Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

October 8, 2019

Eulogy of Tilly, My Best Friend

Tilly passed into Eternity today, early in the morning. We knew he wasn’t quite right; he was slower in the last three days. I suspected he was on his way out. At least he did not suffer like Pumpkin, one grey, sweet cat who got along with everyone. He had moaned and groaned for at least two days. We tried our best to get him into the vet, but they could not fit him in.

So, at least Tilla did not suffer. I loved Tilla. He revered and adored me and he was the most special and intelligent dog I ever had. He had his trials, required two knee surgeries but the surgeon did a good job. It wasn’t all that surprising this morning, when I was somewhere else and called my wife and she told me he died. I cried sotly throughout the conversatio,

He always had his own bed alongside my bed, with a pillow to lay his head on and mats to make him comfortable.

When I called this morning I was afraid of the news, and cried for about two minutes. He treated me well, and I did, particularly in the beginning, give him many belly rubs. He lived a full life for a large dog, about 14 years, which was a long time for a dog his size. He was athletic. When I called his sister and him in from the yard, Cocoa could be half way back and he would run at a gallop and pass her. He was the only dog that learned to pop the screen door to get out by himself.

He had some funny habits, like locking himself up in the bathroom. And in the end, he did it because he couldn’t tolerate any loud voices from us when we fought. And if there was really heavy tension he of course felt it and wouldn’t even come in from the yard until the tension left. He was very sensitive.

I will miss him terribly. He was one smart, athletic dog. I have written about him a few times in this blog before. He was openly affectionate, more so than any dog I had. At least he’s free to run in the meadows Upstairs with all his buddies.

Goodbye, Tilla, I will miss you terribly.

Love,
Siggy

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March 31st, 2018
Siggy

They never pretend to feign emotion. Each dog I have has a soul and personality. I find it comforting when I go into my den in the morning and usually one my three dogs  sits a few feet away from me. All that is very comforting. My animals do not care if do not have a degree. The animals you love, love you back, but each is his/her own way. I did not have a pet growing up. I now feel blessed with seven cats and three dogs. Pax, Tilla’s father, died a few years ago: we kept two of  his kids. Sweetie our dog rescue is their Mom and  Sweetie, still defers to her two pups, Coco and Tilla, even though it has been a long time since she gave birth to them. I just love petting all my animals and treating each one individually, for each animal has their own personality and I have to respect that.  They are gifts to me.  It is all serendipity!

Tags: Atilla, Coco, each pet has their own personality, each pet has to be treated differently, love and animals, my three dogs, Sweeetie
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My wife and I had a big fight one Sunday morning.  The tension was so thick that the dogs (three) could not stand to be in our house and we let them out.  Awhile later when things calmed down a bit and the dogs wanted to come back in the house. When Tilla approached the house, he turned on his back, tale wagging furiously:  he wanted his bellied rubbed before he came back in the house.  Then five feet closer he did the same thing, turned on his back, tale wagging furiously, again.  I obeyed him and rubbed his belly again.  He made me laugh and laugh with his behavior.  I then realized he wanted me to “lighten up”.  And this was his way of doing that.  He likes to make me laugh.

Tags: dogs and humour, Tilla
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One day this week, while going into town the back way, I noticed this big, brown draft horse in a field.  I wanted to be his friend, so I began stopping along the road, making sure that no car could hit me accidentally, and whispered to him softly.  I did this every day for a few days.  Once, he was 100 feet away and after I talked to him he actually came up to the fence and faced me.  Finally, today, he was right by the fence waiting for me to arrive.  I got out of the car and spoke softly to him, and offered him an apple on the palm of my hand.  He did not take it, but I reached out and petted him on the nose, being scared at the same time that he might bite me.  He didn’t move.  Next time I pass him, I will try giving him a carrot.  I have never made friends with a horse before.  I am thrilled we are getting to know each other, and that he was waiting for me today.  I don’t know his name yet, but it doesn’t matter.  He responds to my soft tones.

Tags: making friends with a horse, the horse came right up to me, the horse was waiting for me
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I can’t imagine a life without animals. Each dog (I have three) and even my seven cats enrich my life. They give me more reasons to get up and greet them each day. Each pet has their own personality. Of course, I have favorites and so what?! Everyone has friends and certain friends who are favorites. Tilla is the dog I never expected. I lost the first dog I ever raised from a pup, Daisy, who died from cancer and then a golden retriever came our way.

Our one male dog, Pax, impregnated her before we could get her fixed and seven pups came our way, most of them born on our bed. We sold four (one died) and I did not have the heart to tell my wife to separate the last two, which we kept. One male, Tilla, and a female Coco both who I have learned to love dearly. They certainly complicate our lives but we had the means to build a fence around part of out property.

We did have one problem:  Tilla the most athletic of our four dogs could jump the fence so a year later we even built the fence higher now it was too high for him to make it over.  As time went by, I developed a close relationship with Tilla.  Maybe just by giving him belly rubs whenever he wanted them.  Wouldn’t that be something if we can make friends with other humans by just giving them belly rubs?!  Anyway, the human equivalent.  Whatever that might be?

Tags: belly rubs, Coco, Tilla
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I spotted a piliated woodpecker in our yard pecking away on a tree fifty feet away.  I had never seen one in our yard before.  I quickly called my wife to view it.  She had never seen one before.  She grabbed her camera and got several good pictures of it with her zoom.  The woodpecker stayed on that tree at least an half hour.  Today I kept looking at that tree expecting it to be there but it wasn’t.  It is rare to see one.  You usually hear their wild cackle.  And not them.  It is an exotic looking bird about fifteen inches tall and with a long red crown.

Tags: sighting a piliated woodpecker
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Usually all my three black animals (two dogs and one cat) sack out with me. My cat Cool Hand Luke is the only cat to follow me into my bedroom.(I have seven). I have owned her for over fourteen years. She is Pre L., my other. She settles in the bed depending where Tilla positions himself on my left side by my head. She often lays in the upper left of the corner a few feet from my head. Sometimes she will lie down by my right armpit and purr loudly when I reach out to her. Coco, Tilla’s sister, has her spot on the left side of the bed laying on a thin cushion topped by a pillow and torn ruffled bunched up woolen blanket. That is the typical routine the three animals follow. They are at wits end the time or two during the year I may be away. They will mill around the bed not knowing what to do when the evening comes and my wife goes to bed.

Tags: Coco and Cooh hand Luke nightly routine, The Three black animal's bedtime, Tilla
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Tilla, my favorite dog, did not miss one night since I came back from my 50th high school reunion. When I go to bed he is waiting for me on the left side of me often sound asleep. We had to board our three dogs when we took a trip to NJ. Tilla let loose an howl when we brought him home from the kennel. I never heard such a sound come from his. throat. It was pain! He must have felt abandoned and did not know if we were coming back to get him. Now every night he sleeps by my side. He does not want to be too far from me. He is not taking any chances.

Tags: boarding Tilla, our trip to Nj, Tilla and abandonment
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There were two notable discoveries the last two weeks.  First I saw my first Monarch butterfly in several years on our property and the other discovery was a large box turtle in the backyard.  That was the first one I saw in a few years in our yard.  It could have been six inches long.

Tags: box turtle in our backyard, monarch butterfly
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Twice we saw a doe and her twin fawns. They were almost in the same stretch of road we often take to go onto the major highway. There are lots of woods in this area and we never know when we will flush a deer. We drive slowly through it particularly when one deer shows itself.  There is often another one behind that one.

Tags: a doe and her twin fawns, deer crossing the road
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The Titmouse or Tufted Titmouse (two names for the same bird) are very common yet I never saw a nesting spot for it.  We were pulling in the driveway and I saw a titmouse fly out of a hole in a tree about five feet up across the street.  I investigated and another one flew out of the hole in the tree.  It must have a nest there.  That was a first.  I never found a nesting spot of a titmouse before.  I really do not want to disturb them any more than I have to.  I will just keep my eyes open for that hole in the tree.

Tags: bird nest, bird nest in hole in tree, bird-watching, birds, titmouse, tufted titmouse
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I never knew what Coco, one of our dogs, caught.  She and the other two dogs were having their last “out” of the evening.  I thought, at first, Coco had a bone in her mouth and would not drop it to get her evening biscuit.

I realized it was more than that.  It was alive although I could not tell what creature she had in her mouth.  The lighting was not too good.  First I thought she caught “Oscar” our “local” rat but the animal had fur.

I grabbed the animal out of her mouth and it lay in front of the door.  My wife was screaming, “Get it out of the house!”

Finally I scooped it up with a cat scooper and dropped it over the fence onto our driveway.  At the same time one of our cats got out.

Seconds later I got a flashlight and shined it on the spot I dropped the animal.  It was nowhere to be seen.

It is possible the animal was just stunned (Coco has retriever blood in her) or the cat grabbed it who escaped.  My wife thought the animal might have been a baby squirrel.  I will never know for sure.  I felt bad for the animal hours (an hour) later.  There was nothing else I could do.

Tags: baby squirrel, cats, Coco, dog catches an animal, dogs, Oscar, pets
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