Remembering Holly

Hello dear friends,

We have had a very sad week at Carogil Farm.  Last Sunday our sweet Holly crossed the Rainbow Bridge to be with her brother Drakk.  I have a few photos to share that will remind us of the wonderful life that she had here at our farm.

It is hard to believe that Drakk (pictured above left) and Holly (centre) arrived at our farm in 2009!  At the time our very pretty Jessie had just passed away and Kodiak (on the right) became quite depressed.  After consulting with our trainer we were advised to find another dog to keep Kodiak company but within an hour of that conversation our trainer called back to say he had not one but two dogs for us!  As it turned out, Drakk and Holly's owners in the city had decided that they were too busy to look after them and had just called the same trainer looking for help in finding them a good home.  So as is always the case here animals become a part of our family in the oddest of ways.

Holly and Drakk were very bonded to each other and were half brother and sister.  Drakk passed away almost one year ago and Holly has missed him.  After Kodiak passed away we adopted two yellow labs but while Holly tolerated them she really never bonded with them after Drakk's passing.  Dogs go through a grieving process just like humans do.  Some of our dogs have gone through a depression after losing one of their pack members.  Holly didnt show signs of depression but we believe that she missed her brother very much as they have spent their entire lives together.

Such a very pretty girl!  She was also quite big at just over 40 kg and very strong.

The area around our home is fenced and the driveways are gated to prevent our dogs from getting to the road.  Here Holly (left) and Drakk (right) are on a lounging break.  This area is particularly good for keeping an eye on the road and advising passing strangers  and people on horseback to keep moving! 

Holly loved the snow and was not bothered by the cold.  Both she and Drakk loved to play in the snow and when they wanted to rest would just lay down as long as we were outside with them.  When we go inside the dogs always come inside too.

This is a recent photo.  Both Drakk and Holly developed Degenerative Myelopathy, a devastating condition that can affect older dogs.  German Shepherds are prone to the condition which causes weakness in the limbs and ultimately an inability to walk.  We have learned that reputable breeders will test for the DM gene before breeding their dogs but unfortunately there are many other breeders that do not know or care to consider genetic conditions in their breeding programs.  Clearly the breeder that produced both Drakk and Holly did not any testing.  For those that are buying pure bred puppies it is so important to check into the reputation and practices of the breeder to ensure that they are not perpetuating health issues in the breed.

In the meantime our labs Willow and Lucy are adjusting to their fur family being somewhat smaller.   Over the next few weeks we will consider options for introducing another dog into our family so that Lucy wont be alone when it is time for Willow to leave us.

Thank you for visiting.