Reader’s Digest Extras | September 2012

Goodbye Old Friend
I finished picking the days’ raspberries 
face wet with sweat and spider webs,
hands red with a promise of warming liquor
for winters long cold days and friends.
Sounds of kids rafting in the valley
drift my mind to a lifetime ago
When I played on the river.

He entered the barn and whinnied for his mares,
forgetting how he got in.
I hope I can always remember the way out.
He is the last of my noble horses.
Walks stiffly without his daily drugs.
He used to take me places
I would never go alone.heard secrets I told to no one.
To watch him run in the fields
took my breath away.
I will pat his neck and smell his fur
and say my last goodbye next week.
my tears will flow.  Such sorrow.
He has been my friend for a long long time.

The neighbor will come with his backhoe
The vet with his wonder potion.
I am to leave as “it’s harder on women”.
This time I will not put up a fuss.
The men can take charge for once.
I cannot bear the sound, the thud.I promised him he would see his old mares soon.
I hope it is not an empty promise.

I am out of chocolate.
Nancy Hartley
(509)993-5782
2nancyhartley@gmail.com

Anyone find out where to enter the story about your pet?  Let us all know.

I also have a great pet story to submit–Where the heck can we do this RD?!!!! The dog stories were in a section marked family, but I see no such link here.

Lessons from Bo the Big White DogToday I had to do one of the hardest things I have done in a number of years. My Great Pyrenees dog, Bo was diagnosed barely a month ago with bone cancer. This malady is more common in the breed than many people realize. The cancer was advancing at a far greater rate than we had expected it to and in the pain killers were no longer working. Bo quit eating a couple of days ago and it was time to make the decision to end his suffering. I feel that to have delayed any longer would have been pure selfishness on my part. I will miss that old dog but we had nine good years together. Please don’t offer me a replacement and if you read on I’m sure you’ll see why.Now I don’t believe animals are just four legged humans but I believe we can learn a lot from our pets. So just like Clifford the Big Red Dog” we see on ETV who teaches some very good lessons to the younger generation I would like to visit about some of the lessons this bald headed old dude has learned from or because of, “Bo The Big White Dog”. Some of them will even have extension education implications, so we’ll start with one of those.1. Determine which of your family members you want to have your durable medical power of attorney. The child who lives across the yard may be closest but will they be able to make the necessary decision when the time comes? Once you have made the decision don’t just tell the one who has the power of attorney, inform the other children why you made the decision you did. It will save a lot of bad feelings between the kids when you are no longer able to sooth ruffled feathers. As Bo showed me this week this is never an easy choice to make. Family recriminations for the decision are unfair to the one who is ultimately responsible.2. ” The ones you might overlook may end up being the best friend.” When I told Nancy Aspergren I was going to get a new dog, she told me to let the right dog choose me. When we got there the little female we went to get really didn’t want anything to do with us but the little male thought we were just ok. Needless to say he went home with us. He and I later attended one of Nancy’s adult obedient courses.3. “Be nice to everyone and you’ll have more friends than you can count.” Now I imagine Bo was probably mathematically challenged. But many of the people who saw him sitting on the tailgate of my blue pickup would ask if they could pet him. He loved it and the worst damage he did was to drool on those who took the time to scratch his ears.4. “It doesn’t matter if others laugh at you. If you enjoy it and it hurts nobody, do it.” Bo loved riding on the tailgate of the pickup with his big bushy tail hanging over the end. Most people thought it was funny and some thought it was too dangerous but it worked for him and he could bark at passing semis and loud pickups from his vantage point.5. ” Be faithful and patient and your friends will indulge you.” When I would bring him to town he would sit in the pickup while I ran errands or went to the coffee shop no matter what the weather. I never worried if he would be there when I got back and so I was willing to let him come for rides to meetings and weekend chores.6. “Be willing to accept others as they are, even if they are quite different from you.” Bo was a pup when he came to our house and our daughters old cat adopted him. Cold winter days would find Bo laying in the sunshine with the cat curled up on top of him. When a strange tom cat would show up and aggravate his buddy Bo would put his huge head down and just bulldoze the stranger with his nose. I can only imagine the cat will miss him as much as I will.7. The last one is another extension lesson. ” Use your veterinarian!” We have two very good veterinarians here in Russell County. The advice they give for both small and large animal care will help your pets and livestock live the fullest and most productive lives possible.
John C. Stannard
County Extension Agent, Agriculture
K-State Research & Extension, Russell Countyjstannar@ksu.edu

Lessons from Bo the Big White DogToday I had to do one of the hardest things I have done in a number of years. My Great Pyrenees dog, Bo was diagnosed barely a month ago with bone cancer. This malady is more common in the breed than many people realize. The cancer was advancing at a far greater rate than we had expected it to and in the pain killers were no longer working. Bo quit eating a couple of days ago and it was time to make the decision to end his suffering. I feel that to have delayed any longer would have been pure selfishness on my part. I will miss that old dog but we had nine good years together. Please don’t offer me a replacement and if you read on I’m sure you’ll see why.Now I don’t believe animals are just four legged humans but I believe we can learn a lot from our pets. So just like Clifford the Big Red Dog” we see on ETV who teaches some very good lessons to the younger generation I would like to visit about some of the lessons this bald headed old dude has learned from or because of, “Bo The Big White Dog”. Some of them will even have extension education implications, so we’ll start with one of those.1. Determine which of your family members you want to have your durable medical power of attorney. The child who lives across the yard may be closest but will they be able to make the necessary decision when the time comes? Once you have made the decision don’t just tell the one who has the power of attorney, inform the other children why you made the decision you did. It will save a lot of bad feelings between the kids when you are no longer able to sooth ruffled feathers. As Bo showed me this week this is never an easy choice to make. Family recriminations for the decision are unfair to the one who is ultimately responsible.2. ” The ones you might overlook may end up being the best friend.” When I told Nancy Aspergren I was going to get a new dog, she told me to let the right dog choose me. When we got there the little female we went to get really didn’t want anything to do with us but the little male thought we were just ok. Needless to say he went home with us. He and I later attended one of Nancy’s adult obedient courses.3. “Be nice to everyone and you’ll have more friends than you can count.” Now I imagine Bo was probably mathematically challenged. But many of the people who saw him sitting on the tailgate of my blue pickup would ask if they could pet him. He loved it and the worst damage he did was to drool on those who took the time to scratch his ears.4. “It doesn’t matter if others laugh at you. If you enjoy it and it hurts nobody, do it.” Bo loved riding on the tailgate of the pickup with his big bushy tail hanging over the end. Most people thought it was funny and some thought it was too dangerous but it worked for him and he could bark at passing semis and loud pickups from his vantage point.5. ” Be faithful and patient and your friends will indulge you.” When I would bring him to town he would sit in the pickup while I ran errands or went to the coffee shop no matter what the weather. I never worried if he would be there when I got back and so I was willing to let him come for rides to meetings and weekend chores.6. “Be willing to accept others as they are, even if they are quite different from you.” Bo was a pup when he came to our house and our daughters old cat adopted him. Cold winter days would find Bo laying in the sunshine with the cat curled up on top of him. When a strange tom cat would show up and aggravate his buddy Bo would put his huge head down and just bulldoze the stranger with his nose. I can only imagine the cat will miss him as much as I will.7. The last one is another extension lesson. ” Use your veterinarian!” We have two very good veterinarians here in Russell County. The advice they give for both small and large animal care will help your pets and livestock live the fullest and most productive lives possible.
John C. Stannard
County Extension Agent, Agriculture
K-State Research & Extension, Russell Countyjstannar@ksu.edu

Calling our wise readers:  Re the 74-year-old lying mom

Confront your mother but confront yourself first.  1) your daughter is an adult 2) are you allowing her to be an adult and 3) is it possible you are over-reacting thereby causing your mother to try to cause less concern on your part?

where exactly do I go to respond to “calling our wise readers”? as shown in Sept 2012 issue?

I wanted info on Tell Us About Your Tail! pet story, but the link takes me to archived stories.  How do I get the info that I’m seeking?