Sometimes, concern hits without warning. One minute your dog is bouncing around like usual, and the next, your stomach drops because something clearly isn’t right.
That’s what Susan and Gene Jaworowski experienced when their cherished dog, Bessie Smith, suddenly seemed drained and barely responsive.
Their minds raced to the worst possibilities. Maybe she’d been pushed too hard, or perhaps there was an underlying heart issue they hadn’t known about.
What was actually causing Bessie’s alarming state, though, was something so unexpected that no one could have seen it coming.
The Story Of Bessie, The Spirited Border Collie
It was a beautiful afternoon by the lake near the couple’s home in Fort Collins, Colorado. Gene and Susan had taken their dog out for what was supposed to be another carefree day of fun.
Bessie, named after the legendary jazz singer, is a Border Collie mix born to a purebred Border Collie mother. Her father’s breed remains a mystery.
She and her littermates, all named after jazz icons, were adopted from Bounce Animal Rescue Fort Collins a few years ago.
When Gene and Susan first brought her home at just six weeks old, Bessie was a tiny bundle of fur. With love and care, she grew into a lively, intelligent, and endlessly playful dog.
Like most Border Collies, Bessie thrived on physical activity. She loved to run, fetch, and swim, impressing everyone with her athleticism.
Living close to the lake gave her the ideal playground for long walks and retrieving sticks in the water. To her, it was pure happiness, a place she never wanted to leave.
Eventually, that enthusiasm began to concern her owners. Gene and Susan noticed that every time they tried to leave the lake, Bessie would slow down dramatically, acting as though she were completely drained.
“During her second year with us she was dragging her feet up the hill to the car after an hour of retrieving sticks in the water, and after a few days of her doing this, we thought maybe we were overdoing this exercise with her and she may have a bad heart,” said Jaworowski in an interview.
Naturally, the couple grew anxious. Heart problems can affect dogs at any age, and they feared their energetic pup might be in danger.
They rushed her to the veterinarian, where a full medical evaluation was performed. As they waited for the results, the couple braced themselves for bad news.
A Perfect Bill Of Health
When the vet returned, the diagnosis left them both relieved and slightly embarrassed.
Bessie was perfectly fine. Her heart was healthy, her energy levels normal, and there were no medical issues whatsoever.
So what had caused all that sudden exhaustion and dragging of her paws?
The answer was simple and, in hindsight, hilarious. Bessie wasn’t sick, she was faking fatigue.
She had learned that when she acted tired, her humans stayed longer at the lake. It was her clever way of protesting the end of her favorite activity.
All that worrying and testing came down to one thing: Bessie just didn’t want the fun to stop.
If only she could have told them herself, Gene and Susan could have saved about $150 in vet bills and a lot of unnecessary stress.
