Brisco County Jr.

Brisco and Maggie are reunited. Brisco the wonder dog died last night. We lost him last night very suddenly and without warning. At 16 he was old, very old, so we knew he didn't have a whole lot of time left; but he was begging for steak from the table one second and down the next. He had a seizure that lasted for the entire 20 minutes it took to digest what was happening, load him into the car and get him to the emergency vet. We knew it was grim and the vet confirmed that. The whole thing was over in less than an hour.

We sadly returned home and sat back down at the table and reminisced. I noted that the mailmen, raccoons and skunks of the Richmond district were going to sleep a little better now. Brisco County Jr.,  the great watch dog, always with one ear up and the other down, was off duty.

There are too many stories to share but the way Brisco was with Maggie was the most amazing thing. Maggie was 4 years old when we got Brisco and she spent a lot of time on the floor in those days. (It took a long time before she could tolerate being in the wheelchair for long stretches and this was before her skillful dynavox days.) She could sort of move around on the floor, propelling herself on her side using her legs. She was like a swimmer without water. If my purse was on the floor she would get to it and fling everything hither and yon. Newspapers left behind were quickly shredded to bits. This picture is from 2008.

We quickly learned to pick things up to avoid the mischief.  But Brisco was always there. And Maggie would get to him - or he would just lie next to her - and the ear, tail and fur pulling would commence. Brisco just sat there and let her do whatever she wanted. If the boys were nearby and tried the same thing, Brisco would have none of it, but Maggie had free reign. This picture is probably from about 2000 or 2001.

Brisco was very protective of Maggie. When someone new entered the house Brisco would casually stand between the visitor and Maggie. If they stayed, he would lay down next to Maggie. He wasn't threatening in a teeth baring or growling kind of way; he was more like the dad of a teenage girl and the visitor was the hapless date.

Brisco was the fastest dog in the park up until he was 10 or 11. Then he wasn't interested in chasing other dogs, he just became something of an elder statesman -- unless Maggie was with us, then he was at her side. And when he was on leash, which wasn't very often until his hearing started to go, he would let Maggie yank and drop the leash and he would be so so patient. 

Brisco missed Maggie these last months. The night before she died when she had been taken by ambulance to the hospital, Brisco sat right in front of the door to her room as if standing guard over her in abstentia. He slept there for several nights. I finally moved his bed into the dining room right next to the door to her room. 

Now they are together again. He is young and healthy and fast, she is able bodied and verbal. Maggie is telling him how much she loved him, but he already knew. He's just happy to be with her again. 

Thanks Brisco. You were the greatest dog in the world and we were lucky to have you. A wonder dog for the ages. Take care of Mag for us. 

This old dog doesn't need any new tricks

Brisco the wonder dog turned 16 last Friday. Well at least that's the day we chose for his birthday.He arrived in our home in November 1998 and the vet said he was about 8 months old, so we just counted back 8 months and assigned a day.

We had another dog for just a couple of weeks before Brisco. We adopted a sweet but very skittish stray from a family who had found her a month or so earlier and could not find the owners. That dog, Maris, was scared to death of everything and sadly, slipped her collar and was hit by a car shortly after we adopted her. It was a sad day in our house. Very sad.

Then a few weeks later Steve hears of another stray looking for a home. Needless to say,  I was hesitant. I suggested we wait for the black could to move away before getting another dog, but Steve was insistent we "just look" at him. We took the kids out to Livermore where a lovely family had taken this stray in after finding him scrounging for food at a mall. They advertised everywhere that they had found this dog and even had him neutered. After three weeks they decided to find him a home. When the rescuer heard our sad story about Maris from a co worker, she called Steve directly.

They just called him "Puppy" becasue they knew they couldn't keep him. They had a 120 lb Chocolate lab named George who was very sweet and patient with this energetic husky mix puppy, but wasn't ready to have him become part of the household. And he was energetic, but very well trained. Someone had taken good care of this dog before he got lost.

The boys were 8 and 10 years old and they were on that dog in a minute. I was still hesitant but I knew it was a losing battle. He came home with us that day. We named him Brisco after our favorite (but I believe already cancelled ) TV character, Brisco County Jr. In fact that's his full name, but we really only use it when he's in trouble.

 I told Steve, "Ok, but if this dog isn't good with Maggie he's GONE." and I meant it. Maggie was 4 and spent most of her time laying on the floor in those days. There was no way I was gong to tolerate any problems with the dog and Maggie.

I needn't have worried. Brisco was the best dog from day one. In fact, he was so good with Maggie that he quickly became her protector. When someone new came into the house, friends of the boys or therapists for Maggie etc, Brisco would station himself between Maggie and the new person. He wasn't threatening, just vigilant. If for some reason he didn't like the way this person approached Maggie, which happened occasionally, he would bark and keep them back until we gave the all clear. We didn't teach him that, he just did it on his own.

He would lie on the floor next to Maggie. She would poke his face and pull on his ears and he was so gentle with her; but he would play and rough house with the boys. We walked all over and he never needed to be on leash because he just explored and then came running back to us. But we did put him on a leash and let Maggie hold the other end and he never pulled like he did with us. (Picture at top)

 We always threatened to dress him up like a reindeer pulling Maggie's wheelchair/sled at Christmastime, but we never did it.  He played nicely with other dogs and was great with people. Well, except mailmen and UPS guys. Never much cared for men approaching our house. Handymen and husbands of nurses were also suspect. He barked at anyone who walked by our house and the entire neighborhood knew when the mail man was on the block.

One foggy night he barked and barked waking us up to tell us that there was a problem. And he was right. Our sweet elderly neighbor had wandered out of her house in her nightgown and had fallen and injured herself very badly in front of our house at 2AM. Without Brisco to wake us, she may not have survived that cold night. Her family gave him a giant bag of dog treats after that. Later he fought raccoons, and always lost.

Now he's a great old dog that rarely barks -- mostly becasue he has no clue whats going on around him. . He can't hear at all and doesn't see all that well. He is pretty agile for his age, but watching him go up and down steps is painful. He falls over periodically as his back legs don't always go where he thinks they are going to go. He doesn't care for walks anymore - if you get past the end of the block he wants to go home. He has been on a leash for the past year or so as his hearing failed and he gets panicky when he can't find us.

The night we lost Maggie he just laid at the door of her room, knowing somehow that everything was different. He made all of us feel a little better that night and many others.

So now he's 16. That's very old for any dog. He is a wonderful part of the family and we are lucky that nice family found him and then found us. Steve was right to insist we "just look" at him back in 1998.

Happy Birthday, old man.

Sunday Walk

This morning Maggie, Brisco and I walked over to Safeway to get some OJ for breakfast. I was in charge of pushing Maggie's chair and Maggie was in charge of holding Brisco's leash.

I can tell you this much. Brisco was VERY concerned when I walked three steps ahead to take these shots. He did not like me leaving my post. I'm supposed to be behind that chair steering carefully.