We saved him from a kill shelter back in 2008. I knew I was going back to Iraq, and had been looking for a dog to leave with my family while I was gone again. I had met many and none were right. They were taking me out to see a beagle they thought I'd like, and there was this other dog in a cage along the walls. I said, "What about that one?" They said, "You don't want that one." But I knew I did, as soon as I saw him.
He was the best dog I've ever had, and I've had some great ones. None were so eager to please, or so intent on being good. He wasn't always in spite of his heart; he killed chickens and cats and kittens, and didn't really understand why he shouldn't. He killed racoons, including a rabid one, and once ran down and killed a deer -- and then brought it to me. I came home that day and he was sitting on the back porch, proud as could be, with a deer propped up between his front paws as a gift for me.
He watched my family while I was at war, and was my most faithful companion for years and years. I hoped he would pass peacefully in his sleep, but he didn't, and it fell to me to do what I greatly wished I would never have to do. I couldn't send him to die in among strangers in a place that smelled like medicine. When the last day came and he could no longer enjoy even the sun on his fur, when every breath was a labor and the cancer had hold of him, I did what had to be done.
Such is life, and death. I don't understand why the world was made this way. I am grateful for our time together, though. I raised a mighty cairn over him.
I'm sorry. I've had cats die in my arms. It's no easier with dogs. Or any family member.
ReplyDeleteEric Hines
So very sorry to see that.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your dog- you did good by him, all the way to the end.
ReplyDeleteThe spirit of your companion animals volunteered for this chance to be with their human companions. They benefit by serving a higher consciousness, in that it helps them improve their distortion towards love and more focused consciousness.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, pets are nearing graduation into human, and they are often paired with certain humans for mutually beneficial reasons.
It's good to have had a dog as good as that.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, Grim.
ReplyDeleteElise
There's Kipling of that:
ReplyDeleteWhen the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone —wherever it goes— for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Sometimes it sucks to be the human in a dog-human relationship, and this is one of those times. J Melcher, your Kipling cite is perfect. We know at the start of the journey what the general form of the end will be, though never the specifics until That Day. And then we do it all over again.
ReplyDeleteMy sympathy!
ReplyDeleteSorry for your loss. It is never easy.
ReplyDeleteHe had a good master, in as much as you had a good dog. A partnership like that is a tough one to lose. I wish I had more comfort to give than I can, but my condolences, nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThe sadness from the loss of a dog indicates the strong ties between dogs and humans.
ReplyDeleteThank you, all.
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like a prince among dogs, even if he had a little trouble with hunting out of season. *raises a glass in tribute* To absent friends.
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
You were there for him. You did your duty.
ReplyDelete"To absent friends" indeed.