D.J.
1998 - March 15, 2007
D.J. - Border Collie (albeit with docked tail, from Douglas Lake Ranch), probably born in 1998. D.J. was a rescue whose master passed away. He became accustomed to the hurly-burly of eight other dogs and he was David's shadow, following him everywhere and very vocally welcoming him whenever he came home. He had a calm, sweet temperament and was obviously treated very well by his former master. He loved to play fetch, go for rides in any vehicle and David started him on herding, just for fun, and he thought that was pretty cool too.
David writes: "We only had you 10 short months, but you left a hole way bigger than your 52 pound self. I will miss you terribly, buddy. I keep expecting your furry salt & pepper muzzle to nudge my ankle again as I write this. I guess Dick, your old master, got tired of waiting and called you to him. Have fun together guys. Thank you for the gift of the last 10 months DJ; I will always remember my boy."
"DJ passed away from catastrophic liver failure this afternoon, March 15, 2007 with his head in my lap, and the ball in his mouth. His ears were trying to perk and he was bravely wagging his little stump-tail right to the end. I'm not ashamed to say I cried like a baby."
Necropsy results indicate DJ died of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, a disease where the immune system attacks the red blood cells. In most cases, as with DJ, there is no known cause or trigger. As well as liver failure, there was pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure and spleen damage.