Dog Blog
September 9, 2008, by Connie Stetson
“I am the Lord Thy Dog and Thy Dog is a jealous Dog.
Thou shalt have no other Dog before me….”
Izzy Lamb Stetson ?/?/95-8/26/08
We had talked about dog adoption for nearly a year before I wandered into our local “no-kill” shelter. There were six others; snarling, jumping pit bull mixes of varying hue and stripe, though it looked like they all came from the same father. She was alone in a kennel, a lovely, blonde pup Lab-thing, quietly gazing up at me, her pleading eyes begging, “Please MOMMY, take me home.” Which, of course, I did, and Isabella AKA Izzy, Lamb, Bean, Izzybeanie and You Little Shit, became our first dog.
She came home with us on a Tuesday and the following Wednesday I had her enrolled in obedience training. I was diligent, steadfast, loyal, true, and I came when I was called…Izzy, not so much. She did finally learn “OFF”, “Down”, “Come”, “Sit”, but never “Stay”. I had to teach her to swim and spent all that summer in the river trying to entice her in, until I discovered that if I offered her just the right stick, she’d jump into boiling oil to have it. Her Auntie Linda taught her to beg and she did so with gusto. She never learned to fetch; her game was keep away. She’d carry our newspaper up the hill in her mouth and all the neighbors thought she was so clever and sweet. She was a smiler; when she saw someone she knew, she smiled. I kid you not.
That dog went with us everywhere we could take her. On car trips (oh, she loved the car), camping, hiking. She swam rivers, creeks, high mountain lakes and even got to play in the ocean. Watching that dog run into the surf, bark at the waves, chase sea gulls, play Frisbee (keep away, of course) and dig dig dig in the sand, was a lesson in sheer joy that I’ll never forget. Her downside, aside from the frikkin’ fur freely flying everywhere (I always warned visitors not to wear black to my house), was that she simply hated all other female dogs. Jealous, nasty beast she was. Cats OK, but no other girl dogs could set a paw anywhere near us. We finally brought “the boys” to Izzy, our dear Ernie and Jack, and she tolerated them just fine.
Izzy was part of our family, our child substitute for 13 years. First her knees went, then her eyes, and I believe she had “dog-mentia”, and it became clear to us that as her people, and though it would grieve us, we had one final kindness to offer our Izzy love. Yep—she “went to the farm”, and some of the heart went out of our home. Izzy is in Doggie Valhalla (which coincidentally, is also Squirrel Hell), running, swimming, digging and farting to her great content.
Doggone.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I say Izzy had a good life.
I plan to dig out my favorite photo of izzy (I know the one). and tell her she had a pretty sweet life with connie and lee. And if there’s doggie re-incarnation. I’d head back for more of the same.
A friend of Izzys
zach
September 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I hear you. We ended up having to put our dog Josephine to sleep, too, and it hurt like hell. She also hated other dogs-male or female-but was roundly loved by all people, who variously deemed her to be an intellectual, an artist and just a plain old cool dog. She was a good girl. Lots of love to you and Izzy.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Connie: You certainly “did all right” by dear Izzy in this piece and in allowing her to adopt you two. May the memories of your good times together make you smile over and over again!
September 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Oh, Drat. Why do dogs have to get old….. As Zach pointed out, tho, Izzy definitely made the right choice to adopt the Stetsons to love and frolic with through life. Would like to do more of that myself!! Love you guys, Kerry
September 9th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
As much as I love my sons, my dogs have been easier to raise. They never talk back, love me unconditionally, go and do anything I want them to and are always happy to see me and even listen to my advice. I am sorry about your dog Izzy. She was a lucky dog.
September 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Izzy chose very well when she “eyed” Connie into taking her home. She was a grand dog and I loved her dearly. I know she had a marvelous life with the Stetsons and I went on some of the adventures myself. I will miss her for the rest of my life.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I’ll miss Miss Izzy. She was a big presence in a household filled with many a big presence. What a great family of creatures big and small. The memory of this pooch will always be a special one.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I bet you’ll catch sight of Izzy occasionally – sometimes you’ll see something out of the corner of your eye and you’ll feel her there. My beloved Tabitha stuck around for a long time. Izzy did indeed pick well when she selected you and Lee.
September 13th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Connie –
I’m sorry you and Lee lost Izzy, kiddo. She sounds like a wonderful dog. I know how it is with animal members of the family. In November, I had to send my beloved cat Moly to that great tuna-can-opener sanctuary in the sky. She went out in a tearful rendition of her theme song, “Poopy Diaper”, sung to Handel’s Messiah. (Don’t ask. It involves litter boxes.)
I miss her poopy, poopy furry self.