Ivo 1996 - 2008
Ivo and Mary-Austin, Teutonia Peak, Mojave National Preserve 2002
With great sadness in our hearts, we lost our toughest and healthiest dog Ivo to sudden heart failure one week ago today. Ivo was 12 years young, solid muscle and my running companion on the trails of Elysian Park. Two days before, Ivo and I had run 3 miles together. The morning of his death, he was fine. He was waiting to run with me but a heavy downpour canceled the outing. By the afternoon it was obvious there was something wrong. It happened quickly and we were not prepared in any way for him to leave us.
Ivo came into our life as suddenly as he left it. My running partner Julia and I found Ivo early the morning of December 9th, 1996, lying in the dirt at the entrance into Elysian Park at Academy Road. He'd been hit by a car and had been there all night, curled up in the cold, with a broken back and large gash on the back of his head. He was a stray, dirty and thin with no tags on his collar. Julia and I could not imagine leaving him there to suffer. We loaded him up in her car and took him to the vet. The doctor said we could spend thousands on surgery, put him to sleep, or try to self-heal him. I chose the latter. Ivo was kept heavily sedated, confined to a small dog crate to keep him from moving too much and possibly bringing on paralysis. It was horrible. I kept thinking I was prolonging his suffering and didn't know if I had done the right thing. Within two weeks he was able to stand with one hind leg up--I was elated! Within a few more days that hind leg was touching the ground and he was ready to get on with his active life. With the extensive injuries he had suffered, I hoped for 5-6 years of a good life before arthritis set in, it never did, and the fact that I had him as my companion for more years than I ever imagined didn't soften the blow of losing him.
Ivo was named after the founder of 4AD Records, Ivo Watts Russell and Orrin was the only person who ever figured out the inspiration for his name. One of the label's bands, The Cocteau Twins, had a song called Ivo; it's a song with soaring highs. This described the emotions from his painful arrival into our lives to the joy of watching him run free, blazing down the beaches of southern California or up the towering sand dunes of the Mojave desert.
Ivo was 1/2 Dalmatian and 1/2 Lab. The Dalmatian traits overtook any of the docile Labrador traits, all but the love of water. Ivo was the smartest of our three dogs and definitely the alpha. Julia called him the Clint Eastwood of dogs, he was cool and composed, and men loved him. Ivo was el cazador of our dogs; he hunted lizards, squirrels and any other kind of critters that found themselves in our yard. He dug foxholes around the perimeter of our yard under trees and bushes where he would lay in wait to pounce on unsuspecting wildlife. I give him credit when visitors compliment the landscaping in our yard. It's planted with cactus and agaves in order to protect the more delicate succulents from Ivo's pounces. A flash of black and white, tail wagging furiously, nose shoved deep into the recesses of the plants, he was always trying to rouse lizards up to the surface.
We miss him terribly and have been very lucky to have such a great dog in our lives.
Mary-Austin
Ivo 1996 - 2008
Ivo and Mary-Austin, Teutonia Peak, Mojave National Preserve 2002
With great sadness in our hearts, we lost our toughest and healthiest dog Ivo to sudden heart failure one week ago today. Ivo was 12 years young, solid muscle and my running companion on the trails of Elysian Park. Two days before, Ivo and I had run 3 miles together. The morning of his death, he was fine. He was waiting to run with me but a heavy downpour canceled the outing. By the afternoon it was obvious there was something wrong. It happened quickly and we were not prepared in any way for him to leave us.
Ivo came into our life as suddenly as he left it. My running partner Julia and I found Ivo early the morning of December 9th, 1996, lying in the dirt at the entrance into Elysian Park at Academy Road. He'd been hit by a car and had been there all night, curled up in the cold, with a broken back and large gash on the back of his head. He was a stray, dirty and thin with no tags on his collar. Julia and I could not imagine leaving him there to suffer. We loaded him up in her car and took him to the vet. The doctor said we could spend thousands on surgery, put him to sleep, or try to self-heal him. I chose the latter. Ivo was kept heavily sedated, confined to a small dog crate to keep him from moving too much and possibly bringing on paralysis. It was horrible. I kept thinking I was prolonging his suffering and didn't know if I had done the right thing. Within two weeks he was able to stand with one hind leg up--I was elated! Within a few more days that hind leg was touching the ground and he was ready to get on with his active life. With the extensive injuries he had suffered, I hoped for 5-6 years of a good life before arthritis set in, it never did, and the fact that I had him as my companion for more years than I ever imagined didn't soften the blow of losing him.
Ivo was named after the founder of 4AD Records, Ivo Watts Russell and Orrin was the only person who ever figured out the inspiration for his name. One of the label's bands, The Cocteau Twins, had a song called Ivo; it's a song with soaring highs. This described the emotions from his painful arrival into our lives to the joy of watching him run free, blazing down the beaches of southern California or up the towering sand dunes of the Mojave desert.
Ivo was 1/2 Dalmatian and 1/2 Lab. The Dalmatian traits overtook any of the docile Labrador traits, all but the love of water. Ivo was the smartest of our three dogs and definitely the alpha. Julia called him the Clint Eastwood of dogs, he was cool and composed, and men loved him. Ivo was el cazador of our dogs; he hunted lizards, squirrels and any other kind of critters that found themselves in our yard. He dug foxholes around the perimeter of our yard under trees and bushes where he would lay in wait to pounce on unsuspecting wildlife. I give him credit when visitors compliment the landscaping in our yard. It's planted with cactus and agaves in order to protect the more delicate succulents from Ivo's pounces. A flash of black and white, tail wagging furiously, nose shoved deep into the recesses of the plants, he was always trying to rouse lizards up to the surface.
We miss him terribly and have been very lucky to have such a great dog in our lives.
Mary-Austin