A VERY, VERY SAD DAY

by: Badger5

Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 17:29:47 PM EST

It's a very sad day in my house. . .

My dear, sweet Bosch came from a dairy farm immediately north of St.  
Cloud, Wisconsin. . .  in February of 1996. Actually, she was born on  
Christmas day in 1995.  I'd go back there if I knew they still bred  
such quality White Shepherds.  At her peak, she was 30 inches at the  
shoulder and 115 pounds. . .  all of it love and loyalty that  
shepherds are so well known for. With her giant shepherd size though,  
she appeared fierce and threatening. People used to cross the street  
when I walked her. The neighborhood kids thought she was a wolf.  
Little did they know that if you went "BOO" she would have turned and  
run. I love her so much. She was always tender with children and  
little dogs, especially little dogs. I think she might have been a  
great mother had she been bred.  Cats or squirrels or chickens, not  
so much. She was my friend, my confidant, my protector.

Problem with an all white dog is that you don't see them age like  
colored dogs. . .    you just turn around one day and suddenly they  
are feeble. She's 91 in dog years. Today she weighed in at 70 pounds,  
a far cry from her "fighting weight".

She developed a kind of muscular dystrophy sort of disease that causes her to lose  
control of her hind quarters and she is now incontinent.  She was  
wasting away before my eyes. It was incurable. Her once powerful legs  
have wasted to sticks. I carry her up and down the steps. She falls  
over and stumbles. She lays at my feet and cries. Her beautiful  
triple coat of fur is tattered and dry.

It is time.  

We sat on the floor together at the vets office, looking longingly  
into each others eyes. I talked to her about my favorite times with  
her. . .  The time she chased and almost caught the show chickens at  
a farm, the time she dove head first into a 90% mud pond after a  
Great Blue Heron and came out black. She shook it off as though it  
was nothing, her impenetrable triple coat sloughing off the mud like  
it was dust.  I reminded her of when she first learned about Lake  
Michigan's waves and how she ran to me in fear at the wall of water  
twice her size crashing over her.  We talked about the dog park and  
the friends she made there.

But most of all, I told her how much I loved her and how I would miss  
her and that it was ok for her to let go.  The vet agreed that it was  
time. He confirmed that what I saw in Bosch was pain and lowered  
quality of life. Dr. H gave her the first injection and she  
slumped comfortably in my lap, her gaze becoming more distant with  
each passing moment. Came then the second injection and in moments,  
she closed her eyes and breathed her last breath.

My brave friend was gone, but I will love her for all time. I am so  
lucky to have had such a wonderful, well behaved dog.

-Badger5

  Bosch-Day One Bosch-A few years ago

And let's not forget my other baby, MULDER..

RAINBOW BRIDGE

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

- Anonymous

AND... I love this tongue in cheek expression of love for dogs. . .

The Revenant

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you--not one bit.

When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.

I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and--greatest of insults--shake hands without a hand.

I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.

You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.

While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place

except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner--

that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and the others in prose.

-Billy Collins