A well-known breeder of German Shepherds, Ed Frawley, once said,
"The only thing wrong with dogs is they just don't live long enough."
Dallas thought that just wasn't right. And, I was beginning to think she would go on forever. However, after sixteen and a half years, her kidneys gave out. She went to the bridge in my arms and lap surrounded by the kind folks at the Cloverleaf Animal Hospital who loved her nearly as much as I. Her
"Sleeping in the Morning Sun" portrait has long graced front and center of their office wall. (
http://www.MyTrialPhotos.com/DallasSleeping.jpg ).
Dallas (Ursula vom Leerburg) was a daughter of Orfey (
http://leerburg.com/orfey.htm ) and Sausha (
http://leerburg.com/sausha1.htm ). Her brother, Condor (
http://leerburg.com/alexander.htm ), went to the 1999 WUSV with Harry Alexander. Dallas was a pick of the litter and Ed selected her to enter his foster family program.
Her first home was with a scoutmaster. What better socialization than to grow up on a Boy Scout camp? She developed into a happy and confident young lady. Unfortunately, life changes and her foster family had to leave the program. After a sad trip back to Menomonie and shedding of many tears, Dallas awaited her next home.
About that time, Gayle, an attorney in Minneapolis, heard about Leerburg's foster family program and inquired into it. Soon, Gayle was on the way to Menomonie. As Gayle entered the kennel offices, she recounts the first thing she saw was several stunning and perfectly behaved Shepherds lounging around the office. She was shortly introduced to Dallas ... Dallas licked her face and a never to be sundered bond was formed.
For many years, Dallas was Gayle's constant companion, friend, confidant and protector.
Dallas was introduced to some of Leerburg's finest but she never had puppies. The timing was never quite right. Ed mentioned a couple of times the he wished Dallas had presented him a litter or two. It's a shame, Dallas had genetics that need to be preserved in the breed. She had great ball drive, tremendous hunt drive, a hard temperament and was a highly dominant gal. Yet, children were a great joy in her life. I had to smile when I read Harry's account of training Condor. He said,
"Like his mother, Sausha, he only does obedience as a favor." Dallas had a streak of that too.
Her vigor was without question. She was never ill. As she passed ten and twelve, her muzzle remained jet black and she acted like a dog five years her junior. She was always fully devoted to her family.
Again, life changes and Gayle's career took her to Cleveland. In an act of generousity and kindness for which I will be forever greatful, Ed told Gayle to keep Dallas rather than putting her through the trauma of being rehomed again.
Not long after moving to Cleveland, Gayle met a guy on a ski trip. When I was first invited to her place, Dallas had give her approval. She did.
I decided Dallas was the kind of Shepherd I really liked. My work had changed to where I wasn't constantly traveling and I decided it was time to add a dog to my home. Gayle pointed me at the Leerburg website and, over the space of three or four nights, I read it all -- on a dialup modem.
A bit later, I was winging my way to Menomonie to pick up Chance. He was an eight month old pup who rowdied himself out of his first home. Dallas contributed her travel crate and bed to the effort. As Gayle said,
"This is so Chance will have that familiar Leerburg smell to come home by." When I pulled into the drive, Gayle and Dallas were waiting for us. Their friendship was immediate and permanent.
Bread and Butter. Chance and Dallas. Seems you can't say one without the other.
Both dogs looked forward to their visits with great anticipation. When Dallas come down for short stays at my place she and Chance would spend much of the time thundering back and forth through the house and yard. They introduced me to sports such as Bed-Spin -- Chance would be the whirling dervish on the bed as Dallas raced back and forth with a devilish grin, barking like mad, and Couch Surfing -- Chance would come charging down the hall with Dallas in trail. About six feet away, Chance would launch and land in the middle of the couch riding it until it slammed into the wall. As it hit the wall, Dallas would be right there barking at Chance ready to do another lap. My dogs -- the interior decorators. Actually, they had better taste than I. Their visits were always a joyful, moving riot.
During this time, Dallas made the aquaintance of the neighbors little girls -- Stephanie and Julie. They loved playing with Chance and Dallas and the dogs doted on them. It wasn't unusual for them to ring the bell asking if Chance and Dallas could come out to play.
Stephanie and Julie gave Dallas her first title -- a very nice crayon drawing pronouncing her the
"World's Greatest Dog!!". Dallas also was awarded her CGC on her fifteenth birthday.
In our neighborhood walking rounds, they made a very nice name for themselves. In addition to being a beautiful pair of dogs, they were quite well-behaved. I've heard some mothers even used them as examples for their childre ---
"See how they aways wait at the corner for 'Daddy'", "See how they alway listen to 'Daddy'". More than once people stopped in the road, got out and asked to pet the dogs. One gal, back in town for a visit, had told her friends that she didn't want to go back until she got to pet 'those two Shepherds' again -- so they kept driving back and forth until they found us. Chance and Dallas were welcomed with great joy at the three local nursing homes and the day care center -- they had somewhat of a fan club there.
Again, life changes. The company Gayle worked for was bought out and she wound up looking at a career change. While she completed her Master of Library Science, she and Dallas lived here full time. When Gayle graduated, her career took her to Texas. Rather than uproot Dallas again, she committed another act of great kindness and compassion and let Dallas stay with Chance and I. Even over that great distance, Gayle made it back as frequently as she could to spend time with Dallas.
A year or so later, Chance and Dallas welcomed a young whipper-snapper named Nikki to the household. Dallas had great fun following Nikki around the back yard barking instructions. She and puppy Nikki were featured in a shot published in the Schutzhund USA magazine as they gnoshed on shank bones. (
http://www.MyTrialPhotos.com/Dallas/061210-3743-DallasNikki-Grace.jpg ) Don't know what Dallas told her, but Nikki has always had excellent house manners.
Howver, the years were catching up with Sweetie Girl Dallas. She became content to stand in the middle of the yard barking her commands -- not that Nikki listened much anyway. But, she was still the boss of the house. All she had to do was look at one of the beds scattered around the house and the current resident would grudgingly move on to the next one.
Over the weekend, her kidneys totally shut down. She started refusing food and water yesterday. I thought maybe she was just not feeling well. As the night progressed, it became obvious it was more than that. I spent most of the night sleeping next to her -- she stayed calmer and slept better that way. Funny, the past few weeks, she would start getting upset if she didn't have me in sight. I took her into Dr. Randall this morning and she confirmed my worst fears. We opted to let her go rather than try things that just would prolong the inevitable. She went in my arms and lap. I think the whole office was rather upset.
I brought Dallas home so Chance & Nikki would know she was gone. Toy-crazy Nikki did something I'd never expected. She dropped her favorite ball on Dallas' bed. Then she started nudging it towards Dallas. When it got to Dallas' paw, Nikki looked up at me as if to say,
"It's her's now." and then quietly stepped back. Nikki kept licking her face. Dallas hated that. I think Nikki was trying to raise a reaction, any reaction. Chance came over and kept quitely sniffing her face, then he would turn to me and put his paw on me as if to say,
"Fix her, please." Sorry big guy, no fixing this time.
Dallas had the greatest gift we can give our dogs -- where ever she lived, she was truly and deeply loved and cherished.
Dallas leaves to mourn her passing and to celebrate her life, Chance - Ulrich vom Leerburg - (Ron/Lucy,
http://leerburg.com/pupcust4.htm (bottom of the page) &
http://leerburg.com/lucy.htm ), Nikki - SG1 Zerlinda vom Leerburg SchH1 - (Natan/Sage
http://leerburg.com/Nikki.htm), myself, Gayle and a host of others whose lives she touched throughout her long and happy life.
Take care and hug your dogs tonight. Tell them,
"That's because of Dallas."
=================
Over the next few days, I'll be adding more photos to this site.
http://www.MyTrialPhotos.com/Dallas
Dallas - Ursula vom Leerburg -- 1993-2010
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