Ashley  (1993-1998)

Ashley came into our lives in May of 1993 when she was about 8 weeks old.  She was purchased to be a companion to my 7-year-old golden retriever, Franz.  We get a lot of smiles remembering the day we went to pick her out.   The breeder let her out into the waiting area, where she saw herself in a mirror for the first time.  She stopped, stared, sniffed, backed away - we laughed so hard.   There wasn’t any doubt that we would be taking this puppy home!  The breeder put a yellow bow around her neck and said “good luck, number 1” referring to her puppy tattoo, #1 of the litter.

Ashley was light blonde, almost white, with dark brown eyes.  She had a sweet, feminine face and seemed to act a little bit “prissy”.  The funniest thing was the way her back-end kind of “swished” when she walked.  We had considered many names for our new puppy but finally decided on Ashley because it seemed delicate enough to fit her.  

Ashley and Franz hit it off right away and played together alot.  She also quickly made friends with our two cats, the cats next door, and all of the neighbors.  Her biggest challenge was the three-story townhouse.  She couldn’t go up the stairs because her legs were too short, and when she tried to go downstairs she got a running start and slid most of the way.   She quickly determined one of her first favorite places to sleep - in her water dish.

One of Ashley’s most significant lifelong relationships was forged in Spring 1994 when she met her sister Kappy.  Unfortunately, Ashley lost Franz to cancer while she was still a young puppy.  About a year after his death, we decided to get her another companion, so we purchased Kappy, a 4 ½ month old golden retriever.  Ashley went with us to get Kappy and didn’t seem very enthused at first.   But they started to play as soon as we got home and quickly became the best of friends.  They played together constantly, they shared a wading pool, they went to the groomers together, they went for rides and walks together - they were inseparable.   When we took the two of them to obedience school, they had to stay on opposite ends of the class to keep from distracting each other.  On every break, they would run to each other like they hadn’t been together in months.  The instructor called them “clique-y”.  We had many laughs watching them do things together throughout Ashley’s life.

When we moved to North Carolina in 1994, Ashley became a real nature lover.   She loved to spend time sitting in her wooded back yard and was especially fond of watching the squirrels.  She tried to catch them, but rarely got close.  She would often sit at the base of a tree just looking up at them.  Ashley loved all animals and seemed to be fascinated by them.   She used to stare at the horses and cows we would pass while riding.   She liked to watch animals on TV (Animal Planet was her favorite cable station) and would jump up and bite at the screen and growl when she saw them.  She also liked watching the wolf screen saver on our home computer, and would tilt her head from side to side as the picture changed from one wolf to another to another. We are active in golden retriever rescue and have fostered many dogs over the last few years.  In her lifetime, Ashley had nine foster brothers and sisters and always enjoyed playing with them.

One of Ashley’s favorite activities was to retrieve anything and everything.  Underwear and socks were her particular favorites.  She would grab them on the run and duck under the bed to hide them.  She also loved to play with stuffed toys.  Her favorite was a black and yellow football, which she knew by name.  She was reasonably good at catching the football in her mouth when we threw it, but never learned to catch other toys very well.  She actually tried to catch a frisbee with her feet. 

Ashley wasn’t much on tricks but learned to jump up and retrieve a cap off my head, which she would then play “keep-away” with.  She also loved to “retrieve” her leash and take herself for a walk with the leash in her mouth.  Sometimes she would grab Kappy’s leash and take her along.

Ashley had a special connection with people and loved to get hugs from everyone.   Her two favorite greetings were to either jump up and put her paws on either side of your neck for a hug, or to put her head on the ground in front of you, slide the rest of her body down to the ground, and stick all her feet up in the air in a “body slam”.   She would wiggle all her feet and wait for you to scratch her stomach or give her a hug.  We called her an “angel” because she looked like she was making a snow angel.

In June 1998, Ashley underwent a routine veterinary procedure but had trouble as she came out of the anesthesia. She contracted aspiration pneumonia and spent several days in intensive care at Quail Corners Animal Hospital.   She came home and appeared to be recovering nicely, but then began slowly losing the ability to bark and then to swallow.  She was referred to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital (VSH) where they worked very hard to pinpoint the exact cause of her problems.  During the next three months, despite numerous complications, Ashley continued to recover and her playful personality once again returned.  But the pneumonia was slow in going away and her swallowing problem remained.  On September 21, I dropped her off for an x-ray in the morning, and by the time I returned to pick her up after work, she had lost her ability to walk.   The onset of the problem was swift but there was no apparent cause or treatment.   Through the night her condition worsened and she began to have seizures.  By the next morning, there was nothing more that could be done for her.