On April 6th at about 1pm, we lost our beloved dog, a part of the family. We knew it was coming someday, but it was still a surprise when it happened, and has left a huge hole in our lives.
I apologize for not writing sooner, but things have been unusually crazy, and between that, and not feeling ready to talk obout it, it had to wait until now.
Those of you who were lucky enough to know him, realize what an enormous loss this is for me, even more so for my g/f Corrinne, and for everyone he touched. I have not been able to make it through a single day without some reminder that he is gone. I knew it would be hard, but could not grasp how large a hole his passing has left in my life.
Thank you so much for rhose of you who have been there for us, and have helped immeasurably in getting through the last two weeks. Your love, and knowing that he is no longer in pain are making it all bearable.
I need to talk about the last 24 hours, to get it off my chest, but this may be too hard for some of you to read, so if you must stop here, I understand. On that last saturday, he started getting sick around mid day, and began throwing up, so we shooed him from the bed onto the floor. within a couple of hours he could no longer get himself up, and was coughing, and kept having dry heaves. Unfortunately our vet no longer works weekends, so we couild only try and make him as comfortable as we could. By that evening he would not eat anything, which meant we could not give him any more medications. He was drinking a little water, but was in obnvious discomfort from needing to go outside. We had to carry him out, and he couldn't even stand up so held him up so he could try and pee. We knew this was it, and decided to make what little time he had as comforting as we could. We covered the bed with a plastic sheet, puppy pads to catch any mess, and layered spare sheets, and some towels on them for him to lay on, and then put him in bed, and got his head propped on his pillow to make it easier to breathe. His lungs were filling with fluid, and he was struggling to breathe, and was in pain. Corrinne, and I snuggled him between us, and between bouts of tears pet him, rubbed his back, and kept telling him how much we loved him. He finially dozed off around 2am for a few hours, until the coughing woke him back up. From about 6am until he finally died at 1pm we kept telling him we loved him, and that it was ok for him to let go, and rest. He held on for so long, I was afraid he would not let go, and we would have to watch him suffer until monday morning when we could take him to be put down. Thankfully at 1pm he stopped fighting it, looked at each of us, and let go. Those last 18 hours were terrible for us, and excruciatingly painful.
Corrinne's best friend gayla came as soon as she found out, and while she sat with Corrinne, Chris, and I took him out back, and burried him. He is under a tree in the back yard, laying on his bed, with his head on his pillow, and his favorite toys next to him on his bed. Our wondeful neighbor, came over with his tractor, and help finish filling his grave. I have to stuff to make his headstone, and we will be putting abench next to it so Corrinne can sit there, and talk to him.
I know some of you will think all this is overboard for a dog, but he was much more than a pet. He was part of our family, and our lives, and while I have had many pets, none came close to him in any way, nor had the effect he did on so many lives, and touched so many people. He had a huge heart, and gave love and comfort to all lucky enough to be part of his life. We will miss him every day, and he will never be forgotten.
