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When A Dog Dies

When A Dog Dies

All my life I wanted a four legged pet, specifically a dog. I begged for years as a kid for my parents to let me have one, but they faked allergies to animals, which I later found out after watching them both easily interact with a neighbors two dogs with not a sniffle between them. They both later confessed that they just didn't want to deal with having to walk a dog, and cleaning up after it, and vets, and all that comes with dogs so all they got me over the years was a fish and a hamster and that was it.

Well, that was it until I met my best friend in high school. She had tons of pets: rabbits, dogs, cats, turtles, birds, you name it. It was quite literally a regular zoo over at her house and I loved it. It was like my dream, especially my interactions with her new puppy at the time named Gee. He had this beautiful blonde hair that he would soon grow into, and the biggest puppy smile and bright eyes. Every time I would go over there, my friend and I would go on long walks on a nearby trail talking about school, and boys, and everything else and I would walk and play with Gee as we went along. I was happy, really happy, just hanging with my best friend and her dog.

When A Dog Dies

Over the years, I would see Gee off and on as both my besty and I attended college, got jobs, got boyfriends, got busy with just living and surviving, but he was always there, and always ready to greet me with the love that dogs give that is indescribable. Both he and she were constants in my life that always made me happy. Sadly though, with all creatures on this earth, there is a season, and Gee's towards the end of college started to turn. He would get sick off and on, had a few surgeries, got worse instead of better, and finally it was to the point where Gee couldn't stand much on his own or control his bowels anymore. His entire body was very stiff to the touch and his eyes always looked very drained. It broke both my besty and I to constantly see him like that and she debated with me for at least a year as to whether she should put him down or not wanting and hoping that he would improve, but things just kept getting worse and worse.

Finally, I got a phone call from her that it was just too much on Gee. He wasn't eating, he wasn't moving, and he truly was suffering beyond suffering. My friend absolutely refused to let Gee go if he was going to be taken away and put down at a Vets, but instead researched someone who could come to the home, where she could make things as comfortable as possible for him, before the end. She told me all of this through choking sobs, which whenever, she cries, it always makes me cry, so we cried together over the phone agreeing that the next weekend would be his last.

When A Dog Dies

When the day arrived, I came over to her house and the mood was understandably somber. My friends mom and brother were there too. The house was quiet except for some soft music playing in the background. Gee lay on a blanket in the middle of the living room surrounded by all his favorite items. He didn't move at all except for his torso shakily rising and falling with each breath as we waited for the vet to arrive. We all sat down around him taking turns stroking Gee and trying to give him as much comfort as we could hope to give him.

The Vet arrived soon after I did. She was the sweetest woman you could imagine for the task she had to perform. She offered us a lot of words of comfort. She sat with us for an hour and allowed us to share memories of Gee. It really was like a living funeral. Then she asked my friend if now would be okay, and we finally all had to let go. The drugs were administered and Gee went to the great beyond as peacefully as possible in his sleep. It was one of the saddest things I've ever experienced in my life, just knowing, he wouldn't be there anymore even if all he could do in his last days was rest quietly on his bed.

After his passing, we took Gee's paw print so we could have a keepsake of him, then we thanked the Vet who offered more words of comfort and a hug for each of us. From there, we took Gee to the backyard where we all helped bury him with all the things he had loved in life. I know a lot of people would probably roll their eyes at the thought of an animal funeral, but for many of us out there, even those of us who do not actually have pets of our own, the lives of animals can touch us in very profound ways. They provide comfort, joy, play, an ear to listen, even if they don't understand a word. Truer words were never spoken in regards to Gee, and he will always be loved and missed.

When A Dog Dies
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