It was August of 2010, a little over a year since finishing treatment for my recurrence. My husband and I started talking about getting a dog. Our son had taken his hound dog, Murphy back to graduate school with him.
For us it was a bit risky. Taking on a puppy being just one year out of treatment for my recurrence made me a bit nervous. If I had to go back into treatment was that fair to the dog. I had recurred two years after finishing initial treatment for ovarian cancer and the science said if I might recurred it most likely would be sooner. I really didn't know what the future held but we decided to give dog ownership another try.
Once we decided to adopt, we visited the ASPCA in the next county. I wanted a Cavalier King Charles size dog. My husband was open to any medium sized dog and we both knew we wanted a dog with a long nose. Our two prior dogs were a Boston Terrier and a Pug.
We found a smaller hound dog named Kelsey and asked to spend some time with her. We went into the play yard and played catch. She sat when I said sit. She seemed to be a fun and well tempered dog. When we said we wanted to adopt her, we were told we could not because we did not have a fenced in yard. We live in a 55+ community and not allowed to fence our property. They said sorry. We said we were retired and could walk her multiple times a day. They said sorry we can't allow you to adopt her. We were disappointed to say the least.
The next month on a Sunday we decided to go for a ride with no actual destination in mine. We would pick a different road to travel down to explore the area around our home. We didn't know that we would be finding our new best friend that day.
We came home from that road trip with a new dog, complete with a longer nose and floppy ears. We were told she was a a lab /beagle mix. We named her Amber because of the Amber areas on her white body. Little did I know how important a role Amber was to play in my life after cancer.
When we brought her to the local vet for an exam he was positive she was a Jack Russell Terrier mix. He recommended that she go for obedience training at a local kennel that trains dogs and owners. The Vet also told us don't be surprised if her ears end up pointing up . And that is exactly what happened.
After the obedience class, we were given the opportunity to try out some agility equipment. Amber loved the tunnel - she ran right in . Then she jumped on the table. ( Yes, this is allowed in agility.) Those moves changed her life and mine.
We started to train to do agility. What fun we had. No one there knew I was a cancer survivor until years later. These classes allowed me to do something totally unrelated to my cancer diagnosis. It gave me time to not worry about a recurrence or think about cancer. Instead I was worrying about if Amber cleared the jump or made contact at the end of the A frame. We registered Amber with the AKC as a All-American Dog. Her full AKC title was Amber of Ashton. After she was measured (18"), we were able to compete.
Oh what fun we had. We were no way as fast as those Border Collies but we were partners. I called her Ams and she kept me to my promise of cheese or hot dogs after running the course. We competed outside at horse parks and inside at sports arenas from Staten Island to Gloucester County, NJ. And we met lots of other amazing canines and their handlers. Friendships formed. We cheered on our friends who competed on the national level in agility at Westminster.
She was my confidant. I could tell her when I was worried about a test result and why I was sad. When ladies with ovarian cancer would ask me what I did when I had scanxiety ,waiting for CT or CA-125 test results, I would say I take my dog on a long walk. And that is exactly what I would do. When Nick had surgery she made me feel safe at night and that everything would be OK. She was the best listener.
Then she developed a calcium issue cause by an enlarged parathyroid. We stopped competing for a bit after her surgery this happened to coincided with Covid. We competed a few times in 2021 and then she was diagnosed with Cushings Disease and we retired. ( She did achieve the AKC Excellent title in Jumps with Weaves.)
Amber loved to travel. We would put on her harness and she knew she was going for a ride in the car. She was welcome at family and friends homes across the country from PA to Kansas to North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. She was a great traveling dog.
We took lots of long walks around the town and then shorter ones around the neighborhood as she and I aged.
She lost her mobility and her hearing, was having kidney and liver issues along with the Cushings. We had conversations with her vet about her health and quality of life.
Yesterday, after 15+ years my husband and I said goodbye to our best friend. She was so much more than a pet. She was a special girl who helped me get through some rough times. I am heartbroken.
But, I have wonderful memories of all our adventures in the rink and on the
road. She was good for my soul and my survivorship.
I wrote about Amber a few times in my New Year Aspiration blog posts and when I discussed being grateful as well as this one about Parallels ( https://womenofteal.blogspot.com/2022/07/parallels-in-life.html )
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