"The One"

"There are some who bring a light so great to the world that even after they are gone the light remains."

Today I am going to write about "the one". The dog who was and always will be the dog I will compare every dog before her or after.

I called her Swift .  She was so very fast and agile even as a baby she reminded me of the little quick birds I admired.
I named our farm after her and in tribute to her.

She was a good dog. She taught me things I was unable to absorb before she came into my life .

Was she a "great" dog ? Well maybe not by some standards.

Was she a great dog to me and for me, YES.
Without a moment of hesitation I say this.

She was born in December and sadly six years later in December she would leave me forever.

She was the most precocious little pup anyone could want. A sweet and kind personality. Willing to please , a loyal and devoted partner. Quick to learn with just a little willfulness to her nature.

I had one other dog at the time , my first Border Collie "Kilt".
From day one they became fast friends.
Kilt showed her all the important things a young dog needed to know. How to properly chew a stick. play tug of war. What chairs were the most comfortable to sit in and offered the best views. Which dog beds were the most plush.
Swift fit in as if she had been born here.
She loved cats and they her.
She was always well behaved and never did one destructive thing.
Housebroke as easy as any pup I have had.

 Her eyes were deep and full of expression and when our gaze met we had a connection unlike any dog I have ever had.
We could talk to each other through our eyes. Our souls spoke to each other .

Her start as a sheepdog was a slow one.
As time went on though she became a very dependable , natural dog. Just the right amount of stock sense yet giving enough to do as I asked.  I was still raw in my handling skills but she made up for my mistakes.

As we moved up through the classes at the trials , she always managed a placement and even several wins. Something I had not ever accomplished before her.
She was a comfortable dog to run. I never felt any pain of anxiousness or worry about "what she would do" . I never seemed to get that shrill in my voice or whistle that I can and have fallen victim to more times than I would like to admit. When things did not go as well as I had hoped  I never seemed to feel disappointed in her work or sad .
Swift ALWAYS gave me 110 percent each and every time she was on sheep. She never once let me down. I wish I could say the same for me to her.

                

A few memories I have running her was once at a trial in Pro Novice I stopped her too short at the top. The sheep then bolted for a cluster of trees just off the side of the fetch. I flanked her into the trees but had great trouble putting her in the right spot I would flank left  the sheep would go right I flanked right the sheep would go left. Not coming out of the trees. I finally said " Swift get 'em up, bring 'em "  With in seconds she got them out of the trees and back onto the fetch even to making the panels. The rest of the run was clean and we managed to finish with a solid pen , ended up placing even though I had eaten up much of our time and caused a huge point loss on our lift and fetch.
Another trial in the Ranch class on a fairly difficult course we had a killer run going. As we were about three quarter way through the cross drive the sheep started to drift a bit low. I whistled for an inside flank to keep them on line , Swift took an outside flank and pushed them lower. I whistled again and she took an outside flank. I then growled the flank and she took the outside flank. I was thinking to myself  "what is wrong with her?!" Again I growled the flank and she stopped and turned to look at me. Disgust in her eyes.
I know if she could have yelled back down the hill at me she would have said  " Michele , you have asked for the WRONG flank more times that I can remember!"
 Ding, I finally realized what I had done and blurted out "oops sorry Swift"
I think a few people laughed behind me. I gave her the CORRECT flank and managed to salvage the panels but lost a good chunk of points for my mix up.
We managed a placement , maybe ninth or tenth place.
Our Judge at the time was Scott Glen.
While out walking dogs after the trial Scott was walking ahead of us. Swift picked up pace and fell in along side of him. I called and called her but she pretended not to hear me. Just kept up with Scott's long stride and never looked back. Finally Scott with his good natured quick wit turned to me and said " Well, looks like she has not forgiven you for blowing that class for her today. You would have won it had you not kept up with that wrong flank".
Swift at that moment looked over her shoulder at me with just I hint of "Yeah, jerk!".
The last memory I'll bore you with was our last run together.
Swift drew a group of sheep with one splitter. She was awesome at keeping it together and while in the shedding ring this sheep was impossible. I was green as grass in spring and was trying for the textbook shed. This sheep was taking advantage of my inexperience and bolting out of the shedding ring hot for the exhaust each time I moved Swift into the wrong spot. Each time Swift would faithfully head her off and push her back to the shedding ring . The sheep backing up stomping  or bolting left only to swing to the right to beat Swift. She got her each time but we never did get the shed.
 As we walked off to the water tub my lanyard broke from around my neck.
I still remember saying to a friend " Uh Oh, hope that's not a bad omen "
Later the scribe came over to me to tell me the Judge Eve Marshark had commented to her that  she thought Swift  was one good dog with a ton of heart.
She was at that.
Little did I know she was actually very sick. With in a week of that trial I noticed something wrong.

I will not bore you with the grim details.

Swift had a rare and terminal , Cancer Peritoneal Carcinoma .
I would only have a few months left with her .
In fact I had three months left to come to terms with my Heart dogs illness and passing.
I did not handle it very well and a huge part of me died that day I had to let her go.
I don't think I will ever really get over her untimely passing .

I wear a necklace around my neck that is a large silver heart. Inside is a bit of her ashes.
She was close to me always and still is .

My bright shining star . One who streaked so fast across my heart, my life . One who I could never look away from in her beauty. A rare one, that I feel blessed and lucky to have been witness to her gift of faithful love and compassion.
But like all  bright Swift Stars, they burn hard and fast and then are gone .
Only are we left with the memory of what they had given us.


Thank you Swift. I love now and forever.
 You were the "One " for me.