GUEST POST from Don – Saying Good-Bye

SAYING GOOD-BYE
(to Annie)

She had a very good life, albeit confusing for a one-owner type of dog.

It was not that we had not done as much as we could to ease her 17-year life.  We had.  As a younger dog she would jump up onto our bed.  That was a 4-dog jump and she did it easily.  It was comical to watch because her back end would arrive at the same time as her front paws, and that meant it was a 4-leg vertical leap for a Dachshund.  

I should go back to her beginnings.  She did not start out being our dog.  We inherited her.  Dort was her first (and only) owner.  Dort carried the puppy everywhere and taught her not to bark at every person she saw.  She even carried her to our church meetings.  Then Dort got a dreaded cancer diagnosis.    Dort was a good friend who allowed us to dog-sit Annie.  So we knew this dog from when she was just a pup.

Dort was wise and bequeathed Annie to another older couple since Annie did not enjoy being around children much.  Less than a year later both of those new owners had died.  Annie was orphaned again and spent a month or so at another home, friends of ours.  But it was too busy there.  They had other dogs and cats and rambunctious kids, and places to go that a dog could not.  

So, we inherited her.  We had owned dogs before, but did not want or need another.  But who could let down such a dog.  We took her in and tried to make her comfortable in our home.  

One of the first things we had to do was change how we did the kitchen wastebasket (actually every wastebasket).  Annie loved knocking it over and scattering trash everywhere.  We could not leave a piece of food anywhere while getting up to answer the phone.  She would get it.  One daughter came back to find all the milk in her tall glass gone…Annie’s face inside the glass licking up the last of it.

She was smart, too.  I’m sure some other dogs do this, but I’ve never seen one… tied on a long leash, she would wind herself around a tree (normal for a dog), then she would look at the tree and go BACK the other way and untangle herself.  This is absolutely not normal dog behavior, is it???  One day I saw a rabbit outside and I made a “rabbit hand.”  Immediately she bounded to the window to see the “rabbit.”  I had not taught her that.  She got to see the critter.

She loved to snuggle under the covers … and lay long.  

When the doorbell rang, she would race barking to the door.  I would open the door.  She would bark one more time, then flip over to have her belly rubbed.

She greatly loved the outdoors.  One of her favorite things sitting on the porch to surveil the neighborhood (see picture below) or laying on the lawn in the sunshine on a cool spring day.  She would sleep like that for hours.  So, yes, she loved camping and going for walks.  She also loved the snow, putting her muzzle deep into a drift and sniffing.  

She put up with me.  She put up with the growing children.  She even put up with the neighbor’s pot-bellied pig.  She missed her Dort, and became confused when Dort’s sister once visited us to check up on Annie.  However, she adopted my wife as her surrogate owner.

As the years added up, she had a few problems.  We did what we could to deal with them.  Her back was weak (common with Dachshunds), so we limited her jumping up and down.  Of course, we built steps.  But soon even they were not sufficient and she got to the place where the couch (her favorite location) was no longer allowed.  In her last week she had trouble even jumping down from the porch step and we would carry her to the yard which she loved.  We had been giving her pain meds so she would sleep better at night, but in the last week even that was not enough and we heard her wandering the hall at night, her toenails clicking on the wooden floor.  She had mouth issues and inflammation.  She needed meds to help her control leakage from her intestines.  Then, she had gone mostly deaf and loud noises startled her.

Our lives often centered on her.  We did not mind much.  One of us had to swing by at noon on days  we were both working to make sure she had outside time and a proper lunch.  Every morning one of us would get up early to tend her needs and end up sleeping on the couch near her.  We reduced our long-distance travels since traveling was hard on her.  She had given up spending time in her crate so when we traveled we could not stay at someone’s house for fear she would have an accident.  (Accidents were very rare, but in a new place she would be much more nervous.)  

We did what you would do for your beloved pet.  Vet visits became more frequent.  Her foods became softer.  We knew the time was growing short.  Yet…maybe we can put this off for another 6 months?  The time came.  We knew it, though we did not want to know it.  She had one more good meal.  One more long sit next to me on the recliner.  One more trip to her beloved yard.  

The vet asked a few questions and checked her over.  She had a fever.  She could no longer walk in a straight line.  He agreed with our assessment.  He mentioned he had to put his dog down a few months before, but he denied the truth too long and was selfish…and his dog did not have a good ending.  Honestly, there is no good ending.  No death is honorable.  No final good-bye is peace-giving.

We said good-bye to a wonderful, loyal, loving, always hopeful friend.  Good-bye, Annie.  We love you.

Annie died about 14 months ago and I’m just now settled enough to share this eulogy of our beloved family member.

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere. ~ Sherry]

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