Clyde

July 14, 1997 - September 9, 2011

Last Friday, we had to say goodbye to an old friend.  I have told my Grandsons that I learn lessons from all our animals.  From Clyde, I learned perseverance.  As you see from the dates, Clyde lived a long full life.  Clyde was a black Lab and their normal lifespan is about 12 years.  But long life is not what I learned from Clyde.

Clyde was the first dog we got when we bought the farm.  Steve came and lived at the farm while I was still working in Miami and about 10 years before I retired.  Steve wanted a Lab and I had seen a posting for Labs for sale on my vet's bulletin board.   The note said all shots, registered, etc., etc., etc.  The note did not say "liar, liar, pants on fire".  That we had to find out the hard way.  

So, we go get Clyde, and his sister Bonnie and brought them home.  They were a lovely pair, full of life and perfect for Steve.  I returned to Miami and a couple of days later, Steve called and told me that Clyde was really sick.  He took him to the vet, and the diagnosis was parvo!  My vet, my favorite vet from a previous post, tells Steve that he has been able to save some parvo pups, so we signed on for the treatment.  Two weeks in intensive care, and Clyde comes home, almost as good as new.  From this episode, we realized that no, Clyde had not has all his shots, and oh, by the way, he was not registered either.  Didn't matter, he was a great dog.

Our farm is a wonderful place for animals.  We are off the road a half mile and we back up to timber land, and then to Cherokee National forest.  Clyde absolutely loved the freedom that he had and that he could chase deer pretty much as long as he wanted.  It was not until we started building our new home that we realized that Clyde had gone blind.   He would have been 3 to 4 years old.  The vet said he had macular degeneration.  Nothing we could do, but not to worry, because if a dog had to lose a sense, sight was the easiest one for them to compensate.


Clyde continued to "hunt", you know, chase deer, rabbits, ground hogs.  I was watching one day and saw our red dog stop and turn back looking for something.  Soon, I saw Clyde coming, and once he reached the red dog, they continued on their journey.  Clyde had a "seeing eye" dog!!!


On another occasion, when my brother brought me my first chickens, one flew over the fence before we clipped their wings.  Clyde was on the outside of the fence and as I came through the door of the chicken house, Clyde was waiting for me in a perfect lab hunting pose with a dead chicken in his mouth.  Who would have known he was blind?  He always was so proud of himself for doing his job well, and had difficulty understanding why I would be upset with him.  Early one spring, he did the same thing with a little ground hog.  I was crying because he killed it, and he was walking beside me so proud with his prize in his mouth. By the way, our farm is sort of an animal preserve and no hunting is allowed here.  Well, other than the dogs, of course.


Clyde could not see, but that did not stop him from living a full life.  If he walked forward and banged into something, he just backed up, turned and went around.  He was not reticent or fearful.  What a wonderful lesson to learn about life.  What a wonderful lesson to teach the Grandsons.


Clyde, I know you are chasing deer and rabbits somewhere, but you are missed by your family here at Poplar Springs Farm.  Godspeed.