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Page 8 The Advocate News (Wilton-Durant, Iowa) Thursday, January 24, 2013

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He was a companion. He was a best friend.


that year due to terminal cancer. He was nearly eight years old. It was devastating and Ill forever remember my mother saying she couldnt have another dog. By Thanksgiving of that year, my mother had The words above are courtesy of the late George Carlin, one of the most famous comedians of all done a 180, or perhaps came full circle and time. He was one of my favorites. One of the rare wanted another dog. She wanted another Stancomedians who would virtually converse with his dard Poodle. Standard Poodles are the biggest audiences rather than just telling joke after joke. of the poodles, which we liked. They also dont Within most of his bits, if one was listening shed, which was a must for our family. The only stipulation from my mom was that we couldnt get close enough, one could find meaning. The passage above includes some quotes from another white one. Her heart was still hurting. Enter Cole, or at that time Carlin during a bit in which should I say the nameless little he spoke about the multiple black ball of fur whom we travdogs he had owned during his eled to Des Moines to get. His lifetime. breeders were from the Sioux I mention the passage this City area and they agreed to week because I come to all of meet our family in Des Moines you with a heavy heart. I menas a midpoint. So I rode with tion it because I too had to deal By Derek Sawvell my mother and upon picking with the inevitable. I too had to up our new puppy, we decided that I would just deal with tragedy. On Jan. 16, I, along with my parents Tami and hold him in my lap during the ride home due to Stan and with the consultation of Dr. Wayne the fact that he seemed so calm in my arms when Budding of Sunset View Pet Hospital in Wilton we picked him up. I draped a few blankets on my lap and he laid made the decision to put one of our family dogs there for the entire two-hour ride home. He never to sleep. Cole (pictured at right) was a black standard made a whimper and never moved. It was in those poodle who, for 11-plus years, was the most lov- early moments we became best friends. Upon arriving home, my grandparents, Don and ing, caring, protective, aware and downright busy dog Ive ever known. And while he was always tall Shirley Steffen of Wilton, visited, knowing we had and thin in stature, he was the strongest dog we the new dog. They asked what we had named him. as a family had ever known this coming from We hadnt decided. As my grandfather looked at him and began interacting with him, he said he a family who used to own Great Danes. Having the pleasure of a fenced in back yard, it was as black as a piece of coal. Thus, Cole had a was not uncommon for Cole to fatally catch squir- name. You have to understand that for me, during rels and birds. We never knew how but it amazed us! Also, when I say he was protective, perhaps the past 11-plus years; as I entered adulthood, I could say OVER protective. It was not uncom- college and the workforce as an only child; as I mon for family friends to come to the house and later moved out of the house after getting the full Cole would have to be corralled in the kitchen time job; as I have yet to get married or have any because if someone he didnt know got too close children the one constant in my adult life has to him or someone in the family, hed let you know always been Cole. He was a companion. He was loyal. He was a he wasnt happy. For the record he never bit or hurt anyone. We best friend. In a period in my life that was always being would properly detain him and let visitors know met with changes, sometimes large steps, he was not to try and play with him. (Ill interject here and say that anyone who the one constant. Although I havent lived at home reads this column consistently or even last week, for years, I would always come see him every day knows that I have a soft spot for animals dogs during my lunch hour. For the last few months, weve been watching especially. As Tami Augustyn whom I profiled last week, the Texas woman who saved a three-year old him begin to deteriorate physically due to old age. dog who had been shot in the face and left to die, On Nov. 18, just more than a month after Coles said, dogs only know how to love unconditionally. 11th birthday, he had a massive seizure in the As I said last week, all they do is love you. For middle of the night. Fortunately I was not there those of you who dont view animals as I do, you to have to see it. This wasnt Coles first seizure. A few years don't know what you're missing.) My family has always owned dogs. In my ago, whenever my mom would take him to the vet lifetime, weve had Great Danes, a Standard or the groomer, he would have seizures. They were Schnauzer, Standard Poodles, and we still have scary and she didnt know what to do. She began Callie, a Golden Doodle (Golden Retriever and wanting to find some kind of drug to essentially slow him down a bit when she knew she had to Standard Poodle mix). After graduating as a senior at Wilton High take him for those kinds of appointments. I stepped in and simply said let me take him. School in 2001, we later had to put our family dog Taz, a white Standard Poodle, down in August of And dont give him anything. He never had anIts inevitable when you buy the pet its going to end badly. Youre purchasing a small tragedy

Case in Point

other seizure. I mentioned he was a busy dog. Yet he was always the most calm with me. (Remember back to day one on that first ride home.) I have always felt that he could feel my ease and calmness around him. He always showed the same to me and for the past few years, he got along just fine when we had to make trips together. When he had the seizure in November, my mother began talking about perhaps it being time to let him go. However, I vowed that as long as he was eating and drinking and had his usual zest for life, I couldnt do it. I wouldnt. During the rest of November, December and then into January, he had his good days and bad. And while he did keep eating and drinking and he did continue to have the drive to live, his body was failing. He lost 40 percent of his body weight due to decreasing muscle mass. It was worst in his back legs and hips. For the past 4-6 weeks, he never really wanted to go to the kitchen, where his bedding and food were, because of the linoleum floor. Due to his failing hips and back legs, it was a treacherous trip to find footing on that slick surface. Yet given all of that, every day when I would come up to take care of the dogs during my lunch break, Cole would brave the ice rink that was the kitchen to come meet me at the stove while I would cook meals. He liked to come up behind me, stick his head and

nose through my legs and wait to be petted. We were both the perfect height for that. No matter what kind of day he (or I) was having, that hour was always a good hour. For every bad thing my parents were glad I didnt see, I wish they could have seen those good hours. However, when I arrived home last Wednesday, he couldnt brave the ice. He was laying on the linoleum rather than his bedding and he couldnt get up. I had to pick him up off the floor and take him to the carpet of the living room where he could find footing. As he walked, his rear left leg wasnt working. It wasnt broken, it just wasnt responding very well. He quickly laid down and for four-plus hours, I stayed with him. Often, he would try to rise but just couldnt. His head was down and he was visibly frustrated. Every time he tried to get up and failed, my heart continued to break. I knew what had to be done. My mother and I took him to see Wayne, a wonderful doctor and friend who always says and does the right things. He told us what we already knew. He said that dogs will always give you 110 percent but the body was just gone. There was nothing that could be done. It was a difficult decision to put him down but it would have been more difficult to watch the most active dog Ive ever seen be succumbed to immobility. I owed him that much.

Reports that we are dying are greatly exaggerated


(Editors note: The following editorial is by Cheryl Wormley in response to a recent piece on 60 Minutes. Wormley is publisher of The Woodstock, Ill., Independent and president of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE). She can be contacted at c.wormley@thewoodstockindependent.com.) Back in 1897, James Ross Clemens was ill. Not-so-careful passing on of information resulted in word that Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, was dying in London. When an enterprising reporter decided to check on Twain before publishing his demise, the author responded, The Cheryl Wormley report of my death was ISWNE President greatly exaggerated. Morley Safer, during his Jan. 6 60 Minutes report about the newspaper industry, glibly stated, The facts of life are that newspapers are folding all over the country. Its a dying business. His example was the New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, which recently cut back from publishing seven days a week to three days, When it comes to newspapers, there are two cousins large metro dailies and community newspapers. The latter includes weeklies and small dailies (publishing three or fewer days a week). Safer as well as reporters and broadcasters from media giants across the United States and around the world owe it to the public and to community newspaper owners and staffers to perform due diligence to determine which of the newspaper cousins is near death and which is alive. Only then, should they should report their findings. It is the large metro daily newspapers, which make up less than 5 percent of all U.S. newspapers, that are struggling from declines in readership and advertising, printing less often or ceasing publication entirely. While it is painful to see our metro-dailynewspaper cousins faltering, we, the community newspapers, are not dying. Like Twain, community newspapers say, Reports of our dying are greatly exaggerated. Much has been published and broadcast about the decline of metro dailies. It is time to shine a spotlight on the health and vigor of community newspapers and on our role in rural and suburban communities across the country. Readership of our newspapers, mostly weeklies, is increasing and new community newspapers are being birthed. That the great investor Warren Buffett bought more than 60 community newspapers in 2012 suggests there is present and future value in the weekly and small-daily arm of the industry. Community newspapers are doing well because people want to read about the actions of their town council and local school board, the results of high school sporting events and whats happening in the business community. Readers turn to community newspapers for public notices, for obituaries and police reports and for engagement, wedding, anniversary and birth announcements. They expect keen and thoughtful editorials as well as a forum for their own opinions letters to the editor. They read the advertisements, look at every photo and clip articles and photos to post on bulletin boards and hang on refrigerators. A 2011 survey by the National Newspaper Association and the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism found that 74 percent of people in areas served by newspapers with circulations under 15,000 read one of those papers each week. They spend nearly 40 minutes reading the paper. Then, they share their newspaper with 2.3 more people. We are watchdogs in our communities. We protect the publics right to know and keep our readers informed about their communities essential elements in a democracy. As 21st century technology keeps enhancing the gathering and dissemination of news and information, community newspapers arent standing idly by. We are in the fray, taking advantage of the immediacy that technology offers. We have developed revenue-producing websites, and we interact with our communities and our readers on email, Facebook and Twitter. Community newspapers are very much alive. As Bill Tubbs, publisher of The North Scott Press and Wilton-Durant Advocate News and a member of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, wrote in an editorial Jan. 16, Morley Safer, youve done us wrong, but heres an offer you cant refuse. Come to Eldridge (Iowa) and spend a week with our staff. Any of the more than 8,000 community weekly newspapers in the U.S. extend a similar invitation not just to Safer but also to everyone who wants to see the healthy cousin. Interview the folks in Freeman, S.D., about the Freeman Courier; the high school students in Pittsfield, Ill., about the Pike Press; the families in Falmouth, Maine, about The Forecaster; the government officials in Espanola, N.M., about the Rio Grande Sun; or the business owners in Woodstock, Ga., about The Cherokee Ledger-News and set the record straight.

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