Bessy

                                            Photo by Stacie Knudtsen

I have tried writing this post a few different times.  No matter what I write, there's no way to put into words what Bess means to me.  And inevitably, it gets more personal than I feel like sharing. 

I did put together a video of pictures through the years.  The majority of it is chronological.  Towards the end of the video, things are a little out of order because I wasn't saving pictures in as meticulous of an order as I have previously, but it gets back in order.  After completing the file I realized that there were a bunch more pictures that I had left out.  Unfortunately, the way that I created the file, it wouldn't be quite so simple to just add them into the bunch, so I left things as is.

I started to put together a video of a variety of clips that I have of her through the years, but that became a VERY lengthy video and honestly, it became something that was only for me. 

Without further ado, here's Bessy:

And the eulogy that her breeder put together:  "It is with great sadness that I let everyone know of the passing of Lindsay's "Bess". Everyone who knew Lindsay and Bess, either in person or as a facebook friend, knew what a special bond those two had.

Bess came into Lindsay's life as an older puppy. Sired by Elizabeth's Diesel (who also, sadly, recently passed over to the Rainbow Bridge) and out of Metta and Karl's Abby, she was sold as a puppy into a home. However, even though the home said they were ready for a puppy, they were NOT ready for Bess! She was returned to me at about 16 weeks of age, and it was evident in the first five minutes that they a) had not done ANYTHING with her and b) she was a wild child!

Because Bess was truly one of my "Great Dane versions of a border collie", she needed a special home; one that could deal with her high energy, prey drive, and also focus all that energy by giving her a job to do. I interviewed several homes--all wanted the couch-potato version.

NOT a good fit for Bess.

Finally, the perfect home-Lindsay with her love of outdoor activities and Danes. If anyone has visited her blog "Living With Big Dogs" you can see how active she is. Lindsay came and visited Bess and the rest is history. Lindsay accomplished much with Bess; many titles in performance events and nice wins in conformation events......but most importantly, a perfect home and a perfect fit for the two of them.

Sadly, that awful killer of Danes, bone cancer, struck swiftly, cutting Bess's life short and leaving a large hole in Lindsay's heart and home.

Sleep sweetly, silly girl. Only Lindsay truly understood your need for speed and now there will forever be only green fields to run in and rabbits to chase."