Cindy Fishburn Obituary (2025)

For Brian's eleventh birthday on April 27th, 2009, he wanted a dog. We went out to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley to see what he might find, and Brian found Cindy. ... The shelter was a very fine facility. It was clean and well staffed with passionate folks. Our case worker said Cindy was from Oklahoma, and thought she was a 6 months old Australian Shepherd mix. I reckon she was at least a year as she didn't grow much after Brian adopted her. After the interview process, the paperwork was completed and we brought Cindy home to the farm. ...There was another dog at the shelter , another shepherd mix, but a bit older. They had named him Apple. He had a resolve well suited for a family with active children. As Brian was sold on adopting Cindy, I didn't want to be greedy when another such family would surely need this dog, so I left him for another family to find. I did visit him a time or two. For almost two months, I would call the shelter asking if anyone had interviewed Apple. It was saddening when the answer was always, "No". The last time I called the shelter, the lady didn't even answer me, saying, "Mr. Fishburn, we may be a no-kill shelter, but sooner or later our guests will eventually become defeated." ...An hour later I was walking out of the shelter with "Buster", formerly known as Apple. The counselor handed his leash to me, and after we walked out the door, I dropped the leash and told Buster, "Let's go home." The counselor started to object, but we ignored the protest and kept walking out to the parking lot. Buster followed me to the pickup, and hopped right into the back seat after I opened the door. When we got to the farm, he was greeted to his permanent home by Cindy, Missy (our Collie) and Brian and his brothers with a warm welcome. The adventures had begun. The trio teamed up to become heartfelt companions to the brothers, and ardently savage defenders of our cattle and sheep against the coyotes in the neighborhood. ... Life with Brian goes here....