When your dog dies

there's a reason "my dog skip" makes me weep every time. i refer to the dog i had in college, skippy, to my fam all the time. i had to give her away soon after school, among the top three regrets of my life.

when our current dog, now 7, passes, i'll be a wreck. only heartfelt sympathies, my friend. the love and affection we get from our dogs is unparalleled. :'( :'( :'(

i know we have many cat lovers here as well -- hi, sportschick -- and we have a cat, too, the mrs. and the boys love the cat as much as the dog.

me? i just don't get the cat thing. when he's gone, it will move me not at all. strange.

 

Hugging my dog as I read this thread ... as I do with any other pet threads on here.

I know the pain you are going through, zim. Nine years ago, about the same time you were taking Madle home, my first dog ... a miniature schnauzer named Snickers ... was nearing the end. She was stricken with cushings disease, which I guess is very common with schnauzers.

The last time I saw her she was healthy and playful, despite her rapidly shedding fur. I'll never forget the last time I saw her ... in the parking lot at my mom's workplace where we exchanged cars ... I had left mine in my hometown to get some work done on it and I took her car for the week. She wasn't much of a licker, but she laid a big one on my cheek when I said goodbye to her.

She went downhill fast the next few weeks. Finally, knowing she was suffering so bad, my parents drove home with her from their cottage in the middle of the night. My roommate woke me up at 3:30 a.m. with a phone call from my parents, telling me they were going to put her down in the morning. I just lost it ... immediately broke down in tears and went for a long walk in our neighborhood, smoking probably a half pack of cigarettes along the way (and I'm not a smoker).

A few hours later, I sat in my car ... getting ready to drive 2 hours home to be with her. I sat there for 20 minutes, crying. I couldn't do it. My last memory of her was seeing her healthy and playful, and I didn't want to see her suffering at the vet. I felt so guilty not being there for my own selfish reasons ... and still feel guilty today.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. Sure, I've got a great dog now that I love very much (and I'm sure I'll be just as much of a wreck when she passes), but my first dog will always have a special place in my heart.

 

You gave her many more years than she would have had had you not adopted her.

You were lucky to have her, and she was lucky to have you.

 

Sorry for your loss, Zimbabwe. I know how tough it is.

We lost our dog Zamboni to cancer four years ago. His decline was really hard, of course. For some reason, the hardest part for me was letting him out in our yard in the last months of his life. I'd look out through the window and see him out in the yard.. alone.. and I'd lose it. I'm tearing up just thinking about that, four years later.

Funny - people have been talking about how they later got very different dogs to avoid comparisons. We went the opposite route. Zamboni was a Border Collie, and we now have two more, and volunteer with a Border Collie rescue group. Just pulled a puppy out of the shelter on Saturday and brought it to its new foster home.

 

It's getting mighty dusty in here.

 

My dog died last year just before his 14th birthday. My wife and I went out to look for another one and decided we couldn't do it because no dog could measure up to the one we had and the one we had was so good with our young kids.

Anybody who ever tries to say, "It's just a dog." has no clue. While it would be ridiculous to compare them to your children, they are very much a part of the family.

 

Sorry for your loss, zim. It's been a long time since I had a dog (I'm allergic, though we had them anyway when I was a kid). The last was Angel, a dauchshund we got when I was 11.

She was about six months old when we got her from a breeder who needed to find her a home. I don't remember why the were giving her away. I think somebody had bought her and then brought her back for some reason. I do remember when they brought her out I sat on the ground in front of her. She gave me one sniff and then crawled into my lap. I was sold.

Angel was my mother's dog (though my dad named her) because mom fed her, but she was affectionate with everybody. It was funny to watch if my mom left the house, she would immediately come running for me. Just a very sweet dog who would eat anything. She even ate a slug once, though she immediately regretted it. I really didn't think dogs could spit, but she sure tried.

Angel was nearing the end about the time I met Mrs. OOP. I was working late nights at the time and staying most of the time at her place. One night I came in and she had waited up for me. Angel had passed away a few hours earlier, home alone with my mom, which is pretty much how the little furball would have wanted it.

It was the first time Mrs. OOP saw me cry.

 

Unfortunately, one of my dogs is getting near the end. He's still got fight in him and he gets around pretty good, but I have a feeling the lumps are more than just calcium deposits.

Let it be noted that I might not be able to work the day that happens.

 

I did not work yesterday.

Probably should have taken today, too.

I really appreciate everyone/thing on this thread. Thank you.

I should probably stop reading it for a while

 

I'm so sorry for your loss Zimbabwe. Thanks you for sharing your story. Hang in there.

 

I damn near almost teared up halfway through your initial post.

It took a Herculean effort for me not to.

This is why I can't watch movies like My Dog Skip, Ol' Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows. Frickin tear city!