Mikey's story

   I went to the USASA Nationals in 1998 to meet up with Mikey's breeder. She had promised to bring me a puppy and she had pretty much decided it was to be a black tri female with brown eyes.   When I got to the motel, she had changed her mind and hadn't told me ahead of time. She had brought me Mikey  my little blue eyed , blue merle, ball of love.   He looked like a little tank ,but I just couldn't live with that name so I called him Mikey. I do have 2 brother's in law named Michael too, but only one then and one came later.
     All my pups at that time came to work with me. They had to stay in the car, but got out during my lunches and breaks and so were not locked in an expen waiting for me all day like poor little Molly had been.  I don't remember much about him growing up, but he got into trouble like young males do.  He stuck his nose where it shouldn't have been once and got bit by  something that swelled his face and nose up. He survived.  He jumped up  over enthusiasticly once to greet me and came down on top of a 2ft metal post and almost castrated himself.  He was in trouble a lot. He would escape and run down the street. If I opened

I trained him in obedience and he loved it. I never titled him because at that time we were doing more agility which he also loved.   I have a wonderful picture of him coming out of a chute cross eyed.  very cute. He was just a little devil . Such a love of live and everything and everybody in it.  He was my trick dog. Bang your dead and he would ham it up and roll upside down for a sec and then jump up and wag his whole body and beg for his treat.  He also knew the usual stuff, shake, turn left turn right, back,  One of his crowd pleasers was when I would breath into his face and ask him how my breath was and he would take his paw and swipe it across his nose as if to say "horrible".   The last 2 tricks I had been teaching him were to say I love you and he was getting it.  What a great trick that would have been, but he said I love you every day to me in his own language.  I also tried for years to get him to shake his whole body as if he was shaking after a bath on command. That was hit or miss. He knew what I wanted but could only do it once during a training session and it was never on command.  funny little guy.

What a swimmer he was,  loved the water and it was hard to keep him out.  loved to just lie in the kiddie pool  in the summer or go swimming anywhere.  He was a good swimmer too. Riding in the car , just to go to the bottom of the driveway, he was there.  Just a couple of weeks ago, I put the ramp up into the back of the car  and he was out wandering the yard and the next thing I knew he had gotten in there by himself and laid down and was waiting for me to Start her up and let's get going.   I should have taken him for a ride then I guess, but I didn't. It would have been his last "fun" ride. Sorry buddy.

When Mikey and I started herding, I had no real help.  I did some Bob Vest clinics a few times a year and then most of the time I was on my own.  I had call ducks and I started him on call ducks inside the xpen. He ran around that pen so fast , it was like a mini tornado.  I couldn't get in front of him fast enough to turn him. On sheep it felt the same.  I have some video of him and it really wasn't that fast, but I was so green and it all seemed so out of control. He had so much natural talent , that I unfortunately could't harness correctly. Bob Vest really like him, but I would get so angry at him when I would send him later in his training for the livestock and he would get to balance and keep on going.  He would circle the sheep and look at me and grin and say " this is what you want right mom" and keep on circling.  Not that hard to keep a dog behind livestock but it is when no one is telling you that is what you need to do.  Piper was so natural at fetching that I thought Mikey should be too. He just needed a little guidance and I failed him at that.  In spite of my failures, we finished ADV sheep and ducks and were workingn on Open cattle when I retired him.  He wasn't listening and I was convinced he was going to get himself killed by them.  If only I knew then what I know now, he would have WTCH'd.

He loved squeaky toys and invariably had the squeaker killed him secs after I gave him a new one.  He loved balls that moved too. If I threw it and it stopped, he wasn't interested, but if it was still moving , he was  the man.  OMG he loved his dumbell.  I used to keep it in a cupboard under the tv and I would just be talking about it and he would run to the cupboard. That was the last toy he played with this week. He has been chasing it 3-4 ft in the living room and bringing it back to me and then we would play a little tug with it and I would throw it again.  He almost chased the ball last night, but the effort was just too much. He turned his head quickly and went after it a few steps but it rolled down the hill and he gave up.

The guys came over with the back hoe last night and we were outside watching and I had to stop him from investigating so he wouldn't fall in the hole.  There is still life left, so it's going to be a very hard day, but I would rather remember him with some life than hold on to him until he's in so much pain that I have to get him to the vets right now and you know that always happens when you can't get there"right now".

Peaches is going to miss him terribly. They have been companions for 12 yrs. They always cleaned each other's face and ears. Dually will miss him because he is a very sensitive dog and will know that I am upset. Dare , I think, will be relieved. He started to attack him this winter so he has been getting in trouble when Mikey was anywhere near him.  They will all be allowed to see and sniff his body so they  know he is gone.

 I am so grateful that he came into my life and taught me so many things.
What a patient and loving and forgiving dog. Such a sparkling life force . The spark is almost gone and  I need to give him the one last gift of love, a release from this world into the next where there is no pain and breathing will be easy again and somebody will throw a ball for him and he will be able to chase it and play keep away, where the door never closes and leaves him behind, where he will be invited into every car and go for a ride whenever he likes.  I won't be there with you buddy, but there are people who will love you there too and I will be with you soon enough, just wait for me there.