Goodbye to my shop assistant


ChetlovesMer

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Many of you know that I've had a shop partner for the last 12 or so years. Her name is Payton. She's a black and white border collie who was incredibly faithful and always hung out in my shop with me. She was a faithful friend who was always there to bounce design ideas off, or to act as final inspector of my work. She can clearly be seen “helping” me and my friends building my shop in the video I posted a couple months back. She did all of this and the only thing she asked for in return was for me to spend some time with her as often as possible throwing Frisbees which she never failed to bring back. Even in her more senior years when she would rarely catch them, she still loved to play, and always brought them back.

She had a very aggressive brain tumor which caused me to lose her on Monday. I was surprised how hard her loss hit me. She was a great friend who never complained about long hours in the shop. She was fascinated by the laser light on my sliding compound miter and I will think of her every time I turn it on.

I made a video to remember her by, which I think shows her at her best. If you'd like to watch it, you certainly can.

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I had never owned a dog until four years ago, when we inheritedours. Democratic family decision, I voted no. Now I love his company. Even if I leave the house for an hour, he throws a party when I get back. So I can understand your feelings. Excellent video, though no media can really capture the relationship, those 5 minutes speak volumes.

John

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Chet,

Sorry for the loss of you 4 legged kid. All that overbounding joy that a dog brings into our lives has a big payment at the end. Although I've mourned the loss of too many, I can't imagine not having a dog companion in our lives. IT must be blocking the video, as I can't see it here at work. I'm sure I'll be catching it when I get home.

Vic

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I wanted to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes. If you watched my video or even have a four legged shop assitant, I'm sure you realize how much they can add to our lives. Anyway, this is just one more reason why this is such a great community of woodworkers.... people. I appreciate all the kind words.

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Wow she was beautiful Chet! What a great video. If you have ever seen one of my videos you know I feel your pain. My Golden is my dedicated shop apprentice (and biggest safey hazard as he likes to sleep right behind me as I stand at the bench). You never forget them as I still miss all of my dogs every day.

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Ok... I cried. We are two years into having our first dog. He is a pain in the butt sometimes but I love that dog. The one time we took him to camp before we left on our trip... we were in the house without him for two hours. It was weird how all of a sudden it didn't feel like a home anymore. I don't want to begin to think about what it's like to lose a dog.

Beautiful video... frisbees are flyin' up in doggy heaven.

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I wanted to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes. If you watched my video or even have a four legged shop assitant, I'm sure you realize how much they can add to our lives. Anyway, this is just one more reason why this is such a great community of woodworkers.... people. I appreciate all the kind words.

I hope one day they find a cure for asthma so that I can share that experience. I love dogs, but they cause my asthma to flare up making it very hard to breathe. Not just dogs, but cats, hamsters, horses etc. But none of those can top the loyalty and friendship that a dog offers.

I am dreading the day my daughter asks "Can I have a puppy?" because it's going to break both our hearts. ;(

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I hope one day they find a cure for asthma so that I can share that experience. I love dogs, but they cause my asthma to flare up making it very hard to breathe. Not just dogs, but cats, hamsters, horses etc. But none of those can top the loyalty and friendship that a dog offers.

I am dreading the day my daughter asks "Can I have a puppy?" because it's going to break both our hearts. ;(

Mike, they do have hypo-allergenic dogs. I'm not sure of the breeds, but know there are some.

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So 7 years ago I walk to my work truck to get some tools out of it and there is this border collie chillin in the back of it, no one ever claimed him so I kept him. Charlie has been my best friend since then and it makes me so sad that you lost yours and I know how hard it must because they are just like family.

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So 7 years ago I walk to my work truck to get some tools out of it and there is this border collie chillin in the back of it, no one ever claimed him so I kept him. Charlie has been my best friend since then and it makes me so sad that you lost yours and I know how hard it must because they are just like family.

That's a great story. There are a lot of great breeds of dog out there. But, of course, I'm partial to the border collie. Payton was an extremely loyal friend as I'm sure Charlie is.

Thanks for sharing.

Take care.

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Chet thank you for sharing this video celebrating Paton with us. Dogs teach us about unconditional love and ... unfortunately ... dealing with death. Payton will be playing with Rusty (our old yellow lab) and Mylie (black lab). Loosing a dog is a very tough moment to go through. Take care. Bobby, Banjo (boxer), Gaucho (brown lab) and my wife Mary Kay also watched the video.

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There are several hypo-allergenic dogs. I believe one breed is the cockapoo, the blend between poodle and cocker spaniel.

My brother in law is allergic to dogs, and just lost his oldest (surviving) Germen Shepard last week. I believe he takes Advair, but I'm not positive. Check with your doctor or allergy specialist (also known as significant other... :) )

My condolences, Chet, as I do understand some of what you are going through. I know it's never easy, and another just doesn't fill the space the same way. It doesn't seem fair that some of those we love so much are only around for a short time.

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