Two weeks ago Hayley brought her beautiful chocolate lab Daisy, home to our place. We planted daisies on her grave. Today I laid my sweet Jilly Possum next to her. We have dreaded this moment for several weeks.
So tonight I ask you to indulge me as I tell you more about her. I got her at our local shelter during spring break of 2010. The story was that two sister dogs, that they called collies, came to a woman’s house and both had puppies—21 in all. First, I think they were Border Collies, not Rough Collies. The puppies were incredibly cute. They looked like fluffy little Border Collies. Many, as did Jilly, had an eye patch marking.
I went to the shelter to ask about the one I’d seen in our local paper. They quickly said that she had been adopted, but they had 20 more just like her. I was in puppy overload. I picked Jilly because of her sweet disposition and beautiful markings. Her only flaw was that she was a little timid.
So we brought her home. Howard said she looked like a little white possum with her little pointy nose. From that point on, he called her Possum. The rest of us called her Jilly, so named by my grandson Garrett. He must have seen a cartoon starring a possum. Babies are called Joeys, males are Jacks, and females are Jills. How did he know that?
A few months later we were given a registered black lab puppy who we named Cash in Black for Johnny Cash. I enrolled him in basic obedience school at Northwest. He would do a few commands, and being a big goofy puppy, he would fall out beside me and sleep. I think they passed him to get him out of there.
Then we went to Sandra Selph Gooch in DeSoto County for the next training step. Cash was easily distracted and was pulling on my shoulder that had not quite healed from surgery. Sandra let me swap Jilly for Cash and even though she had missed half the lessons, she caught up and graduated with flying colors. Here she is at her graduation, mortar board and all.
I registered her through AKC (American Kennel Club) as an American Dog. This is a registry that allows mixed dogs to compete in trial competition without being registered. I had good intentions, but we never did show, but she could have.
My friend Terry who has collie show dogs, was determined to get Jilly as white as she could. She found a bottle of blue toned shampoo for horses and thought she would give it a try. As you can see in this pic, it turned her blue and she stayed that way for six weeks. I got lots of comments
As she grew, I was more sure than ever that she had herding dog bloodlines. When my granddaughter, who were about five at the time, would run and squeal, as little girls do, she would circle them and try to herd them onto the back patio
We took her camping with us a few times. She liked going places and walking around the campground, on a leash of course.
At home, Jilly would go from window to window to watch what we were doing and hoping if she sat there smiling long enough she could come inside.
A few years ago the shelter did a calendar of dogs that they had placed in homes. Jilly made the cut and was Miss March, if I remember correctly.
This winter she began to show her age. It happened so fast. It was our routine to me to call her and we played a game where she assumed the “play” stance—rear end up in the air, paws splayed out. I would bark and she would bark back. This winter she barked but was not playful.
And suddenly, I knew. She was so smart, beautiful, playful. She was not a fur baby (I dislike this term). She was part of our lives. I don’t know if our dogs will be in heaven, but I do know that God put them on earth to enrich our lives, comfort us when we need it, make us laugh, and teach us many life lessons.
So tonight we are sad but at peace. No crying in the night as I have heard many nights before, No giving meds in the dark. And because Cash is lonesome, he got a ham bone all to himself.
Here are a few of the scenes that made us love Jilly.
