"Where happy Butterflies work:
Obedience, Rally Obedience & Therapy Dogs"

CDN CH Heads N' Tails Prince of Hearts, RE, CD
January 22, 2000 - November 26, 2008

Rest in Peace, my little friend.

Oscar was a very, very special little dog. He had a heart as big as could be, and a creative, understanding mind and a wonderful soul as well. Oscar was, and still is - my heart dog.

This is a page of "Oscar-isms" - things I wrote about him to my two friends, Jerry & Lois, which helped me get through the initial pain of losing him. (I'm still not over losing him, will probably never be, he was THAT SPECIAL.)

Please enjoy his page -- if you were a friend of Oscar's, and remember something, I'd be glad to add it to this page.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On life in general:

Live it. That was his motto. Live life, have fun. Enjoy yourfriends. Have feelings. In his short 9 years, he made me laugh,made me crazy, made me happy, made me proud, and made me sad at times I was truly honored that he chose to share life with me, and blessed to have had this beautiful, creative, talented little dog in my life.

Thank you, Osky-dosky. I miss you terribly, and will try to keep your lessons in my heart.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On snuggling: He loved to snuggle in the evening. Oscar wasn't so much a lap-sitter, as he was a curl-up-close-as-possible beside me. If I was napping while watching tv, he'd be there with me, usually at my feet or by my ribs, or sometimes on the back of the sofa.

As a puppy, on Flying Through the Air: He would make my heart stop! Racing around the place, from bedroom thru the kitchen, make a loop in the living room, onto the sofa, and over the back to the floor - I often would stop, and hope he didn't break a leg (he never did). He loved to race around, and jump off the sofa. That made me place the sofa against a wall. At least the arm of it wasn't as high as the back.

On leaping 2 feet vertically: One day I placed him in a 2' high pen in the house, and went about cleaning. Like magic, he appeared at my side. I took him back, and thought he must have climbed over (he'd never climbed a barrier before, so that was new). I went just into the next room, where I could watch. Oscar simply levitated himself over, from a standstill . When I said, "Oscar! You're supposed to be in the pen!" - he simply re-levitated back inside it. He had a wonderful sense of humor, that dog. All I could do was laugh - I had no idea he could that!

When I brought Oscar home, he was here in the states for a few days,then we took off for Vernon, BC to a seminar on clicker training.

One evening, after the seminar, I was walking him solo down a street with deserted shops....at one shop, he came to a standstill, and looked at his reflection. And started barking. And continued to bark. He would not stop -- that was the beginning of his 'signature bark style' when he'd get ramped up over something (seeing a strange dog set it off for the longest time!): nose in the air, eyes watching me, and barking his little self silly. He never realized that first dog he barked at was himself!

The litter Oscar was born into were all given call names of Hurricanes...their breeder, Jacqueline, liked hurricanes for some reason.

There was Nixe, Floyd, Oscar and Hazel....and hurricanes they are all. Oscar loves windstorms and rain with wind - he would stand facing into the wind and rain, head high, and his coat ruffling like a sail in the wind. He would be reluctant to come inside, unless he was drenched or the wind whipping so hard it no longer was exciting for him - I will never understand why storms were his passion -- but he was aptly named by his breeder.

If I wasn't feeling well, or he wanted something in particular (play with a special toy or full attention), he'd snuggle up to me, sideways, and give kisses under the chin. That would always get him what he wanted, and it always made me feel better.

On Pouting: If Oscar was denied something, or didn't want his nails done, he'd run into his 'house' and lie with his head on his paws. And glare. And glare.

On nails: He was perfect for trimming his nails until he was 6 months old. Then, a switch flipped, and he hated it. It would take me a week to get all 4 paws trimmed, sometimes I would get one or two nails a night...sometimes a paw. He'd flip over so fast after a nail was done, and that's all he'd do for that session. Put him in position, hold a foot - FLIP - he'd turn over to his left so quickly! After a few years, it became a great game with him, as he was grinning and laughing, eyes bright - it became a contest to see how many nails (or feet) I could get done before giving up with his flips. In the last six months, he settled down and I could get all 4 feet done in 10-15 minutes -- But for many years, it was a struggle sometimes to keep them trimmed.

On detecting migraines: He'd come stand on me, plant his front feet on my chest, and be almost nose-to-nose with me, and stare into my eyes. The first time I didn't know what he was telling me, and the migraine took its toll. The second time, which was a week or two later, I remembered he'd done that just before it came, and was able to take the medication and kept the migraine from materializing.

I've had several since his death. I so miss his predictability! He was a service dog to me in that regard, and enhanced *my* quality of life with far fewer migraines.

On being demo-dog for class: Oscar was the perfect demo dog for my classes. He would do the exercise correctly, then deliberately goof it up. I used his goofs to point out where points were lost on the exercise, why, and how to save the points.  

A few times I handed him off to students to work, because the student just wasn't 'getting it' - either the dog's position, or having trouble handling the dog while trying to concentrate on footwork. They loved 'using' him, because he made it very easy for them to be successful. One student remarked working with him was 'like having power steering'. 

When it was time for him to go into his crate (done with being demo, time for me to concentrate totally on the student's and their dogs), we'd start back toward the crates. About 10' away, he would literally put on the brakes - and keep his front legs stiff. The promise of a cookie always brought him in. He loved his cookies.

On Modeling: Oscar was a great model. If Jerry and Lois wanted something from him - a pose, a look - we'd explain it to him, give him some direction, and "poof" - he'd magically do what was asked. He loved being a model. Heck, Oscar loved being in the spotlight!

Oscar loved the drop on recall. Once he understood to drop to the ground while running to me, it became a favorite game to play.

"Stay"...I walk away....."Come" - he would come flying toward me. My hand signal to drop went from full extension upward, to barely to my shoulder - he was that quick to drop when my hand started upward.

In classes, on matted surfaces, he would slide for several feet when he dropped. (I wondered if that burned his paw pads, but he'd do it over and over....so I don't think it did.) He had that awesome, jaw-dropping drop-slide - I could always hear gasps when he did that from the sideline.

On going for walks: Oscar could never just take a relaxing walk, and walk with me. He had to circle me for most of the walk, always clockwise. circle, circle, circle. When I'd ask him to walk with me, he'd try, he really would...but after a few steps, he'd be back to circling me.

Favorite activities: Oscar loved to herd ducks. We went to Ewe-topia a few times, and he caught onto herding quickly. It was a different activity, and he really, really enjoyed it. I have photos of him herding.

Running. He loved to run as fast as he could, taking large leaps while running. It was fun! 

Fetching balls: He used to fetch the ball, and bring it right back. This year, he'd go after it, then lie down with it between his paws while the younger dogs got a bit tired from fetching...then he'd bring it to me, and it was his turn to play fetch. All he wanted was my undivided attention when we were playing.

If I was feeling blue, or just not right, he'd be worried. He'd often come snuggle up with me, and give me kisses under my chin. If I needed to giggle, he had a way of looking down his nose, eyes almost crossing -- then would flop over and 'squiggle' on his back. Silly boy. One of a kind.

On showing: he loved to be in the ring, he was a show-off. If I was nervous or tense, there were no auto-sits until he got me to relax some, which was accomplished when we'd halt, and he was supposed to sit in heel. Well, he didn't sit in heel - he'd trot out and self-stack like we were in the breed ring, in front of me, grinning and eyes sparkling. If I was really stressed, he'd trot a circle around me, and come back in front to stack. He knew how to de-stress me enough to get a decent performance for us both.

On being happy: Oscar, when he was particularly happy to see someone he really, really liked, would 'fish' them. "Fishing" is best described at bending his body in a "U" shape, left, then right, fairly quickly, while pressing the "U" against the human. He smiled greatly when 'fishing', as if he were bestowing a great honor on the person he was greeting.

On bed-making: He 'supervised'. No, he played at 'supervising'. Trying to change the sheets was a chore. More than once, I put him out and shut the door so I could get done with it. Making the bed was a fun event for Oscar. He'd jump on the bed, and skitter (not run, not jump) around it, under the sheet or blanket I was trying to get on the bed. Of course, he was very funny, poking his paws at the cloth, looking out from under, and when I'd lift up the sheet or blanket, he'd be all over the bed! And we'd start all over,....smoothing what was already down, trying to get the next layer on....

On squiggling: When he was particularly pleased with himself, he'd roll onto his back and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle back and forth (squiggle) with a big grin. He'd also resort to squiggling if I was asking him to do something he didn't wish to do....he was just too darn cute to be upset with for long.

Oscar would often come sit next to me, lay his face against me, and look up. That was his way of asking for attention, drop everything and pet him.  

On Toys: I still have his first two toys, both rabbits - a brown velveteen bunny, in perfect condition, and a white fat bunny with floppy ears he loved to shake, still in pretty good condition. He'd bring me a toy (bunny or ball), and spit it at my feet, and wait with bright little eyes. If I didn't pick it up to toss, he'd get 'antsy' front feet, look down at the toy, pounce on it, step back, and wait...for me to pick it up and toss it for him.

On Play: If I was busy (like lying on the sofa watching tv-busy), he'd come bouncing onto the sofa, and plant his front feet on my tummy. "well, get up, it's time to PLAY" was the message. 

His Memory: One night we went to class at Paws-Abilities, an advanced class. We walked in, put our bag down, and took our place on the floor. A lady with a young - puppy - Cardigan Corgi, went by. The puppy LUNGED at Oscar, with intent to rip him apart. Oscar, naturally, went up on his toes, and went into "air dragon' mode: making a LOT of noise with some movement toward the puppy. From that time on, everytime we went to a show, I had to watch for that person with her stupid dog. As soon as Oscar would see THAT dog, he would come up on his toes and become as tall and authoritative as possible. If the dog was close enough, the "air dragon" would appear. The lady, from the FIRST time her dog lunged at Oscar, determined that Oscar was "vicious". Larry and I knew better, and I stopped going to classes because she would pass by Oscar deliberately.

Oscar was smart enough to know he needed to be a few steps ahead of that dog. I was smart enough to know when to put him behind me for safety, and when to remove him from the area at shows.

This was the only dog Oscar was on the lookout for at shows.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helen, Do you mean you lost Oscar a week ago! I am so sad. You know I always loved Oscar too. Remember when we would put him and Callie together on the long sit and down hoping that Oscar would be a good influence on her. : ) Carlisle

All photographs on this site are copyrighted to the photographer, even if they do not contain a copyright logo.

All articles contained herein are used with permission of the authors.

Website © Firerose Papillons, 1999 - 2009, all rights reserved.

Website revised: 12/31/07 (C) 2009\

Photo (c) Creative Indulgence

All images on this site are copyright of the individual photographers even if they do not contain a copyright image on them.

Please do not download any images for use without the express permisson of the website owner , individual or studio noted.