Often the tiniest pups are the BIGGEST….biggest personalities, biggest amounts of courage and biggest challenges. And, through it all, they end up being the biggest blessings too! This week Sherlock teaches us how patience comes in tiny packages but yields big rewards.
And, if you’re interested in the stun gun flashlight I mention in the episode, you can find it here. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Transcript
Julie Jackson:
Hey, welcome to happy tales of happy tales, the podcast where you’ll hear stories of the way pups have touched our hearts and our lives. So for the next few minutes, let everything else go and just listen and smile. I’m your host, Julie Jackson Friends, today I share a conversation with you that I had with my dear friend Leslie. Like many wonderful people in my life, we met through one avenue and bonded through dogs. She also just has a really long family heritage of all kinds of,of animal husbandry in her life.So I just encourage you to hear about her spunky, stubborn little Sherlock. But I also want to point out at the end of our conversation, we addressed some of the the less glamorous privileges of having a frosty face and having an old dog, we we talked about just some of the decisions that when you’re when you spend many years being loved by dog, you have the privilege of making, even though they’re hard, and some of those end of life decisions and helping them cross the Rainbow Bridge. So I encourage you to listen. And even though sometimes it’s a sad topic, it’s also a very sweet topic. And it’s also I think,important to know that you’re making the right decision when the time comes and to hear other people’s experience and be comforted by that. So I encourage you just to, to sit back and and listen to the the great experiences she had. And also be encouraged by hearing other people’s journeys, when sometimes the decisions are not so easy, and it gets a little tough. And just as always to keep it light. While I’m talking to you about this very serious topic. There are a lot of shenanigans going on around here. So I apologize, but I mean, I don’t know, maybe I don’t because that’s what this is all about. Right. Anyway,without further ado, here is my conversation with Lesley.
Leslie:
So he basically chose me, he walked up and kind of grabbed my hand with his mouth when he was like seven or eight weeks old when I saw the letter and and that was it. I mean, I like this is the one but he was so stubborn. I put him in two obedience classes. One was just a puppy class where I could learn, you know, how to put a leash on and you know how to feed him and what else to do.And then the second one was an actual obedience class, but in the puppy class, you know, he he’d always play with the biggest dogs he was. He was he thought he was, you know, 80pounds or so. He was so tiny at that time. He was probably six or seven pounds maybe. But he was always very, not aggressive,but just outgoing. assertive,very assertive. And then when we got to the obedience class, it was a challenge. He was always the worst one in the class. I think they passed me just to get out of it. But yeah, we were supposed to at the end, we were supposed to set him up and turn around and walk away. And I turned around and he was gone.He’d gone to the corner of the building, it was playing with the Pepe glass. It was He was crazy. And so he he, he, I’m trying to think what I should say. Well, and in you know, my brother at the same time had about he started out with one Australian shepherd. And then that grew into about five. And the biggest one was an 80 pound dog. Oh my goodness. And he and Sherlock did not get along. They were both very aggressive. And so when we would go visit my parents at the same time, they had a chain link fence that separated the house from the pasture. And those two dogs we’d had we had to put them on either side of the fence. and they would just run up and down until they were just exhausted, too exhausted to move. And just like they were gonna attack each other, right and Sherlock,thinking that he could fight this humongous dog. And then I can’t remember how we actually got them all in the house at the same time, but probably because my sister in law was a is a disciplinarian when it comes to dogs. But he always, you know,he always liked being around other dogs whenever I adopted other dogs, because I decided right away since I was working,I had he had to have a friend.Right? I had to have another dog to keep him company. Otherwise he would just, you know, he’d be so hyper by the time I got home that I couldn’t even control and so I adopted another Westie that was around for a female. And when I brought her home, I had her in my arms and he was jumping up, you know, trying to reach her and I turned her loose and, and she attacked him right away. And that established. Who was the boss, you know, he went,he always loved her, but he had a respect for her. Oh, that’s good. And I had her for about 10more years. She was 14 when she died. And what was her? Her name was Tonka. Okay, and I did not name her. And now my current dog is Tunki. I adopted. Oh, he’s sleeping right now. He’s about16.
Julie Jackson:
Oh, my goodness.Yeah.
Leslie:
But the older I get, the smaller the dogs are that I can handle? Just because of weight.You know, picking up? I don’t know how you deal with the big giants. Well, you have help.
Julie Jackson:
You might see him there. I just saw like, No, you can’t right now because they’re,they’re running around. But every now and then you might see like a tail that buyer ahead,it’ll pop in? Well, so kind of like you said, though, having the two of them they wear each other out, which is a great thing. But like I can’t. Now we’re not good about Leash training. We don’t because they do run run here and wear each other out. We don’t have to take them on formal walks. So if we were to take them out now they’re just mad men on leashes.And I could not both of them at once. You know, like they have now exceeded the size and the weight limit. Where unless they were better trained and more obedient if I took them out now if they wanted to, they could drag me so but they’re really I mean, being in the house and then playing and stuff. I don’t have to I don’t have to lift them are really anything so their sizes. Okay, but yeah, if I had to, like, evacuate the house with books.
Leslie:
Well, when I got Tonka,I was in an apartment. And I was there for about a year walking.You know, all in the rain and cold and everything. I was like,I gotta get a house.
Julie Jackson:
Yeah, yes. So I I’ve had
Leslie:
a house ever since then.And it’s probably the main reason that I have houses because I don’t like all the maintenance but it’s just easier. You know, I have a dog door and I’ve always had a dog door. And you know, I still walk them some and you know, I can walk them now. But you know, now there’s so many loose dogs,especially in our neighborhood that I’m kind of scared to walk unless I had a gun or something.
Julie Jackson:
Well, yeah, yeah.
Leslie:
It was kind of dangerous.
Julie Jackson:
So one of the things that I had for running but but I would use it in that situation too. And remind me I’ll send you the link. I got it off Amazon. It looks like one of those Maglite flashlights, but it’s also a stun gun and that when you hit the button and it does that crackling noise the Dogs hate that so you don’t have to like I mean you obviously don’t have to use it you just hit the button and make the crackling noise and most dogs will take off most of them don’t want to they don’t want to miss Yeah, well there’s a bunch of them out there the one I got I think the brand is like Diablo and the reason I went with that one is it also has the adapter for the cigarette lighter in the car. So I just keep it in my car so I have the flashlight but then I also have you know if if my cars you know if I broke down or and I used to when I’d run either I didn’t run I’m late at night very much, but I ran early in the morning when it was dark a lot. Never by myself, but still it was just me and like another woman, so I would always carry that as my flashlight. And then that way we had that too,but, but I found out because sometimes we would have that where we’d be out and a dog would be loose and it’d be dark,and then we wouldn’t see their people anywhere. And I just hit the button and they would be like, Oh, I’m out of here.
Leslie:
Okay, yeah. So no, well,I have an airsoft pistol. But I’m afraid if I take it out.Somebody will think it’s a real gun.
Julie Jackson:
Yes. Because though Yeah, they look. Yeah.Yeah. I
Leslie:
mean, they have a red tip on it, but still. Right. You know, from a distance. You might not see that. So yeah. I’ve been kind of reluctant to take that out. Yeah, but I have a broken toe right now. So I haven’t been walking much of anything,anywhere.
Julie Jackson:
Well, at least you have a yard now.
Leslie:
So that’s good. Oh,yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I have houses in the dogs.Let me live in them. Yes, like the bed. They let me sleep in the bed.
Julie Jackson:
I know. I laugh because I built a dog bed for my dogs. It looks like a day bed.And it’s all cute and everything. I was like, you know, I was I thinking because they’re like, well, that’s really nice. How are you going to fit in that? Because
Leslie:
they thought You thought they would actually be in the part you built for them. Like,that’s funny. Every time I leave the house, I let I leave Toki in my bed and he’s always when I come back. He’s always asleep in the spot where I sleep. Wait,yeah. Go ahead. Oh, I’m
Julie Jackson:
sorry. I was just gonna ask what kind of donkey?
Leslie:
Tonky is a chihuahua Yorkie Oh, and he weighs about eight pounds. He used to weigh about 12. But he’s had a lot of teeth pulled. Yeah, he has a hard time eating. But he used to be, you know, he’s a choose like, nonstop. And he I had his brother, his little brother Duke, who died about a year and a half ago. And that’s half his size. He just got up when I said Duke sweet, but they would fight over to us all the time. But they had had terrible teeth. And every time every time I took him to have a dental cleaning,they’d pull about eight or 10teeth at a time. Oh my goodness.So he has he has, you know, the bottom and top incisors and but he’s missing all of these in the front. And you know, and a lot of them on the side. One of them broke off recently and but his I don’t think they really want to do a deal on him again. So he Oh, yeah. But he’s been you know, I really love them because they’re, they don’t shed.Supposedly I’m allergic to dogs.But you take allergy shots for dogs, cats horses.
Julie Jackson:
Well, yeah, yeah.Cuz you had, you have like a long horse history to growing up and stuff
Leslie:
out five years or so where I was really serious with it. But yeah, and I actually majored in Animal Science at a&m, but I, I was allergic to everything associated with horses, just, I mean, asthma,the whole, you know, just really bad allergies, and it just well,and then when I moved away from home, it just wasn’t, you know,it’s a very expensive hobby. So,
Julie Jackson:
yeah, just alone.
Leslie:
Do what just having
Julie Jackson:
the space alone the land and,
Leslie:
or even boarding or, you know, whatever, feeding the whole thing, it’s expensive enough to have dogs? Yeah. Much less horses. You know, I still have horses a lot. My I had, I think I had my first horse when I was four or five. My dad loved animals. And he kind of, he’d always come home with an animal.You know? Look, I bought these four horses in a saddle for$500. So it was it was fun. It was a lot of fun. But that
Julie Jackson:
would be every kid’s dream to have dad just come home and be like, gotcha pony.
Leslie:
Yeah, exactly. I think he did it for himself. But you know, but we were the ones that that wrote him and my brother’s a professional. I mean, he he got a PhD. reproductive physiology. Oh, wow in animal science, and he’s in charge of the horse program at a&e at West Texas a&m. Oh my goodness, for the last 2025 years or so. But,and they still have dogs latest.My nephew just got a border collie puppy that he’s going to try to train. You know, in the like you see on the videos where they can hurt, hurt.
Julie Jackson:
Oh, yeah. That they’re so smart, too. Yeah,they’re so smart.
Leslie:
I don’t know how I don’t know how that’s going. They live in Amarillo. So I haven’t seen him. But none of my dogs have been trained to do anything.They have any tricks and some that they discovered on their own.
Julie Jackson:
That’s us that,you know, I’ve always said, My child, I’m raising with the goal to be a productive member of society to go out into the world and hopefully leave it better than she found it. My dogs aren’t going anywhere. They don’t have any marketable skills. They don’t have. They have barely have manners, but otherwise, they’re just here to love on and vice versa. So,
Leslie:
exactly. Well, and I’m,you know, I’m getting at the point where I’d like to travel some, and it’s a real hassle with dogs. So if taki something happens to taki I’m not sure. I mean, I always want to get another one. I mean, I would get another one now, except I don’t know how he would tolerate it.But you know, and I see always see these dogs up for adoption on Facebook and, and other places. And I just like, in fact, my grimmer when I took him one time, she had these two precious little chihuahua puppies. And she said, I have something I want to show you.And I was like, no. Because, you know, once you take care of them, it’s like a lifelong commitment. Yeah, no matter. I mean, they’re not gonna live forever, but they live pretty
Julie Jackson:
long lives. Yeah.So what do you think you learned from Sherlock?
Leslie:
Ah, I learned a lot of patience. In fact, my brother told me that I was probably the only one that could have dealt with him because it required a lot of patience to deal with him. You know, I mean, when we were just at home and around the house, he was fine. You know,but whenever I’d take him for a walk, or, you know, he was it was always the aggressive thing.And, yeah, trying to keep but he I mean, he was least trained.That was the good thing about the obedience class. And a few times he got out, and he was real good about, you know, if you yelled at him to see it,from, you know, cross the way or whatever he would, you know, he was good. Yeah. So he wouldn’t just run away. Toki would just run away. He would just follow his nose. But he’s also deaf.So.
Julie Jackson:
Right, right. To our girls, Lilly, and Eleanor.They have a thing now, where,seriously, I would not believe this if I had not witnessed it.And I’m glad that we’ve had people witness it besides us now, because it sounds like we’re making it up. But if we try to take them out now and put them in the car and take them somewhere, they have grand mal seizures. It’s horrifying. Yeah.Yeah, yep. Yep. And I don’t, I don’t know. So Lily, Lily’s completely blind now. And she’s been going blind, you know,gradually over the years, and I always laugh because she’s a blue healer. You know, they’re herding dogs. But she’s always been scared to go outside. And she’s comfortable going out in the backyard here. She doesn’t get scared there. But even at our old house, it was hard to get her out in the backyard sometimes. And I don’t know. And so I wonder now, if maybe something with her vision already, like her peripheral vision maybe was off or something that made her feel insecure. And that’s why but she’s never so she has never liked going for walks. If I’ve ever had to take her out anywhere out the front door. She just totally resists. Like we’ve literally had to drag her like on the hard floor slide her you know to get her out. So she’s but Eleanor used to like to go out for walks and stuff and she was fine. And then a couple summers ago, we were taking them both to the vets. And we had Roscoe to and because Lily get so traumatized by it, Ricky took Lily and first while I was getting Eleanor and Roscoe, I opened the door and he is on the floor of the waiting room of the vet. And I’m trying to process what I’m looking at. And I looked down and Lily’s having a grand mal seizure. And and while I’m trying to figure out what’s happening, I feel tugging on one of the leashes that I’m holding.And I looked down and Eleanor’s having one at my feet. Wow. And we thought it was he was in the summer. And so we thought that maybe it was heat induced. And of course, we’re in the vet. So they come running out, and they take care of them and get them all cooled off and everything.And so they you know, he thought that too, that we thought it was from the heat. And so then we were like, Okay, we’ll try again in the fall, try to get in the fall. Soon as Lily got outside.She started having one. So we’re like, okay, we’re not going to try with Lily anymore. We thought it was just her. And then the next time. Ricky was like, Okay, I’m going to take Eleanor and Roscoe didn’t even get out of the driveway, and Eleanor started having one. And then she ended up having, I think three or four more in that24 hour period. So we had to put her on prednisone. And then wow.And then finally, just like a week or so ago, we finally found a mobile vet. We’ve been trying to find a mobile vet for literally years, and we were out of everyone’s service area, or they weren’t taking new clients.Finally found one sweetest father daughter, both of them vets. And they came out and they were but they have their little van and the dogs go in the van outside. And and both of them had them again, going outside into their van. So yeah, yeah,it’s all
Leslie:
you do. Just don’t ever take them anywhere. Yeah, we can’t.
Julie Jackson:
We can’t, because they have the seizures. So the fortunately, my old vet used to do house calls, but he retired years ago, but we he was my vet for decades. And so you know, we have each other cell phone number. So when Eleanor had the day where she just kept having them, because I know in the past, I’ve had dogs, and they’ve had him once. And he would always say if they just have one, I’m not going to start them on meds. It’s just if we start seeing that they’re having multiples. So when I called him when she kept having them, he’s like, Okay, we’re gonna get on perimeter. And so he’s been doing the perimeter. And for me,thank goodness. And then now we found these this and they were so sweet. The new vets, they were like, okay, you know, if you need us to start managing their seizure meds if the other vet decides he doesn’t want to do that anymore. They were like,just call us. We’re happy to and they said, but we’re not going to do lab draws or anything like normally we would, because we’ve already seen what happens. So
Leslie:
yeah, that’s interesting, because the last time wow, I’m trying to think when it was, I guess like, last August or so. Whenever I took him to get his shots last year,he, we got in the car and it was hot. We got in the car afterwards. And I started driving away. I mean, I was already like halfway home. And he was just passed like he wouldn’t pass down. He was still conscious that he was lying on his side and he couldn’t get up.And so I called an emergency vet and told him I was on the way because I knew that that I had been to win. Yeah. Plus, they would have been closed by me.And I think right. So halfway to the emergency vet. He just perked up and you know, wanted out of the car. And I don’t know, I still don’t. And it happened one other time. But it was inside the house where he was running outside. And I don’t know if he has some kind of heart condition or if it was a Caesar. Yeah, Duke ended up having a heart condition. And that’s why he died. Oh, and so I’m wondering if Toki have something similar, but I’m not gonna go through all the expensive cardiology workup, you know?
Julie Jackson:
Well, and I hate to put them to trauma, too. You know, that’s, especially when they’re older. A lot of times that’s just traumatic for them.Well,
Leslie:
I wondered if, you know,we had been at the vet for about30 or 45 minutes, probably and they drew blood and, you know,he just gets so worked up when we go you know, in the waiting room. I’ve been waiting in the room to get the shots and everything so I thought you know, maybe it was just stress or just
Julie Jackson:
I wouldn’t be surprised I almost wonder. Yeah,I almost kind of wonder if, if the first one that the girls had when they both had it, if it wasn’t something like the heat and the stress and everything,but now it’s one of those things where because it happened once.Yeah, that now every time they,like automatically think it’s going to happen again and get worked up to the point of it happening. You know, I don’t know, I don’t know, it’s
Leslie:
sometimes talking, you know, if I come home, he’s all excited. And he’ll be running back and forth. And I’m, like,calm down. I don’t want you to,I don’t want you to fall over.Whatever that was, you know,yes. Coming down, but I don’t know, they these things crop up.Yeah. And, you know, I did go through a lot of diagnostic stuff at one time with one of my dogs and, you know, they die anyway. So, yes, and it may just take longer, but, you know, it depends. It depends on how old they are, I guess. And
Julie Jackson:
well, and their quality of life too. And, you know, a lot of times they they won’t let on. Like, even if they are miserable, they do everything they can just to be there with you. And sometimes you think, I guess one thing that sounds kind of awful until you’ve been through it several times. But I realized now,especially when it comes time when you know, you see them declining, I would always rather be one day early than one day late. When if it’s time for them to go, you know, because you don’t ever want to see them suffering. And sometimes I think they probably do suffer just so they can stay with us. Before we realize that they’re suffering.
Leslie:
Yeah. So well, and now I don’t know if it’s because of,you know, I think people have you know, people, I just I don’t know, if they’re giving up dogs because of the pandemic. They can’t afford them. I don’t know.But when I took Duke in to be euthanized, I had been to the same clinic. It was kind of an emergency clinic. And he was he was just emaciated. He wouldn’t eat for like two or three days.And I just knew it was time course when you get to the vet’s office and they perked up. And they were asking me well, like,why are you putting him down now acid because he hasn’t eaten. He won’t eat. He’s, you know, I said to you, I brought him here a month ago. And we put him on meds, it’s been impossible to cram the meds down his throat.Yeah, hit him to take him. You know, it’s like they had the records, they knew what was wrong with him. And they were still questioning my motives for trying to euthanize him. And I mean, I stayed in the room and sobbed for like 30 minutes or an hour when they did it. But they acted like, you know, I was just trying to get rid of him. And here’s this, you know, 15 year old dog that had a heart problem and hadn’t been eating when take his meds and you know, it was crazy.
Julie Jackson:
I’m so sorry that you went through that cuz I know, with Roscoe, you know, we,there was a period where we he had vestibular disorder, which is kind of like vertigo for dogs. And sometimes it can just come on because of age, and you give him a week or two, and then it goes away. It’s just idiopathic, and they’re fine.And then it may happen again later. But then sometimes it’s because like, maybe, at first we thought with him, it might also be an ear infection. So we were treating him, you know, and that that could mess up their, you know, his equilibrium. But it can also be something like a brain tumor. And so with him,you know, we went for a couple of weeks, and it got worse. It wasn’t getting worse, but it wasn’t getting better. And if it had been idiopathic, it should have started to turn around by then. And it wasn’t and, and then so we had to make that appointment. And we called on Friday morning and said we’d been to the vet multiple times over the the week leading up to it. And we called and made the appointment. They couldn’t get a central like for 15 that afternoon. So we had that day with him. And he started having seizures. And so that for me was kind of really the confirmation that we’re doing the right thing, but I hate that you went through that because when we got there, I still kept thinking am I do Doing the right thing? Am I doing the right thing? And if they hadn’t been reassuring me,I think I would have that would have been very, very hard to,you know, to have someone not
Leslie:
be me. So I had not been through it before, five or six other times, I would have probably come back home with him and just waited, you know, and let him get worse. You know,because I just felt kind of guilty. Now, they actually had a nice room where they could do actual yes, they had it set up very nice.
Julie Jackson:
I’m so sorry that you went through that because I know with Roscoe, you know, we,there was a period where we, he had vestibular disorder, which is kind of like vertigo for dogs. And sometimes it can just come on because of age, and you give him a week or two, and then it goes away. It’s just idiopathic, and they’re fine.And then it may happen again later. But then sometimes it’s because like, maybe, at first we thought with him, it might also be an ear infection. So we were treating him, you know, and that that could mess up their, you know, his equilibrium. But it can also be something like a brain tumor. And so with him,you know, we we went for a couple of weeks, and it got worse, it wasn’t getting worse,but it wasn’t getting better.And if it had been idiopathic,it should have started to turn around by then. And it wasn’t and, and then so we had to make that appointment. And we called on Friday morning and said we’d been to the vet multiple times over the the week leading up to it. And we called and made the appointment. They couldn’t get in till like 415 that afternoon.So we had that day with him. And he started having seizures. And so that for me was kind of really the confirmation that we’re doing the right thing. But I hate that you went through that. Because when we got there,I still kept thinking, Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the right thing? And if they hadn’t been reassuring me,I think I would have that would have been very, very hard to you know, to have someone not be Yeah,
Leslie:
I had not been through it before five or six other times, I would have probably come back home with him and just waited, you know, and let him get worse. You know, because I felt kind of guilty. Now they actually had a nice room where they could do actual yes, they had it set up very nice.
Julie Jackson:
Due to technical issues, our conversation ended early. But I’m no less grateful to Lesley for sharing such a really important and relevant story. And I thank you so much for for sticking around and listening to it. Because I think that it’s important that we honor every part of our journey with our dogs and and never forget what a privilege it is to be with them from start all the way to finish. So once again, as always, I’m so grateful for your time. Thank you so much for joining me today. I know that you are busy, and I really appreciate that you chose to spend some of your time with me.So let’s do a little bit of bookkeeping before we head out.If you enjoy this and you would like to receive the episodes automatically without having to seek them out, then in your pod catcher, follow or subscribe.And that way every time an episode drops, it’ll show up for you and you’ll know that it’s there makes it super easy. You don’t have to think about it.Please go visit the website.It’s really cute. It’s got puppy pictures. Also, I’ve got a free gift for you over there if you will go check it out. And if you would like to message me if you have any suggestions specific pup stories you want to hear. Or even better. If you want to share a story, you can message me right there from the website.That’s the best way to get to me for that. Check us out on all the different socials Facebook,Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn,all of them. That’s where you’ll see pictures of the pups that we talk about each week. Also, just other fun pup things. I’m going to put episodes on YouTube as well. Sometimes the episodes are recorded via zoom. And so there’s video, a lot of times it’s just us talking but every now and then there are some fun cameos from puppies are their shenanigans in the background.And you can catch all that on YouTube. If you want to help me out if you would leave a positive review and share the podcast that would be fantastic.I would be really grateful. And once again, if you want to help me out, I would love to share your story. So please hit me up and let’s schedule a time that we can talk. Some people have shared their stories in writing.Some people have gotten on the phone and done a chat with me so we can do whatever you are most comfortable with finally do not forget that you are as great as your dog thinks you are and go smooth chipping Thanks y’all