All our yesterdays...

[cstorey]

Very sad , Dave . I hope you will have another dog which will give you more years of happy companionship

[DaveG]

My commiserations Dave. Sounds like she had a good innings. For the best in the end I think.

[DaveB]

Thanks guys. I thought I was big and strong this morning but coming back reading your 2 posts, I've tears streaming down my face

I sincerely hope we have another dog but it's going to be difficult now. When we had Remy (our first Lab) and Poppy.. we were in the pub trade so neither of us were very far away to avert/clean up after any disaster. With us both out at odd times now, a pup can be left to it's own devices. You can't blame the dog of course.. they do what dogs do! Remy was a sod. She chewed the crap out of loads of things Poppy was completely different. But for the odd little moment when she was a tiny pup.. she never destroyed anything. The wife has said that we don't have a lot but whatever we do have, she'd like to keep and I see her point.

I see it this way though. But for a few days of pain (for us) near the end of a dogs life.. they give so much and ask so little in return. Chris said the word.. companionship. You're never alone with a dog even if it may feel like it sometimes

ATB
Dave

[Tomliner]

So sorry to hear this Dave.Losing a family pet is as painful as losing any other family member.Cliches don't always help but they are often appropriate and as one them says,time will heal and leave you memories of all the good times you had. EricT

[TSR2]

Very sad to her about Poppy mate, never an easy thing, but that was a good innings and a happy one I'm sure, so hears to Poppy

[J0hn]

You have my deepest sympathy, Dave. I know the pain, as it would seem most here do.

Yeah - we also said "no more dogs" after our 18 year old passed away in September 2006 - which changed to "we'll have a couple of years off, just to do the things we couldn't with a dog". January 2007 we had two from the local Jerry Green rescue centre!

I always say that you have to take this factor into consideration as much as any other - that one day you will have to bury your furry friend - before taking one on. I know people who have never recovered from their loss.

The thing is, it's always worth it, especially if you only take on rescue dogs. As long as we are physically and financially able, we will always have a four-legged friend.



Tessa, aged 18 years and 7 months - about 3 weeks before she died after some kind of stroke. We think she was passing control of the pack to me in the picture, it was a strange moment - she always thought she was the boss! You can see her throne in the background. Amazingly, the vets had said she wouldn't survive passed 12 years as she had a nasty disease all her life. She certainly showed them!

...and here's the double trouble we took on within 6 months:



The dark one (Buster) had to go back after a year, which was heartbreaking in itself - but he was just too headstrong to control, and Sheba, the alsatian, didn't like him at all because of it. Problem was, although Sheba was very aggressive, she improved continually while he just got worse and worse. Sheba went from biting strangers and attacking cats and dogs to now not even needing a lead on any of her walks.

Talking of which, time to go (with my apologies - I could go on about the dogs all day!).

Sorry again, Dave - look at the positives - at least she had a good life with you, and I bet she taught you some things, too

[fran65]

... very sad Dave, but I'm sure that somewhere there is a Heaven for our pets, and we will find them there waiting for us

[DaveB]

Thanks fellas.

On one side, I feel so mean I didn't fight her corner and have the tumour(and spleen) removed. Right up until the last moment, it wouldn't have taken much to tip the balance. Some Labs live to 14 (though much fewer) and there's always one that refuses to go (15, 16 and in the rare cases 17) and this really didn't help me. You have to do what you believe is in the best interest of the animal and I'm convinced that I did do the right thing.. you have to be convinced.
Had Pop been a roughy toughy don't-give-a-rats sort of dog, perhaps we'd have felt different but she wasn't. If I coughed or sneezed or if it rained, those things would scare her and she would, unless consoled, shake until she got over it. Some gun dog!

I know what you mean about those strange moments when the dog comes over and sits looking at you. You ask if they want to go out.. no. You know they don't want food.. what are they trying to say. Always made me think!

ATB
Dave

[Tako_Kichi]

Sorry for your loss Dave, it's always hard when you lose a furry family member. We said goodbye to our Lab a few years ago when she was only six due to complications from diabetes (liver damage and cataracts), we then lost one of our twin-brother cats to feline leukemia. The other one made it to last year when he reached the ripe old age of eighteen but suddenly lost 90% of his weight over a short period of time, couldn't keep anything down and started going to the bathroom wherever he happened to be standing or lying. The vet was amazed at how little he weighed and said that basically all his internal organs were starting to shut down and there was nothing she could do so we had to make the decision to end his suffering (never an easy choice).

Last autumn my youngest daughter (20) left home to move in with her BF and took her tank of fish and rabbit with her so we are down to just two animals now, a five year old English Springer Spaniel (who's as nutty as they come and we are really hoping his 'adult brain' kicks in soon) and a six year old cat who we swear is part Bengal (dad was unknown and mum was killed by a car when the kittens were just four weeks old) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_%28cat%29 .

Only you can know when the time is right to get a replacement but a house does feel empty when you are used to fur-balls running around.

[DaveB]

I'm not sure your Springer's adult brain will ever kick in mate. They're generally bonkers from the word go and stay that way

SWMBO is already starting to crack. She said today that I could look at a rescue dog.. but not for 6months. We'll see

It's funny but we have the ashes of mom and dad's last 2 Jack Russell's buried in the garden. It may seem mean and spiteful but yesterday, having had Poppy put to sleep and while hanging her blankets out on the line I'd just washed.. I suddenly resented the Jack Russell's being there. I wanted to keep Poppy's ashes but felt guilty about saying yes as we'd not kept our last Labradors ashes and we loved her just as much. When I lost mom and dad.. the beginning of this thread.. I'd scattered their ashes over the common under 2 trees just a minute or so away and suddenly, digging the Jack's ashes up and scattering them with mom and dad seemed like a good idea. I've run it past my Auntie June (mom's sister) and she agrees it's a lovely idea (even though she knows my initial reason for wanting them gone). So.. that's a plan

ATB
Dave