Hudson
June 23, 2000-October 15, 2013
Hawks Hunt's Mahicanituck
("Mahicanituck" was the name given
to the Hudson River by the Algonquin tribes who lived in the Hudson Valley)
In the spring of 1998, we waited eagerly for Otter to produce her
second litter, a repeat of the 1997
breeding to Brix
vom Bar Burg. We were waiting for a male, and before the litter was
born, we decided upon the name "Hudson."
Otter always does things her own way. She produced a litter of
four females. It took us only a few minutes to decide we'd take
Crow. We
have never regretted a minute with Crow, but never stopped waiting
for Hudson.
This spring, Otter was bred to a beautiful sable dog named
Laser (photo to come.) On June 23, 2000, she produced a litter of
sable puppies in which Hudson finally made his appearance.
Hudson passed away on October 15, 2013, having survived more than 10 months following a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma. He went into crisis on December 3, 2012,
was seen on an emergency basis at 3:00 a.m. The next day was spent getting tests done, and he underwent surgery on Wednesday, Dec. 5th. He did very well post-surgically,
though he could not tolerate the chemotherapy. I was told he would survive 19 days to 3 months without the chemo, and that he might survive 6 months
with it. Given that, I felt I could not consign him to feeling so clearly horrible for another single day. We tossed the dice, and got another 10
months of good time. I still miss him every day.
Hudson was a funny, sweet, kind dog. His impressive size and incredible basso bark made him intimidating on first meeting, but, in truth, he was always a loving,
gentle boy who never met a stranger. He was smarter than he wanted anyone to know, and would often sit quietly and watch when I would be teaching Crow some
behavior, or asking her to bring me something. Crow, always my right arm and partner, would set about trying to find what I'd asked for. If she didn't know immediately
where it was, and had set about searching, Hudson would just sit and watch. He had an incredible memory for the location of items, and after
a bit of waiting for Crow to find it, he would quietly get up and go get it for her. He always allowed her to be the one who brought it to me.
Crow and I together thought of Hudson as our puppy-project. For nearly 13 years, we shared in raising him and taking care of him. She left him to me,
when she departed suddenly, during the week of his recovery from his surgery. It wasn't the best week of my life, but from the day Crow joined my life,
and the day, 2 years later, when Hudson joined us, the three of us shared one of the best chapters of my life.
Travel on, sweet Hudson. You were here. And I loved you. And I carry you as part of me forever.
Click on the links above to follow Hudson's development.
Comments? Let Ginny know what you
think!
Last revised 6/25/2001
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