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Calpurnia. Tripawd Queen of the Sled Dogs. Wise pack leader. Gentle old soul. The love of my life.

You came into my world back in the day, when I was still running and playing and loving life on the road. The stars aligned to bring us together.

The day we met on the Colorado Trail (three years ago this month!), it was heaven on earth.

Ever since that day, I was in love.

You never let life on three legs keep you from doing what you wanted to, from showing your pack who was really in charge!

My pawrents, and all the other peeps at Tripawds, are so sad, knowing that got your wings yesterday.

These silly humans of ours wish we could live forever!

But you and I know that we have more impawtant work to do, more people to help, more places to make better.

We can’t stick around as long as they want us to, but we always leave a part of us with them, in that mysterious place they call their soul. Why don’t you drop everyone a hint to let them know you’ll always be around?

Now that you’re a Spirit Tripawd, you can come join me in this beautiful place, where you can run the trails like you used to as a kid, leading the pack with all four legs.

Maybe you can show me n’ Moose and all of the other old school Tripawds from back in the day how to pull a sled!

Hurry Cali, we’re waiting!

Run Free Forever, Calpurnia! Tripawd Queen of the Sled Dogs!

View this playlist of five favorite videos featuring Calpurnia, Tripawds founder Jerry and spokespup Wyatt:

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The end of life discussion is difficult, but necessary for pawrents to ensure a peaceful transition for their beloved animal companion. In a recent Tripawd Talk Radio show, we gleaned valuable advice about this topic. And an in an ongoing discussion about how pack mates say goodbye, Tripawd Calpurnia‘s Mom, TC Wait, offered more enlightenment.

If anyone knows about coping with this process, TC does. As a sled dog family, TC and her husband have always had a large pack comprised of rescue dogs of all ages.

Sadly, they’ve gone through end-of-life care many times. It never gets easier, but TC has learned a lot through the years and wants to share it with this community.

Transitions
by TC Wait

“One of the hardest things to face when you have a large pack of dogs you live your life with is when one becomes sick, old, or otherwise ailing. These dogs give us their all, consistently, all the time. They give our lives direction and meaning. Our dogs are family members. Each one is individual and cherished.

Calpurnia, our 16-year old, three-legged dog, is not doing well. She has had a long life, lead more teams than I can count, logged thousands of miles in harness, has survived starvation, a broken femur, laryngeal paralysis, and cancer.

But she has reached a point in her life where we are not able to fix what is wrong.

You can’t fix old age. Dying is part of living, and she has indeed lived a long and glorious life. We have been blessed to be a part of it.

After our return from Alaska, she started winding down. Almost as if she had crossed the last thing off her “bucket list” that she wanted to accomplish. We took her to the vet to make sure there wasn’t anything treatable going on. But we guessed from her gaze that she was seeing trails and teams that we could not see.

Dogs know things that people don’t, or won’t see. The pack behaves differently when a member is in transition, getting ready to cross over. This week the younger dogs started bringing Cali “gifts” of pine cones and sticks, and laying close to her. Even Ivy the cat has been curling up with Cali on her bed. Sitting vigil. Saying their good-byes.

Things to Consider When Facing End-of-Life Decisions

Transitions can take a long time, but really there is no way to tell. There are cycles of good days and bad days. End-of-life care for a friend requires patience and comfort.

I have been down this road many times, and with as many furry family members as we have, have only scratched the surface of how many more times we will be here. I don’t have any answers, but I do have some thoughts to share on the end-of-life that we ALL will face at some point.

There is no “right” or “wrong” here. Each dog, each situation, each day varies. All you can do is what is best for your particular friend on that particular day. Maybe it is allowing nature to do its thing, maybe it is aggressively treating an issue, maybe it is euthanasia.

I have gone all these routes (and some others too) based on each unique situation. No one can tell you what is best for your situation. YOU know your animal better than anyone else, and you need to keep their needs in mind.

Everyone dies. No one gets out of this contract. Dying isn’t something to fret or worry about because it is pointless. We do what we can with the time we have – as long or as short as that may be. Each day is a gift, each moment precious. Make them count.

I don’t remember being born, but I can’t imagine that it was a painless process (certainly not for my mom). In that same light, I think that there is some natural discomfort in dying also. Our bodies are programed to keep fighting, sometimes beyond what they are capable of.

That being said, as a pet owner I think you need to closely evaluate what level of discomfort your friend is facing and do what you can to help. I wouldn’t be afraid of pain, rather see it for what it is and try to figure out what it is telling you. Go with your heart.

Lots of people like to tell you what to do. They don’t know. They can’t possibly know. YOU do. YOU have to make the decisions, do the hard work, get up a million times during the night, etc. Every time someone makes a snide comment about your decisions, keep that in mind. And try not to punch them in the neck, that just leads to legal issues.

Transition from life to death can sometimes take a long time. It definitely takes a stress toll on you, and pack mates that may live with you. As much as you can, try to keep life as normal as possible. Get out and walk, watch a sunset, make a nice meal, laugh. Do the things that keep your spirit filled. Your energy keeps the pack happy, stable, and feeling secure.

Calpurnia Chooses Her Own Path

Calpurnia is very peaceful. She does not appear to be stressed or in pain. We have had a series of cool, snowy days which seems to have perked her up a bit. She watches life around her, but makes little effort to be involved. More as if she is reminding herself of this life so she has memories to take with her. She takes comfort in her team members being around her.

We will not rush her – we will allow Calpurnia to choose her own path and her own time as she has her whole life. We will take each day as they come and enjoy the precious moments we have left with our sweet girl.

When the time comes, she will follow that trail to her teammates waiting on the other side who will be so happy to see her. Her spirit will live on in the lessons she has taught us, the memories we have shared together, and the continuation of the journey we started together.”

Written by TC Wait. Read this in its entirety at The Adventures of the Odaroloc Sled Dogs.

Calpurnia has a special place in our hearts. She has been a member of Tripawds since 2007. When she and Spirit Jerry met in 2008, it was love at first sight. We’ll never forget it.

Our hearts are breaking knowing that she will no longer be leading us down trails here on earth, but we take comfort in knowing that Spirit Jerry will be there to welcome her into eternity.

More Ways to Cope with End of Life Decisions and Grief:

Tripawds Grief Support Resources

Help for Coping with Anticipatory Grief

Pet Loss Books to Ease a Child’s Broken Heart

‘For Every Dog an Angel’ Celebrates our Bonds

How to R.O.A.R. and Recover from Pet Loss

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Many long-time Tripawders may be familiar with Calpurnia, the world famous three legged musher dog and three year bone cancer survivor.

Today, we’re hoppy to announce that at the spry age of 15 years old, Cali has embarked on a sled dog’s dream: spending winter in Alaska.

Cali sent us this report from the great white north a couple of weeks ago.

Read on to hear about her amazing adventure into the frozen tundra. . .

Dear Tripawds Friends,

Greetings from the Great Frozen North! We have finally made it to Alaska for the winter, and I thought I would take some time to update you.

“We” includes me (Calpurnia), mom, dad, and my pack of 19 other sleddogs. We thought it would be a great adventure to drive the 3500 miles from our home in Colorado to spend the winter in an un-finished cabin in the woods of Alaska so that my team could run on the historical trails that our ancestors have been pulling sleds across for centuries.

So far it has been quite an experience!

I’m not going to lie, that was one loooonnng drive in the car to get here. Seven solid days of 14 hours driving.

The road wasn’t all that great – some stretches were really bumpy from the frost that heaves it up. Sometimes the road was icy and really slippery too.

Us dogs didn’t really like the long days of sitting in the truck bouncing along, but mom and dad said that the scenery was amazing and loved seeing all the vast wilderness out the window.

I did see the caribou crossing the road and thought that was pretty neat, but the rest of it I would have rather sniffed around and explored with my nose than my eyes.

But we are here now, and mom and dad are working to get our yard set up and to figure out the trail system around here.

There is another house dog, Ozzy that I have to share things with. He is a Golden Retriever, 2 years old, and a general pest. He has to chew everything and thinks that the whole world wants to play with him.

Not me – I am determined to teach that pup some manners!

Mom and dad thought that I might like to have a yard to run around in all for myself, so they built a nice fence around a birch tree just for me.

Too bad they didn’t ask first… I would have told them I would rather be in the yard with the pack! The gate isn’t finished yet, so dad strapped a piece of wood across the opening to keep me in figuring I wouldn’t be able to jump over it since I am an old lady.

Well, I got tired of waiting for my chance to explore the trails and decided to set off to see them myself. Dad was running errands and mom was busy working on the big yard kennel and scooping poop, so I just let myself out rather than bothering her about it.


I took a nice long walk in the woods, following trails all around the Alaskan wilderness. I smelled all the other teams that had run past, and looked for moose.

When I got tired, I came home. I saw mom in the yard and knew she had been looking for me. To show her how agile I was feeling, I put on the speed and sprinted away from her.

It was funny to see her scramble and trip on the ice chasing after me. I sort of felt bad about leaving without letting her know, so I waited for her by the door to the cabin.

She gave me a big hug and took me inside. She looks terrible, but I feel great after my run!

Warm kisses and a cold nose,

Love, Calpurnia

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Once again, our friend Calpurnia has her paw on the pulse of canine news. . .

These pretty pups aren’t Tripawds, but we wanted to help spread the word about them. Last week they were saved from a terrible dog hoarding situation in rural Park County, Colorado.

Calpurnia and her Mom are working hard to help find donations and homes for these dogs. Here’s what they had to say:

“We are dealing with a horrific case of a musher ‘hoarding’ dogs, resulting in 100 dogs (6 mos to 14 yrs) that are now in desperate need of homes. Here is a local news story about the discovery.

Luckily, another musher who lives in the area discovered the situation before it got any worse and contacted the authorities. Amazingly, the dogs seem friendly and well socialized.

All the dogs are “somewhere” safe for now.

I asked what the critical need is right now, and it is money.

Park County is not a big county, and very low on funds. It is costing them to bond these dogs, plus medical care for the critical ones, plus checkups, shots, spay/neuters for the rest.

If people want to donate, they can send it to the Park County Animal Control, flagged for the Sled Dog Rescue efforts.

They can also donate to one of the shelters (listed below in order of need):

If someone wants to adopt a dog (someone with an active lifestyle, with a 6′ or greater fence and lots of patience and time to help these dogs adjust to being pets), they can contact the shelters directly.

The more doggy people I can get brainstorming on this, the better we can get these dogs homed and the love and care they each deserve.”

Please contact:

• Ark-Valley Humane Society, Buena Vista, CO. Tel: 719-395-2737
• Lake County Animal Shelter, Leadville, CO. Tel: 719-486-8951
• Denver Dumb Friends League, Denver CO. Tel: 303-751-5772
• Longmont Humane Society, Longmont CO. Tel: 303-772-1232
• Boulder Humane Society, Boulder, CO. Tel: 303-442-4030

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Making the decision to amputate a senior dog’s leg is difficult. Most people doubt that old dogs can get along on three legs.

But Calpurnia, a three legged sled dog in Colorado, is proof that even older working dogs can lead great lives as Tripawds.

Calpurnia just celebrated her two year ampuversary. She and her Mom TC wrote this guest post to celebreate this milestone, and hopefully assist others who are faced with the decision to amputate on their own senior dog.

“It hardly seems like it has been 2 years since my humans made the decision to amputate my right front leg following a diagnosis of a grade 2 soft tissue sarcoma growing in my elbow joint. That was back when I was 12 years old, and still running as the main lead dog on my sled dog team.

My people were very worried about my future at the time, but figured we should at least try amputation to see how I would do. Boy did I surprise them! Mom thought it might be a good idea to update everyone on what I have been up to now that I am 2 years post-op.

I am now 14 years old (although I tell everyone I am still 13). I sometimes have some sore places on cold days, and mom thinks my hearing isn’t what it used to be. But my mind is still sharp, and I keep myself busy. I have had a fantastic few years running with my team, visiting school kids and teaching them that I can still do all the things I did before, training puppies, and enjoying my status as senior girl in the house. I have a soft bed near the wood stove where I keep my aging joints toasty and dream of my great racing days.

Like many athletes, my role with the team has sort of shifted from “star lead dog” to “coach” over the past few years. My humans joke that Dog really is their Co-Pilot now when we go on training runs. I still go, but I have a soft dog bed on the back of the ATV (or in the sled when the snow gets deep enough) where I ride. I can watch my team from my perch, and I give them pointers and howl encouragement at them the whole run. On the steeper or bumpy sections, I lean on my person so that I don’t bounce off the back.

Sometimes, if I am feeling frisky, mom hooks me in the line so I can show the new puppies a thing or two. I am a good coach, and after a run I make sure to sniff each team member to tell them how well they did.

I have had my share of medical issues, but they are mostly related to my getting older. One of the hardest things was a year ago when my humans learned that I could not breathe right due to something called laryngeal paralysis – or paralyzed vocal chords. I couldn’t move my vocal chords out of the way when I was breathing hard, and it made it very hard for me to breathe when running. I had throat surgery to fix that, and now I have to be very careful that I don’t choke on food or water, since I can no longer protect my airway the way I am supposed to.

I also have had some pain related to pinched nerves, so mom has to make sure I stay active and keeps my weight down to a trim 33 lbs. She tried doing massage and chiropractic work on me, but I really prefer not to be handled like that and will stretch myself when I want to.

I hope that those of you senior dogs out there keep me in mind when considering amputation. I was a healthy older girl going into this, and am doing really well still. None of us will live forever, but these last few years have been good for me, and I hope to continue living life to the fullest and not let my people worry about the “what ifs” that may be down the road.

Right now, life is good. My team had a good run today, I even ran a little bit with them, our water buckets are clean and full, we will get meat tonight for dinner, and the sun is shining making nice sunny places on the snowy ground for me to lie in.

My heart is filled with love, and my mind is content. I really could not ask for more.

Lots of love,

Calpurnia

Here’s a favorite movie of ours, when Calpurnia and Jerry met back in May, 2008:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sadly, as you know, so much has changed since then. The day after I was set free to go on my own journey, my pawrents learned the awful news that Calpurnia’s teammate, LilBit, passed away, very unexpectedly.

Calpurnia’s pawrents have been coping with this devastaing loss, all while preparing the team for the upcoming mushing season. On one recent run, Calpurnia’s Mom TC, had a beautiful experience in which she truly felt the presence of her beloved LilBit, in which he told her, “I’m OK Mamma, really. I’m with Jerry now.”

TC shared her story with us, and we would like to share it with you now. We hope you think it’s as beautiful as we do.

“We went training this morning in the same area where we met you a few weeks ago. Dave took the bigger team and I took a smaller team on my own. The first snow had dusted the area over night, so everything was white with the golden aspen leaves raining down on us.

We went up over a hill and a gorgeous vista opened up looking back into the Tarryall Mountains that were dusted in white. About this time, as the team was just trotting happily along, I started hearing the sound of dog tags jingling off on the left and right sides of the trail. I thought maybe someone (a hunter?) had dogs that were following us, but I never saw one. The jingling dog tags followed us down a valley and across a stream and up the other side – happily zig-zagging all around us in those golden leaves on the snow. Even with the ATV powered down so I could listen better, I heard them. Two distinct tag noises. The dogs didn’t seem terribly excited as they would if a strange dog was around.

When we rounded the corner back to the main road, I lost the sounds. I turned around to look over my shoulder and see if I could see the “dogs” and two coyotes were sitting on the hill watching us. They stood and ran back the way we had come into the woods. It was magical.

I know that your hearts are broken for Jerry as ours are about LilBit. But maybe, somehow, they are playing together and sent those coyotes to watch the team go by and cheer me up a little. Keep your eyes peeled – I suspect Jerry is somehow watching you as you guys continue your adventures. You are right – he is all around you.”

Eisen lives in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Calpurnia resides in Tiny Town, Colorado.

Both tripawds are living awesome lives on three legs, and not letting anything slow them down. Hmmm….must be something in that high altitude air, dontcha think?

Congratulations! You two are an inspawration for all.

If there was ever a dog that demonstrates how we Tripawds can live a great life, she can. Calpurnia is tough as nails, headstrong and rambunctious, and completely defies her age (12 years old!). We met up recently, and took a walk at the Colorado Trail, on Kenosha Pass, about 100 miles west of Denver. Well, Cali ran. At 10,000 feet above sea level, I tried to run with her, but that girl just kept flying down that trail ahead of me. My Mom couldn’t run fast enough to film her the whole time! She is simply amazing.

Calpurnia and her people, Dave and TC, are active sled dog racers that live outside of Denver. They have a big team made up of rescue dogs — all of them! — and go around the snowy Rocky Mountains, mushing and racing and having a ball all winter long. Contrary to what some people have said about sled dog racing, this sport is not mean to the dogs, or inhumane. Sled dog people absolutely love their canine team members, as you can see by how much that Dave and TC have done for Cali.

I can’t wait for fall, because we are going to meet up with Calpurnia and her team, and watch them practice for winter competition. Mushing sure looks like fun, but I think I’ll sit on the sidelines with my humans and let the real snow dogs do all the work!

The sport of running or walking your dog in harness with equipment similar or the same used for skijoring. Canicross is not simply walking the dog. Running with a dog on a leash is not canicross. In canicross the dog pulls you, just like in skijoring.

Ok, don’t know what skijorking is? Well then, you should check out this website to learn more. I think it’s funny that dogs get to pull their humans on a leash, and get prizes for it! I thought we weren’t supposed to pull? Oh well, humans are weird, aren’t they?

Three barks for Cali!

For nearly 12 years, Calpurnia has been an enthusiastic working sled dog – running lead for nearly 10,000 miles through the snowy back country of Colorado. She was an amazing leader and we have shared many adventures together by sled and dog team.

In the fall of 2005, Cali was showing off and did a fancy spinning jump off her dog house and fractured her rear left femur. Fortunately, I was right there when it happened, so we were able to get her treatment right away. She ended up having a spiral fracture that took 2 plates and a bunch of screws to repair. Worse than that, she had to be confined in a crate for 8 weeks and was not allowed to put ANY weight on that leg during that time, or else the bone might not heal correctly and require another surgery. It was hard on all of us, but she fought back from that injury and was back running on the team by that spring.

In the spring of 2007, after a wonderfully snowy winter, she developed a swollen area on her right front leg. At first, the vets were not sure what it was, but needle biopsies did not show any cancer cells. Maybe it was an injury of some sort, but it was not at all painful for Calpurnia. We tried treating it with anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, rest, ice packs, etc. to no avail. We did another round of biopsies in August and this time the results showed a grade 2 soft tissue sarcoma.

The tumor was considered a “nuisance tumor” – the type that does not readily metastasize to other places. Normally, this sort of tumor would be removed and that would be the end of it. However, its location on her leg and size did not give very good chances for removal, and would involve a long process of multiple surgeries and skin grafts. After talking to several veterinary oncologists, we decided to try treating it with chemotherapy drugs to try to restrict growth and prevent any spread. The thought behind this was to try to allow Calpurnia to use the leg for as long as possible – possibly even allowing her to run another winter with her beloved team.

By the beginning of September, it was apparent that the chemotherapy was not controlling the growth of the tumor like we had hoped.The tumor was outgrowing its skin and developing sores that could become infected and were starting to bother Calpurnia. With that, we made the decision to amputate the leg.

This was a very difficult decision as we were not sure that Cali would be happy as a house dog. She was not mentally ready to retire from sledding, and is such an athlete that we worried her spirit would be crushed if she was not able to run with her team. We were worried that her femur fracture on the rear leg might be aggravated by having more weight on it. We were also concerned that the other dogs might pick on her or knock her over and injure one of her remaining limbs. This was, after all, a life or limb decision.

So here we are, a mere 2 weeks post surgery. There was no sign of the cancer spreading from her lymph nodes, so the vets feel she is cancer-free.

So far, Cali is quickly learning how to maneuver with 3 legs, and is holding her own with the other dogs. She has days where she is sore – probably because she is using new muscles in different ways – but a good massage at the days end seems to help.

We have begun training with the rest of the team to prepare for the winter ahead and took the whole crew on a camping trip this past weekend. While hooking up the rest of the dogs, we could hear Calpurnia screaming that she wanted to go with the team. It was sad that she could not – she is not ready for that yet and would push herself too hard. I am hoping to get a special harness for her so she might be able to train puppies or pull my 5-yr old niece on a sled, but definitely we need to find a new “career” for her as she is not ready to retire quite yet!

Cali is an amazing, inspirational girl.