Papa’s Tribute to Grandma OC (as told to Pippin)

OC, or Ornery Cuss, earned her name by the way she treated her brother as a puppy, and she lived up to it her entire life.  (She's the one on the left of her Mama, Mist) As a puppy, she was taken to Grammy’s Special Needs class, and showed great potential as a service dog from the way she acted around the kids, so we decided to raise her, and then donate her to a Helper Dog Group that used a Corgi  in their Logo.  We contacted them, but they only took large breeds, and since, by then she had wormed her way into our lives and hearts, we decided to keep her.

OC loved “road trips” where Papa, Grammy, and her Momma, Misty, would take long trips over the summer in the 18 wheeler that Papa drove going to Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Northern California.  She missed these trips after Papa got a local job, but still went everywhere in the car with her people.

Two years ago, she got to go on her last “Big Truck Road Trip,” as Papa’s company built a trailer for overseas, and Papa got to take it to Jacksonville, Florida to be shipped.  

   
She spent 10 days going coast to coast in a Big Rig with a Walk-In sleeper, with Grammy, Papa, her son BG and two grandsons, Gimli and me (Pippin).   All her other trips had been in a truck with just a sleeper berth.   

She got to “lay over” in Houston, Texas, on the way back, when Grammy and Papa visited with their grandkids.

 

The Lord knew what He was doing when He allowed us to keep OC, as she did become a Helper/Service dog for Grammy.   After Grammy was injured at work and had to retire, OC worked at picking up and fetching when Grammy could not.  She also herded the goats for them until an old billy goat crushed her against a wall and hurt her hips.

During her last years, this caused her to be in a “wheelchair” that Grammy’s son, Robert, built out of P V C pipe and Rollers. With this, she could still run around the property with the rest of us doing “squirrel patrol,” which meant checking every place where something could hide and then chasing it if something came out.

Her last months, when she could not even walk in her wheelchair, were spent keeping track of Grammy and the other people she loved, laying on a bed near them, always watching everything with her “bright eyes. “   

She also loved going camping in the Travel Trailer, with all the new places to smell and dogs to bark at, while still being with her loved ones.

She really enjoyed her last trip with us when she got to go to her first Corgi Picnic.  This was my tribute to you, OC girl.   I will miss your head on my leg on trips…  Papa (as told to Pippin—Papa’s Pup)