Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lost my heeler this weekend: pyometria

Only bad part about owning a dog. Sorry to hear about your loss.

I understand, as well as many here, the pain going through.

Stay strong buddy and remember the good times.

10mos and I still feel the haunting pain.

Aw, nuts, so sorry Birdie. That ain’t right.

As far as spaying, I am firmly in the “don’t spay without a medical need “ camp. There a a number of medical things that spaying will prevent, and an even greater number of issues caused by spaying a dog. The most medically serious of those is weight gain. One of the more annoying ones is spay related incontinence. Which happens WAY more frequently than any vet has ever been willing to admit to me.

I recently had a vet suggest to my daughter she “really should” spay her 12 year old female, who has had 5 litters. For those not informed about such things, the odds of actually completely removing the uterus in an older dog with multiple litters is virtually nil, resulting in one or more “follow up” operations. In my opinion, to suggest such a thing “for health reasons” on a 12 year old dog with an average life span of 13 years is veterinary malpractice, and that practitioner should be pilloried in the stockade in the town square. Before losing their license and being required to stay away at least 50 feet from any domestic animal..... But I may have a somewhat stronger opinion on this than most.....

Sorry, mike. It’s never not hard.

That's why I would let my dogs go through a heat cycle before spaying, I heard that blast of estrogen fully developed the peeing equipment, making spotting less likely, matured their brain too.

I do agree that most suburban vets recommend spaying WAY to early, permanently altering the development of the dog.

Easier to spot in males; tiny sheath, small head, long legs, lack of muscle tone, and stunted development in that grey matter between the ears.

Sorry to hear of your loss .

I'm sorry sbout your loss. I hate to lose a dog.

So sorry, it doesn't get any easier!!!! Leaves a big hole in ya. I'm so full of holes now at 69 that I'm surprised I don't fn leak! They say time heals, (bull chit) !!! I still miss every single one!!! So sorry for your loss. Bill out. 🐾👣🐾👣🇨🇦

Hate to hear that Mike..

Sorry about your loss.

But I do have a proposed name for your next one: Ashanti!

Sorry to hear that BW.

That's a bad hand you were dealt there, BW. Tough thing about having precious things like good dogs is, you can never hang on to them. I know you've got your feet on the ground, and you'll be okay.

Sorry to hear this Mike, but the world is full of heeler puppies....and nothing gets your mind off it like a puppy...

Sorry to hear this Birdy.
Know the pain.
Many of us do on here.
It hurts alot.
Dogs are family.

Birdy,

I’m truly sorry to hear of the loss your buddy!

A good dog to the end. She made the decision as easy as she could. She left you with little guilt and no guessing about what needed to be done.

You might not share your life with another heeler, but don't make pacts. The dog would be lucky to have you.

Hey, thanks everyone for all the kind words, much appreciated.

This was Cloudy last November, along with my granddaughter.....



Cloudy "sit.... stay"ing just as hard as she could, she weren't one to do things half way. I'd bring a leash where I had to, but they were just for show.

I took her travel crate out of the pickup today, she quickly learned to wait by the tailgate because she liked the attention when I picked her up to put her in it. She ain't gonna waking up the neighbors any more by barking from it all the way down the street either.

I emptied out her kiddie wading pool on the back porch, that dog was a fanatic about water, loved to splash and lie in it.

I'm gonna be finding blue raquetballs around the house and yard for months, years maybe. She taught herself to retrieve early on, got to be an expert at reading the bounce of a raquetball and catching them in the air, I always kept a supply on hand and she would leave them all over the place.

She'll be missed.

Bird -
I've got a blue eyed merle border collie.
She's about 9 months on and a real handful, but we sure do love her (she's trying to destroy my boot right now actually).

I'm giving her an extra fetch, and an extra pet on the head knowing one day this will come.

Kids and dog pics Im a sucker for always.

Mike,
So sorry to hear of the loss of your heeler. We are down to one, that is 9 years old this year. Daisy loves to retrieve as well, and like you mentioned, loves to catch a ball on the first hop. She'll be ten if she makes it to August 2021. We had not bothered to have her spayed until a couple of years back, when we switched Vets after moving to a new town. So glad we took the new guy's advice and had the procedure done. May your Cloudy chase raquetballs in the happy hunting grounds till you get to throw them for her. There are just not enough heelers for this world. Be blessed, my friend.