My dog which was a long hair german shepard-border collie mix and likely the most intelligent dog I have ever known who had an amazing spiritual look in his eyes as well. I just called him my "Maha Kala" dog like another very spiritually powerful Maha Kala dog that I met in Katmandu, Nepal years ago now that Chagdud Tulku (now passed away) had given to the care of a popular restaurant then in 1986 when I was there.
I was also sort of both in another Himalayan section this time of India horrified and also amazed at a dog with both hind legs not working there and hanging limp then in Rewalsar (also called Tsopema) by Tibetans in the Himachal Pradesh foothills in a Padmasambhava holy place then. He only had two front legs working and he used them like crutches to get around. This dog was not "put out of his misery" and people seemed to feed him enough for him to stay alive. I never learned his story but often wondered culturally how this all worked in both Indian and Nepali culture then.
However, he got around fairly well and people were nice to him in the town of Rewalsar then. I was impressed that he wasn't put down and that people took care of him, even though I'm not sure whether he had an owner or not.
I got my male dog around 2002 I guess. We had decided to get a dog and on the very same day my wife found an older Jack Russell-Corgi mix that we decided to adopt as well as my 17 month old new from the SPCA long hair german shepard-Border collie mix. He was about 70 pounds (so not a small dog) and extremely intelligent like all sheparding dogs are bred for.
Later, within about 5 years from then, the jack russell-Corgi mix got into it with a raccoon in our back yard fighting over who could control the contents of the trash can when a baby sitter forgot to bring her in one night. So, the dog won the fight but also had blood on her chest from a bite too. This caused her to get a kidney infection and she had to be put to sleep about 1 month later after spending 2 or 3 weeks in an animal hospital.
So then my big male dog was alone. My wife and daughter decided to get a corgi with papers so we did and for the first two years this was a terrible experience for me of her whining and keeping me up nights (because I was the only one who really took care of her once my older daughter went back to Oregon after summer vacation). So, many was the time where I just wanted to leave her tied to a tree in the forest overnight or something like that.
Finally after two years, I started to really bond with her because I was "Daddy" to her and this became a very special bond over time. I was always the one who walked her and gave her treats and my by then older (likely 7 years old by then male dog) showed her how to fetch a stick. Finally, when she became proficient he let her "Chase the sticks" instead of him because he was getting older and thought she should have to do all the running. So those little Corgi dwarf big dog legs were really moving trying to chase all the sticks on trails and fire roads near where we live. So, ever since then our corgi (who is about 10 years old now) and still alive has been the dog who likes to fetch. Even though it was my older shepard-Border collie mix dog who taught her everything she knows.
MY bigger dog was amazing! He was comfortable with wolves even. Everyone wanted to take him home with them. Our then 15 year old baby sitter said to us:"Wow! if he was human I would want to date him. He would be a perfect boyfriend! He is wonderful!"
So, this was the reaction people had to him. Everyone wanted to take him home with them because they automatically loved him so.
But, I kept him with me and my wife and daughter and older daughter and older son when they visited too could be with him also. My dog always thought he was my oldest son's dog. I could tell this whenever my son came home from college or from traveling around the world. So, I tended to see my dog as sort of having adopted my son as his true master. And this was okay with me. I was the Alpha male of the pack and he always deferred to me. But, at times being the alpha I had had to scare him so he would listen to me too as he was not only very intelligent but also very headstrong as a dog when I first got him.
His attitude was: "I'm smarter than you are and I'm faster too! Why should I listen to you?"
At first when I got him I thought he might be too much dog for me and my family. But then, he made a mistake which changed everything. There was a pizza sitting inside a pizza cutting board on the gas burners of the stove cooling for eating ( a big one) and he stole the pizza right off the burners.
Now you might think this was a bad thing. But, for my dog and I it was the point where he had to learn I was the alpha of the pack. I didn't hurt him at all but instead scared the hell out of him instead.
After that, he knew I was alpha and he was beta and we were fine from then on. We were a family that worked. And we all loved and miss him now. He passed away at 15 1/2 years old. And luckily we had almost 14 years with him to travel and walk and play on the beach and in the forest and even run alongside my mountain bike too at times. But, when you really have a good friend, 14 years isn't enough. But, I'm grateful for what I got. His ashes now rest on the piano in a wooden box along with the ashes of Maggie May the corgi-Jack Russell in another. My wife put a picture of him there but I don't care for that one. But, if she's happy I guess I'm okay with the picture.
It's hard to say goodbye to an old friend that walked beaches and mountains and trails with you when no one else was interested. Or who joined you and other friends or relatives on these walks to, who fetched sticks not only for you but also for others along the way. Goodbye old friend.
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