Clyde - Now Zack -
Adopted 9/25/01
12/6/01 - Zack has
completely settled into his new home and his owner says that
Zack and Rosie act like they are engaged! He has a favorite
toy, squeeky squirrel, that he loves to tease Rosie with.
They wrestle for the best spot on the bed next to Mom each
morning!
Zack was adopted by a
great couple in Mound, MN. Zack has a new sister, Rosie who
is also a Rescue Collie. He will have lots of fun running
around his new hobby farm, herding sheep and playing with
his new Family. Congratulations to Zack and his new forever
family!
Zack is a beautiful
neutered male Tri and White Collie who is 2 years old. Zack
was turned in to a shelter by his former owners.
Latest Update:
A story of courage,
love, and hope.
... He accomplished remission without chemo or any drugs. I
think he is a great portrait of courage.
To
All Members;
I
have been asked by several members how Zack is doing. If
Rosie's story was a story of hope, Zack's must be one of
courage, not my courage, but his. Rosie was "only " dog for
a year after we adopted her. Because she was alone when we
were away at work Arnie and I felt it might enhance her life
to have an adopted brother or sister. We contacted the
shelter we had adopted Rosie from they had no collies and
referred us to MWCR. I spoke to Lorrie and she indicated
she was fostering a beautiful neutered male collie by the
name of Clyde. She said he was 2 years old, house broken,
gentle, playful and was white with a tri colored head. He
sounded interesting. She brought him out to our house on
Sept. 25th 2001. He was everything she had promised and
more! He floated into our house, this vision of white fur
and enthusiastically greeted each of us. He had brought his
favorite toy along, a stuffed toy squirrel which he
proceeded to toss about and bark at. Arnie and I probably
looked like the village idiots with our mouths hanging open
, watching this energy charged dog cavorting about. Rosie
stood there staring at him with huge eyes looking exactly
like a startled owl. As the evening progressed, he engaged
her in a wild game of "chase me -catch me". He kept
returning to us with overtures of friendship. He was
enchanting! We liked him. Rosie liked him! He was so
joyous and enthusiastic!
His
name didn't suit him at all. The only Clyde I ever knew was
a crabby old geezer who had a pot belly, wore his pants up
under his arm pits, held up by suspenders. He took great
joy cutting his relatives out of his will. Surely we
couldn't burden this beautiful dog with a name like Clyde.
Not wanting to offend, I asked Lorrie if she would be upset
if we changed Clyde's name. She thought that was fine, she
didn't like the name either. Lorrie had brought her son
Zack along. Clyde seemed especially close to Zack. In the
time we had spent together, we knew we wanted Clyde, I knew
I liked Lorrie and Zack, and knew I didn't want these 2
people to pass out of my life. Shortly there after, Clyde
was renamed Zack after the boy he loved so much.
The
first week Zack was with us was not easy. Rosie had many
rules of proper collie decorum that she held to, and
expected Zack to follow (which he rarely did). They had
several arguments, Rosie was firm with her rules, Zack
being easy going could have cared less. She seemingly went
about offended and in a huff while he was always in a gay
mood. About the time I was about to give up thinking these
two would never work out their differences it all changed.
Suddenly Rosie began licking his face, nibbling his cheek
and acting as if Brad Pitt had suddenly moved into the
house. She adored him. He accepted all her lavish
attention in a regal and reserved fashion and became alfa
dog. As the months progressed they became devoted to each
other. He still romped and played, but he became also more
serious, he became an adult and began to take his position
seriously. In January Austin joined our family. It was an
easy transition, Austin really didn't want to be leader.
Life went on smoothly until the end of February. One day I
noticed Zack was not his usual bodacious self. For 2 days
he slept and laid about. I took his temp it was 104. Arnie
took him into our vet on a Saturday. He ran some tests gave
him an antibiotic and said to call him if he wasn’t better
by Monday. By Monday he was worse.
Thus
began our longest journey. For the next 2 weeks Zack was at
the clinic every day for tests. I would bring him in in the
a. m. Arnie would pick him up late in the afternoon.
Rosie and Austin would greet him every afternoon when he
came home. Rosie would lick his face, Austin would touch
noses with Zack and wag his tail. Zack was very ill. The
right side of his face began to swell. He had no energy,
he had lesions in his mouth, his fur was limp and
lusterless, he ran a constant temp, he began to have nose
bleeds. He had no energy to play. He would lay there and
watch Rosie and Austin play games that he used to lead.
They would stop playing when he couldn’t join in. They
would go to him and gently nuzzle him and lay down near
him. Neither dog ever tried to usurp Zack's alfa position.
He was their fallen leader. Jeff, our vet tested him for
everything and all the lab work came back negative. Zack
was losing weight at an alarming rate, the dog we loved so
much was dying, and nobody knew why. Jeff stayed up at
night researching medical books, consulting with other vets,
they were all stumped. Every day Zack would go back for
more tests. He would greet everyone who worked there by
seeking them out and approaching them wagging his tail
where ever they happened to be. He had such courage! He
was so strong and I spent most of my time crying. Jeff
suggested taking Zack to The U of MN. I had not talked to
Lorrie about Zack. I hoped Jeff would discover what was
wrong with him and make Zack well. How could I tell her
that the dog we both loved was wasting away while in my
care. I jacked up my courage and called her. Lorrie
suggested Lindsay Merkel. She called Lindsay and I called
Jeff. Jeff and Lindsay talked, an appointment was set up
for Zack at the U. We drove him down there in a howling
blizzard. He stayed there 2 days and had a bone marrow
test. Arnie brought him home and they called with their
findings. They said he has leukemia. They could give chemo
therapy which could prolong his life for a while, but there
was no cure. We had envisioned a decade of years with Zack,
it was not to be. I called Jeff at home, he said he would
be here for us and for Zack for what ever we would need. I
could hear him crying as his voice broke. We decided to
make the time we have left with Zack the best that any dog
could ever have.
This
is a strange disease, as quickly as his symptoms arrived,
they disappeared. In the past 2 months he has been in
remission. He has put some of the weight back on, the
lesions have disappeared, once again he is our happy out
going dog. He is back to romping ,running and playing
again. Each day that he is here is a gift for us, and we
make the most of it. I realize this story is sad to read,
but we want to remember Zack for his courage. He did
whatever we asked him to do without complaint. He made
friends every where he went . No one can say how long his
remission will last, but we will treasure our time we have
left.
Kitty
and Arnie
Zack was fostered in Richfield, MN.
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