In Memory of Miss Blondie

CH Linea's Blonde Over Blue, CGC, RE

4-23-2002 to 3-26-2016

Blondie, Blondie Blue, Miss Blondie, Blue Blue, The Princess, Queen Mother.....She was known by many names. She really didn't care what you called her as long as you called her to supper regularly*  and your tone had the appropriate respect for her royal status as ruler of the house. 

*And like clock work she would let you know that if it was near time for breakfast or supper. (Unfortunately for her servants her internal clock often ran fast.) 

I will always be thankful to Linda Scott for entrusting her "Blue Blue" with me when Blondie was three.   Blondie had already finished her Championship and had already whelped one litter that produced three champion girls. Linda always teased me that next time I wanted a show puppy I would just buy a puppy. But raising Blondie's second litter taught me even more than any of my previous few litters ever had.   Besides at that time no one would have let me take home the "pick of the litter". I really didn't have enough experience and had never finished a champion. I had just helped a lot of other people finish theirs by standing behind them in the line.   Linda's faith and trust gave me a chance to start higher up the quality genetic scale.

Linda shared a few pictures of Blondie's youth.  I do believe "The Mouth" was one of Linda's other names for the princess.

"Are you sure you made brother Eddie sit in a glass, too?"  questions wee Blondie.

Hanging out on the back deck at Linda's with Eddie Spaghetti

Looking like a show dog.

Then the day came that Linda allowed her to come home with me and two Golden Retrievers in an RV.  Blondie set out on new adventures learning  about camping and hiking.  She earned her Rally Excellent Title but gave up working on her obedience title when she realized it meant that she had to sit 20 feet away from her people and do it without whining or talking back.  Linda had been honest about Blondie's perchance for expressing her opinions.

It took the two Goldens a couple of years but Blondie finally decided that she liked swimming.  After having refused to go in the water, one day at a campground in NC she took the plunge. Maybe because it was a small pond but for whatever reason she watched Herschel and puppy Stuart swimming and headed off across the pond after them.  It was 20-30 minutes before she came back to shore. She just kept swimming laps and chasing a stick or two.  

Blondie always wanted me to get rid of the "whale" pictures of pregnancy. 

What ever it was, she said her deserved it.  

"Is that pesky Stuart pup still following me?" she asked. "Think I will just ignore him. I am the Queen and don't have time for foolishment"  

"I would like to think my son collected these for my comfort but the truth is I think he has a bed hoarding issue we just don't want to face up to,"  whispered Blondie.

 In her later years instead of traveling with me and the rest of the pack as we traveled and/or went to dog shows, she made her claim on my husband and my husband's heart and trained him to look after her with undivided attention.... and frequent trips through Burger King so she could help him cut down on his carbohydrates by eating half his muffin.   Though, I feel certain that she felt she was sharing her muffin with him. She had a bed out in his pottery studio where she could supervise his daily work on the wheel. 

 Here is the proud Grandma looking over a couple of her daughter's children with her son Stuart looking on. 

Blondie and daughter Izzy.

Her body stayed pretty healthy all these years but the last 5-6 months have been a gradual slow decline.   In true English Cocker fashion, she never lost her appetite, but between her loss of hearing, her failing eye sight and growing weakness, she grew more and more restless and uncomfortable with her surroundings during the small amount of time she wasn't sleeping. Her body was with us but her spirit and mind was not. She was ready to hand over her "crown" and rest. Being in charge all these years could wear out even the strongest princess.

       

She is probably trying to organized a few things out at the Rainbow Bridge even as you read this.