Pet Loss

[Snozzle]

I didn't see any recent threads on the subject. If you lost a loved baby pour out your heart here, stories, pictures, anything you want to post. It helps with the grief and healing to talk about them.
I just lost my best friend of 18 years yesterday, I can't imagine life without her anymore, she has been by my side my whole adult life. My boyfriend has only known her 7 years, but he is heartbroken just as I am, she was his disc golf and hiking buddy even though these last few months she hasn't been able to walk with us anymore. She was always the protector of small things, if any little creature would make a peep my Tedster was there to the rescue. She would never bite, but she would take a good run and ram dogs or other intruders threatening her puppies(or rather whatever creature she had adopted at the time). She was such a strange girl, half chow and half pit, hardly ever barked, never had to be house trained, didn't beg, didn't jump on people, she was just the perfect dog. Her happiest day must have been when she got to dress up as a pumpkin and go trick or treating 3 years ago, she had a huge smile on her face and her tail didn't stop wagging the whole time. I miss her so much!

 

[dainerra]

so sorry for the loss of your girl

 

[Snozzle]

Thank you! I can't allow myself to stay sad for long, I had her for twice as long as many others get to be with their dogs and my other babies need me. My malecat was extremely attached to her, so he will need some tlc and I have a very sick new chick that hatched yesterday. The circle of life doesn't allow breaks.... well maybe I'm not doing as well as I thought, I just put bacon bits in my coffee instead of creamer

 

[dainerra]

I'm glad taht you are looking at the bright side. Bacon bits in your coffee means you don't have to take the time to eat, right?

Remember all of the good times that you had with your girl. You are lucky that you got to keep her around for such a long time.
That is the only problem, they don't live nearly as long as we wish

 

[wekiva bird]

Sorry for your lost .

Your friend was with you a long time.

 

[dainerra]

In My Good Death
by Dalia Shevin

-For Charlie, in loving memory

I will find myself waist deep in high summer grass. The humming
shock of the golden light. And I will hear them before I see
them and know right away who is bounding across the field to meet
me. All my good dogs will come then, their wet noses
bumping against my palms, their hot panting, their rough faithful
tongues. Their eyes young and shiny again. The wiry scruff of
their fur, the unspeakable softness of their bellies, their velvet ears
against my cheeks. I will bend to them, my face covered with
their kisses, my hands full of them. In the grass I will let them knock
me down.

 

[True Grit]

In My Good Death
by Dalia Shevin
-For Charlie, in loving memory
I will find myself waist deep in high summer grass. The humming
shock of the golden light. And I will hear them before I see
them and know right away who is bounding across the field to meet
me. All my good dogs will come then, their wet noses
bumping against my palms, their hot panting, their rough faithful
tongues. Their eyes young and shiny again. The wiry scruff of
their fur, the unspeakable softness of their bellies, their velvet ears
against my cheeks. I will bend to them, my face covered with
their kisses, my hands full of them. In the grass I will let them knock
me down.

You got me with that one dainerra.

I lost my special needs collie Romie, love of my life, at 9 yrs old on Nov 11, and still can't even think about him without crying, and lost my 17.5 yr old jrt Reggie 9 days ago. Sorry for your loss Snozzle.

 

[dainerra]

I cried when I read it this morning. Someone on my GSD forum has lost all THREE of her senior dogs between Oct and Mother's Day. This poem was posted in a thread over there. I try not to think about the day when my Rayden leaves us. He will be 9 this year

 

[Snozzle]

Aww how beautiful that poem is.
True Grit I am so sorry for your loss too, but wow 17.5 is quite an age, I know you must have been a great mom and to take care of a special needs animal that takes a very special person.

dainerra when my Tedders was 9 I thought about that she won't be with me much longer, but she doubled her 9 years and was in great health until these last few months. I think if they know how much we need them they stick around until we tell them they can go home.
On a brighter side I haven't been getting much sleep and my head is a mess and I have done some pretty silly stuff these last few days that made me and my friends giggle. As I already mentioned there was the episode with bacon bits in my coffee, but the next day we went to the chicken swap meet at TSC and when I got out of my car my friend busted out laughing pointing at my shoes. I looked down and I was wearing 2 different shoes, a black 1 and a grey one, I totally didn't notice it. I was pretty embarrassed the whole time I was there and was trying to hide one shoe behind the other the whole time, I guess I could have played it off as a fashion statement

I think things are getting back to normal here, there is still a void and it always will be there, but there is so much love around me from my pets and my wonderful man who really surprised me when he was with me at the vet, I never realized how much she meant to him too. He was raised on a farm and was used to sick animals being taken out back and shot without wasting any tears. So I was surprised to see that he was almost in worse shape then I was when she went. He offered to have her cremated in a blanket his grandma made for him when he was a baby which is one of his most loved possessions, especially since his grandma passed away a couple years ago too. For him to offer his blanket to be burned with my dog(which I didn't allow since Teddy didn't need a blanket where she was going) just made me understand even more what a special person I have had by my side these past 7 years and losing our baby girl has brought us even closer together. Out of a loss comes so much love too and my other pets have been incredibly sweet and silly trying to cheer us up. My 2 D'uccles followed Adam(my boyfriend) all the way to the door earlier and were standing at the glass door looking inside waiting for us to open the door for them. They made me laugh, they had never done that before and haven't been inside since they were in the brooder.

 

[dainerra]

your guy sounds like a wonderful man! In time, you will be able to focus on the good memories of Tedders. I don't know what to do that makes it come faster.

Life is too ironic to fully understand. It takes sadness to know what happiness is. Noise to appreciate silence. And absence to "value presence."
- Unknown