With the sad news this week that BillinGlendale had lost his beloved Nikki this week, just a few months after losing his other pup, Conni, I asked Bill if he would be willing to share more about his beloved girls with us.
Nikki Crosses the Rainbow Bridge, by BillinGlendale
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
My cocker spaniel Nikki passed away late Sunday night.
Nikki was the sweetest and happiest dog that I’ve ever known. She was always happy and wagging her tail. After the last of our previous pack passed on (a Shih tzu, the other dog was a cocker), we waited several months before starting a new pack. My wife found a private breeder that was selling cockers in West Covina so we made an appointment to visit.
The breeder was an elderly lady and she called the remaining puppy freckles since she had tan and white spots on her nose. We took the puppy home that night and named her Nikki. Conni came to live with us a few weeks later. Nikki loved toys and a good bone. She was really smart and had a great sense of curiosity (I said when she was a puppy that she was more curious than the President). She loved her doggie bed and that’s where she took her last breath.
The photos at the link below show Nikki throughout her life, starting as a puppy in 2007 and ending with the last two photos I took of her this time last year. Both girls stopped eating their regular meals last fall (I think there was a problem with their food) and Nikki developed glaucoma. We though we’d found some food that she liked the past few weeks but she ate her last meal Friday morning and developed digestive discomfort Saturday. Sunday night, she was gone.
?
Conni Crosses the Rainbow Bridge, by BillinGlendale
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
My Yorkshire Terrier/Pomeraniian mix passed away in late February.
Conni came to live with us when Nikki (the cocker) was about 3 months old and had been with us for about a month. A friend of madame knew someone that couldn’t keep her dog (this same friend provided half of our previous pack in a similar fashion) and we went over to pick up this black ball of fur named Blanco. We renamed her Conni (no ‘e’) since Blanco didn’t seem fitting for a dog with black fur and no ‘e’ to match Nikki.
Conni must have not been in a multi dog household because she wanted to eat in a more leisurely fashion, not realizing that if she left food, it would be eaten by an always hungry Cocker Spaniel.
I used to walk my pack along the local main drag where we lived in the community we lived in in North Glendale, the comments I’d get about Conni from adults was “What kind of dog is that?” and from children “Toto!”.
Conni hated trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. If any of these would pass her, she’d start barking until they went away.
Conni would wander off sometimes…early one morning, I was still awake and noticed that Conni wasn’t around. I looked everywhere for her: in the back of the house, out in the yard out front, and even outside the gate. It was about 3am and I’m calling for the little girl. I went out back for about the third time and heard the jingle of the bells on her collar. The landlord had folk doing work under the house and left the access open and Conni decided to explore. I put a Tile tracker on her collar after that.
Conni didn’t seem to get the concept that going to bed at night meant going to sleep. When we’d go to bed, Nikki likes to get under the covers and sleep, until she gets hot and then sticks her head out and finally sleeps on top of the covers. Conni saw it as party time, would wander around and eventually want to get down and go out (we’d already just gone out before bedtime). I’d lay there sleepless until I heard her come back in the doggie door. Then she’d want me to help her back into bed.
Conni was queen of the pack, and let Nikki know her place.
Conni and Nikki were loved.
Click the links for the wonderful photo galleries and more about Nikki and Conni.
But since this is a dog thread, I thought the BJers would be pleased to learn that all those outrage stories about massive surrenders of pandemic pups turns out to be… not true.
Yes, there were more dog surrenders in April 2021 than in April 2020, but that’s because in April 2020 most of the shelters were closed! The April 2021 number is less than the April 2019 number. So most people who adopted a dog during the pandemic are learning to adjust to dog ownership in somewhat post-pandemic conditions.
10.
Baud
Those were two very lucky dogs.
11.
laura
Oh BillinGlendale, I’m so sorry for the loss of your wee boon companions. They were lovely – and dearly loved. It’s been a hard year or so of saying goodbye amongst the jackal pack.
@Omnes Omnibus: That one was taken with the 3D lens on my camera.
@raven: The past year or so has been a shit sandwich sans bread.
@MomSense: Thanks, it’s the worst when I get home from a shoot(like early this morning) and there’s no one here.
13.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know, we managed to handle Bohdi up and down the stairs at the beach and now it’s in the 90’s here and he struggles outside. I’m glad we got new Hvac for the boy.
14.
debbie
I miss so much stuff here, including this very, very sad news. I’m so sorry for what you are going through right now.
Nikki and Conni had such great little lives with you, but it is never long enough. I know you miss them tremendously, and hope that another pup or two will be lucky enough to be photo models soon, when you are ready.
All the good pets are irreplaceable, and have their unique little quirks. Sorry to hear of their passing. Great photos. Neglected. Yer pups were not.
That’s part of why I like to have threads like this one, and Amir’s love letter to his beloved Bianca. We can share the sorrow at the loss and the joy of life with our furry guys.
@zhena gogolia: My old roommate from college moved back to Champaign several years ago. They stayed with me for 6 weeks while waiting for a house to be available.
My dog and cat and her two pups all hung out together, and really bonded. We called them the pack and we loved them all like they were our own.
Not much more than a year later, we had lost 3 of the 4. It was beyond heartbreaking.
I’m going to piggyback – I lost one of the best dogs ever end of March. Lotte was the first small dog that I’d ever taken up with, but not the last – Maisie, her grand niece, kept me anchored.
30.
eclare
I’m so sorry. You’ve put together a loving tribute to your adorable furballs. I lost my Sophie in September 2019, now that things are opening up, I’m going to stick my toe back in.
@debbie: I mentioned it in a dying thread last Sunday night right after she died, so easy to overlook.
@Elizabelle: Thanks, oddly enough I didn’t take that many photos of them because I really don’t know how to take photos of animals.
@WaterGirl: When I used to come home from a shoot, I’d hear Nikki barking, she could hear the alarm on my car. This morning, all was quiet. I went to Anza Borrego last night with a group of other photographers.
We lost the members of our last pack in a similar timeframe: Wendy, the cocker, passed away in July of 2006 and Nari, the Shih Tzu died in October.
33.
CaseyL
What a lovely pair of pups! Sounds like it was lively, keeping tabs on them, between Nikki’s curiosity and Conni’s wanderlust.
Always heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to those small lively and lovely sparks in our lives.
My condolences!
34.
Zelma
So very sorry. Our pets are family and losing one is so painful. Losing two in such short order can only hurt much more. The pictures are so sweet.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Whenever you’re ready, you’ll have the next generation pack. Never the same, of courses. But for me, my house with no dogs feels terribly wrong.
I’m so sorry about Nikki and Conni. They were beautiful girls. I lost Heidi, my older girl in the end of October last year and then I lost my younger dog, Gracie Lou, in the beginning of April this year. I am all to familiar with that particular sorrow. Your girls were very lucky, they had you. It was probably like winning the doggie Powerball.
I think you underestimate your picture taking skills with dogs. Those were all great pictures.
40.
Just One More Canuck
my condolences, Bill
41.
Catherine D.
So sorry! My cat Jeeves is in that in between stage of life. Best thing about COVID is that I’m at home with him more than not.
@Catherine D.: Nothing was more precious than the time I had with my kitty soulmate after he was diagnosed with kidney failure. I was so grateful that I was working from home.
We spent endless hours together on the couch, with him snuggled up against me while I worked and then even more time when I was done with work.
Sometimes I think the the more we have to care for them… we love them even more, which hardly seems possible.
44.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
I’m so sorry for the loss of your pups
45.
Juju
@Elizabelle: Thank you. They were a wonderful pair and I’m glad I had them even though it wasn’t as long as I had hoped it would be.
46.
Villago Delenda Est
These two departed canines are star power equal to Bill E’s wonderful photos of the cosmos.
47.
raven
@WaterGirl: Yes, the dude said 2 weeks recovery and it’s no telling how long the boy will last so we think it’s best to go ahead. They said 2-3 weeks to get it scheduled so I should know more tomorrow.
48.
Death Panel Truck
Cockers are the best. There are two of them lying on my living room floor right now – a black and tan, and a buff and white parti. Chico and Harpo. We call them the Barx Brothers.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s funny because we made the decision for Lil Bit and she died the day we were going to leave for the beach and they were going to start. I couldn’t go so soon after so we delayed and they put it in that next week.
I’ve seen that dozens of times. It always makes me cry.
55.
sab
I have my late uncle’s 13 year old cocker. Uncle got him, at his wife’s insistence, when she was dying of cancer. She was afraid he would be lonely. It was a good choice for him. But then he died ten years later and left his poor little guy bereft.
Hard on the owner, but the happiest pets are the ones like Bill’s, that live their whole life with one loving family.
56.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: And I’m trying to watch basketball and golf at the same time!!!
57.
raven
@sab: I dunno, someone dumped Lil Bit when she was about 3. She was with us most of her life but not all.
@Zelma: It is worse with Nikki since after Conni died she was still here.
@SiubhanDuinne: They were quite a pair. Dogs have their favorite human, for Conni it was me, for Nikki it was my wife to the point of obsession.
@WaterGirl: Things are so unsettled right now, that may not be possible. If I can stay here, maybe; if I can’t, nope. Finding rentals that allow pets is very hard.
@Juju: I think we’re the lucky ones in the relationship, they don’t demand too much. Most of those shots are just snapping pictures, sometimes they were test shots.
@raven: You are right. Rescues in a good home are also very happy, but they have that edge of knowing that thinks aren’t always perfect and once were worse.
I had a rescue puppy that lived with me for almost all of her 14 years, but she always remembered the week as a tiny puppy lost in the snow in February. We live next to a thousand acre metropark. She was afraid to go (on leash with me) beyond where she could see houses. She would beg me to go back to civilization.
@Catherine D.: I’ve tried to keep my photo shoots closer to home the last few months, not just due to COVID. Even when they were healthy taking them on shoots was a problem. I took them on one shoot at Joshua Tree and Nikki barfed twice in the car.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: we’ve decided not to take Bohdi to the vet unless we have to. We talked to some home service folks already.
66.
Kristine
I am so sorry. Such sweet pupsters.
67.
Mel
Oh, Bill – I am so sorry about your girls.
Thank you for sharing the photos – their personalities shine right through the screen. I love the photo of Conni with her shorter cut and her blue collar. Her eyes are sparkling with mischief and curiosity, and she looks ready to take on the world.
It’s easy to see that both of your lovely girls knew that they were so very loved, and that they adored their people right back.
@Raven: With Nikki it was more to find out why she was barfing, but the vet’s office is closed on Saturday now(our vet’s getting up there in age, though he looks exactly the same as he did 30 years ago).
@Kristine: Thanks, they were the best. I used to say to a fellow photographer, “My girls are the best”, they were.
@Mel: Thanks, that picture of Conni is after her first trip to the groomer after coming to live with us.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know. It’s a lot harder to miss when it’s a front page post. :-) And I thought everyone would want to know.
74.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh I did not mean to ask or put pressure on you, only you know what is best. It’s been almost two years for me, and I’m just now thinking about it. That was it. Thank you so much for sharing Conni and Nikki with us.
75.
Elizabelle
May we have a general Open Thread before Medium Cool goes up? Just for catch all discussion.
76.
ThresherK
Condolences from our home to yours, Bill.
77.
Yutsano
@Elizabelle: Agreed. A lot is happening right now.
78.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yea, same with Lil Bit. We have a vet school here so we dropped 3k for an ultrasound that confirmed the worst.
Condolences again Bill. You gave them all they ever ask for: a safe home, food, and love; and for them that’s what heaven is.
81.
UncleEbeneezer
So sorry for your losses. I’m still a mess from losing our doggie Juniper back in August. Can’t even imagine losing two beloved friends in one year. Be good to your self.
82.
Odie Hugh Manatee
My condolences, Bill… losing our furry friends hurts so much. Beautiful doggos.
Sorry I didn’t reply to everyone’s comments earlier, I had to take a nap, I was up all night shooting at Anza Borrego and it was 8 hours of driving to get there and back.
@NotoriousJRT: Thank you, it’s a strange feeling being the only being here.
@Joy in FL: Our last cocker lived for almost 16 years, so I guess that was the hope with Nikki, her 14th b-day was January 9th(Nixon’s b-day).
@WaterGirl: Yeah, totally understandable. My comment was on one of AL’s late night threads, since she passed a bit before 11pm here on the west coast.
@eclare: No problem, I’m getting asked the same question by a lot of folk, even the landlord when he stopped by on Friday for something else and I mentioned that they’d died.
@raven: More treatment was an option with Conni, but the prognosis wasn’t very good and we never got pet insurance. We know how old Nikki was, Conni we just had the vet’s estimate, so she could have a couple of years older.
@satby: Don’t forget the walks and rides. Even as Nikki got weaker, she wanted walks.
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks, we lost the members of our last pack within 3 months of each other. After Wendy(our previous cocker) passed, our Nari(the Shih Tzu) who’d had problems with mobility in his hind legs, developed problems with his front legs too.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Bill, I’m so sorry about your loss. Losing one pet is painful , but two in short time is tragic. Allow yourself sometime to grieve, and hugs to you.
87.
Wanderer
So sorry for your losses. It is heartbreaking. They had wonderful lives with you.
88.
sherparick
So sorry. I wish I could tell you it will hurt less, but my Queenie (beagle/terrier mix) went over the Rainbow Bridge 43 years ago & I still get tears in my eyes when I think of her. Lots of other great companions, mostly cats (as spouse is a cat person), who have all been unique characters & wonderful companions. I have noticed when you more than one at near the same age they go on for years of happiness & health, but then all seem to get ill at once. My condolences & thoughts & hope it works out to bring some new friends into a good home.
@JPL: Thank you for your kind thoughts, the quiet here is a bit unnerving.
@Wanderer: Thank you, I think they did have a good life here, but they brought great joy to ours.
@sherparick: Thank you, with these two, I really think that something was wrong with their food. Maybe it was stale from not having as many sales with COVID, I’m not sure.
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Omnes Omnibus
Picture 30 of Nikki is my favorite.
raven
Aw man, no words.
MomSense
Oh Bill I’m so sorry.
trollhattan
Oof, tough year. So sorry you’ve lost your friends. Nikki looks impossibly sweet. :-(
Yutsano
What can one say at a time like this? I know their memories will stay with you guys forever.And may the memories always be joyous.
West of the Cascades
My heart breaks for you. Thank you for sharing your memories of these lovely pups.
zhena gogolia
Oh, they are so precious. I’m very sorry
ETA: I love the photos of them together.
rikyrah
So sorry for your loss??????
They were gorgeous animals
JoyceH
Oh, I am so sorry!
But since this is a dog thread, I thought the BJers would be pleased to learn that all those outrage stories about massive surrenders of pandemic pups turns out to be… not true.
https://newswwc.com/united-states/no-people-are-not-returning-pandemic-dogs-in-droves/
Yes, there were more dog surrenders in April 2021 than in April 2020, but that’s because in April 2020 most of the shelters were closed! The April 2021 number is less than the April 2019 number. So most people who adopted a dog during the pandemic are learning to adjust to dog ownership in somewhat post-pandemic conditions.
Baud
Those were two very lucky dogs.
laura
Oh BillinGlendale, I’m so sorry for the loss of your wee boon companions. They were lovely – and dearly loved. It’s been a hard year or so of saying goodbye amongst the jackal pack.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: That one was taken with the 3D lens on my camera.
@raven: The past year or so has been a shit sandwich sans bread.
@MomSense: Thanks, it’s the worst when I get home from a shoot(like early this morning) and there’s no one here.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know, we managed to handle Bohdi up and down the stairs at the beach and now it’s in the 90’s here and he struggles outside. I’m glad we got new Hvac for the boy.
debbie
I miss so much stuff here, including this very, very sad news. I’m so sorry for what you are going through right now.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: Thanks, it’s been difficult.
@Yutsano: Thanks, I try to remember the good times, but sometimes that makes thing more difficult. It’ll get better over time.
@West of the Cascades: Thanks.
Elizabelle
Nikki and Conni had such great little lives with you, but it is never long enough. I know you miss them tremendously, and hope that another pup or two will be lucky enough to be photo models soon, when you are ready.
All the good pets are irreplaceable, and have their unique little quirks. Sorry to hear of their passing. Great photos. Neglected. Yer pups were not.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Coming home is the worst. No faces in the doorway or faces in the window, no wagging butts.
I am really sorry for your loss. Make that plural.
I’ve been there. One loss after another isn’t additive, it’s exponential.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
Yes — we still aren’t over losing our last two cats within a week of each other in 2017.
WaterGirl
@debbie: It’s so easy to miss news like this.
That’s part of why I like to have threads like this one, and Amir’s love letter to his beloved Bianca. We can share the sorrow at the loss and the joy of life with our furry guys.
Healing for all of us.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: My old roommate from college moved back to Champaign several years ago. They stayed with me for 6 weeks while waiting for a house to be available.
My dog and cat and her two pups all hung out together, and really bonded. We called them the pack and we loved them all like they were our own.
Not much more than a year later, we had lost 3 of the 4. It was beyond heartbreaking.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Thanks!
WaterGirl
@raven: Did I see that you are going ahead with the surgery, rather than waiting as originally planned?
TomatoQueen
Bill, thank you for posting your thoughts and pics of your pack, aka Those Sweeties. Loved and missed.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: They were really a pair when I’d walk them on the tandem leash, with Nikki pulling Conni along.
@rikyrah: They were special.
@JoyceH: Thanks.
Benw
So sorry, man. They were good doggos and you gave each other good lives.
MagdaInBlack
It never ceases to amaze me how deeply they burrow in to our hearts. Beautiful pooches, they were. I’m sorry for your losses.
J R in WV
Sorry for your loss, Bill. Also, too, everyone else’s lost pups and kittens.
They are so good to us, and are always gone way too soon.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I was lucky to have them.
@laura: Thanks, too many goodbyes.
@raven: Good you got the HVAC done before the warm weather, the cocker in our last pack started going downhill fast when we had a hot spell.
DocH
I’m going to piggyback – I lost one of the best dogs ever end of March. Lotte was the first small dog that I’d ever taken up with, but not the last – Maisie, her grand niece, kept me anchored.
eclare
I’m so sorry. You’ve put together a loving tribute to your adorable furballs. I lost my Sophie in September 2019, now that things are opening up, I’m going to stick my toe back in.
There is no joy coming home to a dogless house.
zhena gogolia
@DocH:
Very sweet.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: I mentioned it in a dying thread last Sunday night right after she died, so easy to overlook.
@Elizabelle: Thanks, oddly enough I didn’t take that many photos of them because I really don’t know how to take photos of animals.
@WaterGirl: When I used to come home from a shoot, I’d hear Nikki barking, she could hear the alarm on my car. This morning, all was quiet. I went to Anza Borrego last night with a group of other photographers.
We lost the members of our last pack in a similar timeframe: Wendy, the cocker, passed away in July of 2006 and Nari, the Shih Tzu died in October.
CaseyL
What a lovely pair of pups! Sounds like it was lively, keeping tabs on them, between Nikki’s curiosity and Conni’s wanderlust.
Always heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to those small lively and lovely sparks in our lives.
My condolences!
Zelma
So very sorry. Our pets are family and losing one is so painful. Losing two in such short order can only hurt much more. The pictures are so sweet.
SiubhanDuinne
What sweet pups.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Whenever you’re ready, you’ll have the next generation pack. Never the same, of courses. But for me, my house with no dogs feels terribly wrong.
WereBear
They knew they were loved. And loved back.
Benw
@DocH: sorry to hear that. It’s hard
Juju
I’m so sorry about Nikki and Conni. They were beautiful girls. I lost Heidi, my older girl in the end of October last year and then I lost my younger dog, Gracie Lou, in the beginning of April this year. I am all to familiar with that particular sorrow. Your girls were very lucky, they had you. It was probably like winning the doggie Powerball.
I think you underestimate your picture taking skills with dogs. Those were all great pictures.
Just One More Canuck
my condolences, Bill
Catherine D.
So sorry! My cat Jeeves is in that in between stage of life. Best thing about COVID is that I’m at home with him more than not.
Elizabelle
@Juju: My condolences on Heidi and Gracie Lou.
WaterGirl
@Catherine D.: Nothing was more precious than the time I had with my kitty soulmate after he was diagnosed with kidney failure. I was so grateful that I was working from home.
We spent endless hours together on the couch, with him snuggled up against me while I worked and then even more time when I was done with work.
Sometimes I think the the more we have to care for them… we love them even more, which hardly seems possible.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
I’m so sorry for the loss of your pups
Juju
@Elizabelle: Thank you. They were a wonderful pair and I’m glad I had them even though it wasn’t as long as I had hoped it would be.
Villago Delenda Est
These two departed canines are star power equal to Bill E’s wonderful photos of the cosmos.
raven
@WaterGirl: Yes, the dude said 2 weeks recovery and it’s no telling how long the boy will last so we think it’s best to go ahead. They said 2-3 weeks to get it scheduled so I should know more tomorrow.
Death Panel Truck
Cockers are the best. There are two of them lying on my living room floor right now – a black and tan, and a buff and white parti. Chico and Harpo. We call them the Barx Brothers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: Wow that’s really close together, belated condolences.
@WaterGirl: As I noted, I mentioned it right after she passed so it was really late Sunday night/Monday morning.
@TomatoQueen: Thanks, really missed.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s funny because we made the decision for Lil Bit and she died the day we were going to leave for the beach and they were going to start. I couldn’t go so soon after so we delayed and they put it in that next week.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Benw: We tried our best, they were very good pups.
@MagdaInBlack: Thanks you.
@J R in WV: Much too soon.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: From all the dogs we take care of
I wish I could talk to you
Trigger warning.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@DocH: Sorry to hear about your loss of Lotte.
@eclare: Folk have already been asking if I’ll get a new doggie, I’ve got a lot of turmoil in my life right now, so I don’t know.
@CaseyL: I worried most about Conni since we have wild animals here(even in the city) and she wouldn’t back down from a fight.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I’ve seen that dozens of times. It always makes me cry.
sab
I have my late uncle’s 13 year old cocker. Uncle got him, at his wife’s insistence, when she was dying of cancer. She was afraid he would be lonely. It was a good choice for him. But then he died ten years later and left his poor little guy bereft.
Hard on the owner, but the happiest pets are the ones like Bill’s, that live their whole life with one loving family.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: And I’m trying to watch basketball and golf at the same time!!!
raven
@sab: I dunno, someone dumped Lil Bit when she was about 3. She was with us most of her life but not all.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Zelma: It is worse with Nikki since after Conni died she was still here.
@SiubhanDuinne: They were quite a pair. Dogs have their favorite human, for Conni it was me, for Nikki it was my wife to the point of obsession.
@WaterGirl: Things are so unsettled right now, that may not be possible. If I can stay here, maybe; if I can’t, nope. Finding rentals that allow pets is very hard.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WereBear: Thanks.
@Juju: I think we’re the lucky ones in the relationship, they don’t demand too much. Most of those shots are just snapping pictures, sometimes they were test shots.
@Just One More Canuck: Thanks.
sab
@raven: You are right. Rescues in a good home are also very happy, but they have that edge of knowing that thinks aren’t always perfect and once were worse.
I had a rescue puppy that lived with me for almost all of her 14 years, but she always remembered the week as a tiny puppy lost in the snow in February. We live next to a thousand acre metropark. She was afraid to go (on leash with me) beyond where she could see houses. She would beg me to go back to civilization.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Catherine D.: I’ve tried to keep my photo shoots closer to home the last few months, not just due to COVID. Even when they were healthy taking them on shoots was a problem. I took them on one shoot at Joshua Tree and Nikki barfed twice in the car.
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Thanks.
@Villago Delenda Est: They were stars.
Amir Khalid
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
They were sweet and beautiful girls. RIP Nikki and Conni.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Death Panel Truck: Nikki is our second cocker, they are really nice dogs.
@raven: Nikki probably would have gone to the vet last Monday and we’d have had to make the decision then, but she passed in her bed.
@sab: Nikki was with us since she was a puppy, Conni had other homes before us.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Thanks, Amir.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: we’ve decided not to take Bohdi to the vet unless we have to. We talked to some home service folks already.
Kristine
I am so sorry. Such sweet pupsters.
Mel
Oh, Bill – I am so sorry about your girls.
Thank you for sharing the photos – their personalities shine right through the screen. I love the photo of Conni with her shorter cut and her blue collar. Her eyes are sparkling with mischief and curiosity, and she looks ready to take on the world.
It’s easy to see that both of your lovely girls knew that they were so very loved, and that they adored their people right back.
eclare
@raven: Oh yeah, I have that cartoon saved.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: With Nikki it was more to find out why she was barfing, but the vet’s office is closed on Saturday now(our vet’s getting up there in age, though he looks exactly the same as he did 30 years ago).
@Kristine: Thanks, they were the best. I used to say to a fellow photographer, “My girls are the best”, they were.
@Mel: Thanks, that picture of Conni is after her first trip to the groomer after coming to live with us.
NotoriousJRT
My heart goes out to you.
WaterGirl
@raven: Let us know what you find out.
Joy in FL
Thank you for writing about your wonderful dogs. They hold and share so much love.
I’m sorry they couldn’t stay with you for many more years.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know. It’s a lot harder to miss when it’s a front page post. :-) And I thought everyone would want to know.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh I did not mean to ask or put pressure on you, only you know what is best. It’s been almost two years for me, and I’m just now thinking about it. That was it. Thank you so much for sharing Conni and Nikki with us.
Elizabelle
May we have a general Open Thread before Medium Cool goes up? Just for catch all discussion.
ThresherK
Condolences from our home to yours, Bill.
Yutsano
@Elizabelle: Agreed. A lot is happening right now.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yea, same with Lil Bit. We have a vet school here so we dropped 3k for an ultrasound that confirmed the worst.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: Medium Cool has moved to Thursdays for the summer.
satby
Condolences again Bill. You gave them all they ever ask for: a safe home, food, and love; and for them that’s what heaven is.
UncleEbeneezer
So sorry for your losses. I’m still a mess from losing our doggie Juniper back in August. Can’t even imagine losing two beloved friends in one year. Be good to your self.
Odie Hugh Manatee
My condolences, Bill… losing our furry friends hurts so much. Beautiful doggos.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Sorry I didn’t reply to everyone’s comments earlier, I had to take a nap, I was up all night shooting at Anza Borrego and it was 8 hours of driving to get there and back.
@NotoriousJRT: Thank you, it’s a strange feeling being the only being here.
@Joy in FL: Our last cocker lived for almost 16 years, so I guess that was the hope with Nikki, her 14th b-day was January 9th(Nixon’s b-day).
@WaterGirl: Yeah, totally understandable. My comment was on one of AL’s late night threads, since she passed a bit before 11pm here on the west coast.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eclare: No problem, I’m getting asked the same question by a lot of folk, even the landlord when he stopped by on Friday for something else and I mentioned that they’d died.
@ThresherK: Thanks much.
@raven: More treatment was an option with Conni, but the prognosis wasn’t very good and we never got pet insurance. We know how old Nikki was, Conni we just had the vet’s estimate, so she could have a couple of years older.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: Don’t forget the walks and rides. Even as Nikki got weaker, she wanted walks.
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks, we lost the members of our last pack within 3 months of each other. After Wendy(our previous cocker) passed, our Nari(the Shih Tzu) who’d had problems with mobility in his hind legs, developed problems with his front legs too.
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Thank you.
JPL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Bill, I’m so sorry about your loss. Losing one pet is painful , but two in short time is tragic. Allow yourself sometime to grieve, and hugs to you.
Wanderer
So sorry for your losses. It is heartbreaking. They had wonderful lives with you.
sherparick
So sorry. I wish I could tell you it will hurt less, but my Queenie (beagle/terrier mix) went over the Rainbow Bridge 43 years ago & I still get tears in my eyes when I think of her. Lots of other great companions, mostly cats (as spouse is a cat person), who have all been unique characters & wonderful companions. I have noticed when you more than one at near the same age they go on for years of happiness & health, but then all seem to get ill at once. My condolences & thoughts & hope it works out to bring some new friends into a good home.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Thank you for your kind thoughts, the quiet here is a bit unnerving.
@Wanderer: Thank you, I think they did have a good life here, but they brought great joy to ours.
@sherparick: Thank you, with these two, I really think that something was wrong with their food. Maybe it was stale from not having as many sales with COVID, I’m not sure.