We adopted Windy thru a friend (Sandy McMillan) who had rescued her from an animal kill "shelter" (talk about an oxymoron!) almost 10 years ago. Sandy sent us a picture of her where all her ribs were sticking out & yet you could tell she was a beautiful dog and we were hooked. At first, she was extremely skittish & afraid of most everything & everyone. She would hide her food around the house and if you came into the room where she was hiding it, she would move it someplace else. With love and tenderness, she came out of her shell to become a friendly, joyful dog.
Dressed up for a special occasion!
And she was smart too! With Margi, she passed her TD (Tracking Dog) test even though she wasn't as much of a retriever as our previous Labradors (the
terrier in her, I'm sure). While she didn't seem to enjoy tracking, she did it for Margi. After four failed tests, Margi worked with her but didn't enter her into another test for over a year. Then, after passing a surprise qualifying test, she passed her TD test on her 5th attempt.
She learned to heel off-leash, sit & stay quickly and then after a few years, I entered her into an AKC obedience (CD - Companion Dog) trial. As neither of us had any experience with these, we went a couple times to a simulated test set up by our dog club. I thought she did well, although I made many mistakes. One of the long-time club members privately told Margi there was "no way we would pass." You need three passes to earn that title. We went to the dog test one weekend - two tests on Saturday & one on Sunday. Not only did we pass all three tests to get the title, we tied for 2nd place on our second run (only because a mistake by me dropped us into the tie).
At the dog show
Waiting for her next command
The first time she was ever on our boat, she acted as if she had grown up on a boat. She was very much at ease and comfortable on it. Even so, I had not planned to take her on this adventure initially as I was worried about what might happen to her. Then, when I moved onto the boat, Margi said Windy needed to go as well. I was worried that we would be encountering
situations, places, island countries, etc. that were unfamiliar & I was concerned about having to worry about a dog as well as the boat & crew. It turns out those concerns were totally unfounded and we all did great!
Except not liking when we were pounding into waves - with the associated
noise - she did wonderfully on the boat.
Squeezed into her favorite passage spot under the helm
Her alternate passage spot when the helm was in the sun
Although, when we had calmer seas - with the wind behind us, she preferred to be out on deck checking out where we were going.
Besides being a terrific companion, she looked out for possible intruders and never hesitated to run out into the cockpit barking at whatever she perceived as a possible threat. So we always knew when someone was coming up to visit (or even just driving past. However, there are many of the bays where there are "boat boys" - guys who come around to help with anything you might need (take away garbage, deliver bread or ice or fruits/vegetables, etc.). While we never worried about these folks messing around with the boat, it was a comfort to go to shore and know Windy was guarding the boat. And none of the locals wanted to get close to the boat when she was out barking!
Her favorite guard spot - in the shade with a view all around the boat
Naturally, from her observation post, she would see us coming back to the boat from across the anchorage and would always head back to the stern to greet us.
When my trivia team won at Trivia at Prickly Bay Marina, she was invited along on our dinghy donut rides as everyone's favorite mascot too.
She was a hit with all the cruisers we encountered. The kids especially loved to play with her & pet her. And she tolerated all of it.
This is Natasha from the boat Nauticat, who loved Windy and always wanted to come see her, walk her or play with her.
Of course, she wanted to be taken to shore for a walk twice a day because
she refused to do her toilet duties on the bow even though we tried over &
over to convince her it was ok to do so. Although, that did force Margi & I
to walk more than we might have otherwise.
The kayak was her favorite mode of travel
In early June, we noticed that her belly was swollen, she was lethargic and
had no appetite. Since we were taking her to shore where there were several
dogs running free (& people feeding them as it was a favorite picnic spot
for the locals), we thought maybe she had gulped down something bad for her. A couple of days later she seemed to be fine (although her belly was still
somewhat swollen). A week or so later, she had another short episode, which
concerned us more, except she seemed fine the next day.
When the same symptoms reappeared (for a day or two) again, we knew we
needed to get her to a vet.
So we cut our plans short & rushed back to Grenada to get her to the St George University Vet clinic (probably the best place in the E Caribbean to take her). After a full battery of tests, they found she had a tumor in her spleen, which was bleeding - hence the swollen belly due to blood inside her. They also found that the tumor had metastasized to her lungs. With all this & considering her age, they said surgery was not a feasible option - that all we could do was take her home and make her comfortable. They did give us some pills to ease any pain she had.
This was Friday afternoon. She was fine on Saturday - good appetite & wanted to go for her regular walks, although we didn't go nearly as far as we used to go. On Sunday she was a bit lethargic, but I took her into shore for a very short walk and then she sat with me as I watched a movie at Prickly Bay Marina. I got ice cream afterwards and while she's always begged to lick the cup, she wasn't interested in it.
She passed away around midnight that evening.
We're still dealing with her loss - expecting to see her great us as we motor up to the boat or gulp the the occasional scrap of food we may drop on the floor. Even though we've had three other dogs, it never gets easier to lose one. We had almost 10 good, fun years with her - years she might never have had if she weren't adopted. And - as with all our pets - she will be with us in our hearts forever.
A couple parting thoughts for our dear, departed, faithful companion.