Melmar’s Rusty Ryder, April 10, 1994 – December 6, 2007

by John and Sherry
(Grand Prairie, Texas)

Rusty

Rusty became part of our family in June of 1994. Before we were married, Sherry and I had both had one or more poodles so we already had a love for the breed. Even at a young age, Rusty had a very strong personality and was the type of poodle who would not let you ignore him. He was also the type of poodle who knew exactly what he wanted and it had to be his way. He was very people oriented and perfectly exemplified the very common breed trait of preferring people to dogs. Sherry said many times that Rusty would have been perfectly happy to be an only dog - he never really established any close pack relationships with any of our other poodles, past and present. Until 1996 when we brought Ivory home and then took in his retired half-sister, Penny, all within a month, he was the only dog and he went just about everywhere with us. Rusty was always a great traveler and liked nothing better to snooze in Sherry’s lap as we drove along the road.

In late 1997, Rusty developed an extremely severe case of pancreatitis that resulted in him having 2 inches of his pancreas removed due to an abcess. He went through a lot of pain and suffering and we came very close to putting him down after the surgery as he could not stay on solid prescription food for very long with having a flare-up. He was such a fighter and had such a strong will to live that we just could not give up on him. We will always be grateful to Dr. Jerry Dittrich in Arlington, Texas who saved Rusty’s life in early 1998 simply by putting him on Purina OM, and a Pepcid A/C daily. While his pancreatic flare-ups did not stop completely, they were few and far between until late 2003 when he had several in a row. Dr. Drittich’s associate at the time suggested that we put him on pancreatic enzyme tablets and he responded wonderfully, not having another flare-up the rest of his life. Unfortunately, the intense pain and trauma of this disease changed his personality and while he was still a sweet little boy, he became much more prone to biting and being very protective of his body, making him a difficult dog to groom.

Rusty had the most varied vocalizations that I have ever experienced and he was not shy about expressing himself. I always especially loved two of his expressions: a throaty “yowup” or a extended, ascending “Rrrooo” that he would just give out at random when he was happy. When he would shake, his tail would move so vigorously that it sounded like a propeller cutting the air. He took his job of policing the backyard very seriously and throughout his life, always made the rounds of the yard before he came in. Before his eyesight starting getting bad, he was one of the most observant dogs I have ever witnessed. Rusty was also just a handsome little poodle. During his younger years, he had a thick, curly top knot and a beautiful coat. His ears were always full and flowing and, even in his last years, they still retained their beauty even though the hair was thinner.

Rusty turned 13 in April of this year and we were very thankful that he was still in good health overall despite his failing eyesight and hearing. Around October, I mentioned to Sherry that he seemed to be getting frailer and showing his age more, but he was still active and enjoying life. The Monday before Thanksgiving, we were having our kitchen remodeled and all four of the dogs were in their crates for their safety while the kitchen was being torn apart. I let them out at lunch and put them back in the crates. When the workers left around 4:30, I went back to let the dogs out again and I immediately saw that something was wrong with Rusty. He was turned upside down in his crate and when I tried to lift him out, he started thrashing wildly. I immediately rushed him to our vet, calling them to let them know that Rusty was having some type of seizure. He calmed down on the trip but was still almost catatonic and not very responsive. Our vet examined him, giving him some valium and when he had not improved, suggested that we should take him to the ER Vet hospital nearby so that he could be monitored all night. Our vet suspected a vestibular system inflammation and also gave him some anti-inflammatory. The ER vets put him on oxygen and he was just not doing very well at all with very labored breathing, but as he always did, he was fighting hard to live. He had quite a bit of fluid on his lungs and he was started on Lasix to help get rid of it. They kept him overnight, on oxygen and an anti-inflammatory IV. The next morning, he had made a remarkable recovery and was ready to eat and drink when we got there. However, we could see that there was some neurological damage and he was not completely normal. He was released to go back to our vet and he spent the rest of the day there and was sufficiently recovered so that he could come back home with us Tuesday night.

Over the next two weeks we could tell that, after his initial rebound, Rusty was slowly failing, getting weaker and losing weight. As a result of the incident, he had lost almost all of his hearing and most of his sight, but he still doggedly made his rounds outside and was active inside the house. He would have times of labored breathing but then would be normal for a day or so. On Thursday, December 6th, when I came home, I saw that Rusty was just not doing well. He ate, but later, his breathing became very labored and he was so weak, he could not do much more than stand. By the time Sherry got home, we knew that it was time to let him go. We took him to the same vet ER and, with tears and heavy hearts, petted and stoked him as he slipped away quietly. We miss him more than words can ever express and our house still seems so empty and incomplete even though it has been over a month now that he has been gone. It is hard to believe that he is really gone and many evenings I look up and instinctively expect see him snoozing in the corner of the den or on the recliner. We love you and miss you little boy. We are glad that we had your companionship for 13 1/2 years