(Song was by Tom T. Hall)
The other day, my writer friend posted on Facebook that her dog will not make it. What is there to say? Nothing.
I have written about dogs for so many years - a little over thirty years of published writing and editing and publicity and promotion - and still the toughest part about being a dog fancier is that their lives are so short.
There are two pieces of old written wisdom I often give to people. One is by Rudyard Kipling, "When You Give Your Heart To A Dog" (it will be broken) and the other is a piece about "The Rainbow Bridge" where it is believed your dog will be waiting for you when you reach Heaven.
When you read my Yonge Street Texan blog, you can see my stepson died a few weeks ago. So, Hubby and I have been dealing very much with this. We also attended a visitation and a funeral for two friends' fathers.
I think all of them had dogs waiting for them. . . . And I think they had loved ones there waiting for them. But that is another blog.
This one is about how we cope when we lose our dogs. It hurts us so very much that some thing so precious who asks nothing of us but a pat, a meal, a kind word, a toy would leave us.
I did not have a dog as a child. My first dog was a Boxer named Red who only made it to six. He was my benchmark for how obedient a dog can be. Red was a wonderful learner. He was handsome reddish brown with beautiful white markings. He was with me when I weathered the second death of a baby. Red would sit beside Carrie Jane and he knew not to lick her because her skin was so fragile. He also knew to come and get me if she was crying or he thought anything was wrong. At age six, Red was diagnosed with cancer and the vet put him down. I stayed with him though my heart was breaking. It was very peaceful - for him. Horrible, horrible cancer.
I went a long time without a dog and then married an international dog show judge. So, I pretty much had to have a dog! We wanted a "new" breed for me and we looked at Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers and Shih Tzu.
Shih Tzu it was and I acquired my first and was hoping to show him. I was so fortunate to have a wonderful person, the late Garrett Lambert, to take him under his wing and show him for me. It was not long before we realized Taury's back leg had a double-jointed hock. So, now he was a pet. Odd to tell you that Taury also died at age six. When I called him to come in with his old Lhasa pal, BoBo, I found him lifeless on the back step to the garden.
Because I had wanted to show and breed Shih Tzu, I approached Wenrick Kennels in Azilda, near Sudbury, Ontario. They leased me a wonderful girl named Miss Bobbin. Lease a dog? Yes, that seems funny to someone not actively breeding or showing purebreds, but yes, I leased Miss Bobbin - a Black and White little gal who had a lot of character and was used to having litters. She had that first litter before we got home from work and was just having the last when we walked in. You don't find many dogs like that!
Beginners Luck on that litter: 2 gold and whites and 2 black and whites! Wenrick Kennel let me lease her for a second litter. I can keep in touch with them on Facebook today . . . thanks to Mark Zuckerberg!!
Since this blog is really about dogs dying, I should tell you that my beloved Fanny (from that first litter) died under the Christmas tree before I got home from work. (She was looking at the gifts including a toy for her that made a noise even wrapped.) She was a truly wonderful companion dog and produced very nice puppies..
When I came to Texas, I brought my last two homebred Shih Tzu - Sadie and Harry. They were half brother and sister and their mother was Fanny.
Hubby let them out one morning first thing and clicked the kitchen gates when they came back in. He went back to shave and all the stuff men do first thing. When he came back, Sadie was lying on the kitchen floor, lifeless and Harry was standing right by her.
Our minister at the time, David Chancellor, came over and dug Sadie a grave at the back of our yard on a rainy and muddy morning. I always thought that was a very special thing for that man to do.
Harry - Ayr of Importance - was the last. He began to have seizures, something I had not seen in dogs before in dogs. The Vet was not sure how he would do and warned us the medicine might not help.
On a Saturday morning, Harry began seizing and he was literally rolling across the carpet. I had never seen this before. It was frightening and I could not even imagine how this beloved and very intelligent dog was feeling as this was happening.
We tightly bundled Harry in a blanket and he lay on my lap in the back seat as Hubby tried to navigate us out of our subdivision during a major garage sale morning.
So, that was it! That was the end of being hurt my these precious beings. Their lives were short (compared to a human's) and I said that was enough.
As they say on the infomercials - BUT WAIT!
Yes, after five weeks, we found a wonderful Lhasa Apso breeder in the next town and that was when Buddy entered our lives. He was 10 months old and he will be nine this month. He is a wonderful companion. I think that is why we come back for another round because dogs ask so little and give so much. Their love for us is immeasurable. . . .
I wondered if my friend could write about her Jasmine. She did. Yes, she wrote one of her best columns ever.
When you give your heart to a dog, it will be broken.
