boy, though, and he seems to understand that I'm hurting...he just loves me all up whenever I get sad over Beau, and tries to make it all better again. My ex left me less than 9 months after Beau's death...maybe she just couldn't handle my grieving process, or maybe she just never really loved me at all, I'm still not entirely sure which it was...but I do know that she used to jokingly tell people, "I only love him for his dog," so who knows...maybe she wasn't really "joking" after all. Either way, I don't count that as any loss at all since she couldn't love, support and accept me when I needed it most, and who needs that noise?
I know how incredibly blessed I am to have such a wonderfully loyal, obedient , loving and smart boy as Tas, but I still can't help missing Beau with each and every day that passes. I suppose I'll get used to being without him some day, but I bet it will be a long time before I finally stop crying over his loss...he was just that special, incredible, and beautiful.
Beau was only a little over 12 years old when he was taken so cruelly before his time, and I know I was robbed of a few more good years there; the average life-expectancy for a farm-bred Collie in good shape is anywhere from 16 to 18 years, and Beau was in tip top shape right up to the day he died thanks to hours and hours of chasing "floppy flyers" and tennis balls around the yard each and every day, frequent visits from or with his many friends in the area, and visits to the dog park every couple of days.
Over the many wonderful years we spent together, we had a number of stories about Beau published in Petwarmers, an e-zine for pet-lovers and pet people, and as time goes by I'll be posting those stories in this space, along with adding some pictures of Beau to my profile pictures just so you can all see how truly wonderful, special and beautiful my bonny Irish Collie was.
That's all for now, my friends and fellow pet-lovers...we just came back in from Tas' last big play session of the night, and he knows it's just about bed time for Daddy....he's lying on my bed right this minute, eagerly awaiting some serious snuggles with his beloved Daddy, and I sure wouldn't want to disappoint my beautiful boy, would I? Tas has turned out to be a heck of a lot like Beau in so very many ways, especially in just how sweet, affectionate, snuggly and loving he is...but that's no big surprise, really...after all, just look at who raised him!
Take care, all, and enjoy your friends and all the absolute, unconditional love they shower us with! Yours very sincerely, "Mac" | | | |
| PedigreeChallenged
Best in Group
Posts:1001
| | 09/23/2007 10:17 AM |
| | The story of your beloved Beau is a heartfelt tribute to him. So sad that you lost him due to the negligence of others.
Although Tas will never replace Beau, my hope is that Tas' presence will help bring you to new happiness and new memories. | | | |
| nikimom36
Champion
Posts:29
| | 10/01/2007 5:12 AM |
| | I just read about beau and it made me cry. He sounded like a wonderful dog and he was lucky to have you as his "daddy". Take as long as you need to grieve your loss. we never fully get over the loss of a pet. They are family members and we become so attached to them. Tas is luckyto have you now as his daddy and I hope you have many great years together. | | | |
| UBS_Mom
Best in Show
Posts:1970
| | 10/01/2007 3:44 PM |
| | Wow,
That's an icredibly touching tribute to your Beau. You and Tas are both lucky that you took the step to open up yourself and love another... for there are so many out there that need us, and maybe, just maybe, it was Beau that led you to him...
take care | | | |
| elesimp
Champion
Posts:106
| | 10/02/2007 2:57 PM |
| | Thank you for sharing with us about Beau, we all understand your heartache. Many blessings to you and only beautiful memories and grand days to come for you and Tas "Chuffer" McGeek.
elesimp | | | |
|
|