A final goodbye

animal-inside said:
there is very little on earth as good as a good dog..
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Very true. They domesticated us because their intelligence is different but in many ways more than we have. Smart of any animal to make themselves useful a long time ago so they had a warmer place to live and food given to them. We judge their intelligence by human standards.

He was the most empathetic dog I have ever known even though he would try to rip your arm off if you tried to hurt the family. When a family member lost their spouse and they would visit, he would just lay against them trying to comfort him. @CosmicJuiceBoxx - yes, it hurts but it is supposed to. How can you lose a best friend who would do anything for you and it not hurt. He can't be replaced but I will add to the pack and get another Bouvier, and protection train after obedience/socialization is done. I love the breed, not the biggest, not the strongest, but my favourite breed - your typical herding/working breed that instinctual protects the pack. They are great with kids, are mischievous in a good way, and are full of personality if socialized properly. I love Dobermans too by the way. I never owned one but there are many in our weekly class and they are an intelligent, strong breed.
 
Know how you feel. Rest easy knowing he had a good life good home and was loved for doing what he did best.

My wife made one of those multi picture frames for me of our last animal and it was pretty awesome helped with the healing.

Mend well
 
@Goldenrod , I have never been without a pet. I've had several pets with ailments and difficulties that would make normal people ask why I go to so much trouble or spend the kind of money that I didn't have. I've built special ramps, furniture, bathroom facilities, and even a special food bowl to help out my buddy who needed it. I've put carpets over hardwood floors to make walking easier if age was a factor. I won't hesitate to take someone to the vet if it's clear they are in pain or distress and have just had enough, but I'll go to the ends of the earth to help them with quality of life and happiness if I have any power to do so.

Like others here, I absolutely understand and empathize with your grief. When I struggle with the loss I usually find myself comforted with the idea that I was lucky to have been able to care for them and now I have decades of happy memories to be thankful for, and I know they were as happy and safe as I could make the world for them.

Cheers buddy,

You were lucky to have him, and him you.

S.
 
Sorry for your loss. I have no kids , never will but my dogs are my life . They are like my kids, I had two of the older ones pass a couple years ago and it was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever endured. I currently have 4 and they are all getting up there in age and it scares the shit outta me knowing I’m gonna have to say goodbye four more times .
 
Slartibartfast said:
@Goldenrod , I have never been without a pet. I've had several pets with ailments and difficulties that would make normal people ask why I go to so much trouble or spend the kind of money that I didn't have. I've built special ramps, furniture, bathroom facilities, and even a special food bowl to help out my buddy who needed it. I've put carpets over hardwood floors to make walking easier if age was a factor. I won't hesitate to take someone to the vet if it's clear they are in pain or distress and have just had enough, but I'll go to the ends of the earth to help them with quality of life and happiness if I have any power to do so.

Like others here, I absolutely understand and empathize with your grief. When I struggle with the loss I usually find myself comforted with the idea that I was lucky to have been able to care for them and now I have decades of happy memories to be thankful for, and I know they were as happy and safe as I could make the world for them.

Cheers buddy,

You were lucky to have him, and him you.

S.
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You animals are lucky to have you. I can relate. He was worth every penny, but I spent over 30K on him over a decade. We would on any of our dogs. We play hard as all our dogs are working dogs but first they are family (the little one is old and really isn't a working dog, but she still played hard with the big ones until she got too old and they would accidentally hurt her). They get hurt, can't walk on hard wood so you have to put in carpet in a large area for them so they can get up and down. As they age, we had to build a ramp with a non slip surface on a slight grade that folds (especially for the truck) so they could come when they got older and couldn't make the jump or were injured and needed an easy walk up.
You just went way up in my list of people I think highly of. Sounds like your animals are blessed to be with you. I always say we won't be without a pack of dogs. It is like Karma - if it is time and we need to say goodbye, inevitably we get a call from the rescue organizations we belong too and a dog that was abused needs a forever home. I love mixed breeds and pretty much all dogs but some simply are better at protection because they were bred to protect a herd of cows, sheep or whatever and are large enough to fight off wolves. That is the only reason I would buy a pure bred, otherwise I would just rescue dogs, but most do not have the temperament to be good protection dogs or big enough and would get hurt (or worse) if they tried to protect the pack. I will shut up now or I will end up writing paragraphs.
 
3ml said:
It's amazing how close we get with dogs
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So true - I often wonder why dogs over so many other great animals. They can easily be trained to go to the bathroom outside, are cute, are smart (most), usually will be obedient if you are a good leader but there is something else. I think it is their versatility - they can do anything you need (companion, protection, help with mental health or physical impairments). Do you have an opinion why people tend to get so close to dogs over other animals. I agree - I grew up on a farm and I liked all our animals but none as much as our dogs.
 
Goldenrod said:
So true - I often wonder why dogs over so many other great animals. They can easily be trained to go to the bathroom outside, are cute, are smart (most), usually will be obedient if you are a good leader but there is something else. I think it is their versatility - they can do anything you need (companion, protection, help with mental health or physical impairments). Do you have an opinion why people tend to get so close to dogs over other animals. I agree - I grew up on a farm and I liked all our animals but none as much as our dogs.
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I agree, they can fill almost any void we need filled. Very special creatures. Very rarely have I not had a dog in my life.

I wish I could find as much happiness in the small things they do like rolling in the grass or snow, playing with a ball. Imagine being so excited to see someone that you have not seen in 15 min lol.
I get a kick put of that. I can literally go out to the garage for a few min, come in the house and it's like they haven't seen me all day lol
 
Since my willow passed away I have not had a dog. Living on a farm we have over time rescued 5 cats and plus the one we have gives us 6. We are to full to have a dog. But I know if one were to show up at the farm it would end up having a home. I know that day will come and wait patiently for the dog that needs help to pick me to be with :)

there is indeed something very special about dogs. I love my cats but wish I had a dog :)
 
3ml said:
I agree, they can fill almost any void we need filled. Very special creatures. Very rarely have I not had a dog in my life.

I wish I could find as much happiness in the small things they do like rolling in the grass or snow, playing with a ball. Imagine being so excited to see someone that you have not seen in 15 min lol.
I get a kick put of that. I can literally go out to the garage for a few min, come in the house and it's like they haven't seen me all day lol
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We kind of do find happiness in small things, banging the old lady like its your first date even after 20 years, picking up heavy weights and throwing them down lol. We are just a more sophisticated version of a dog. I get what your saying though thats what makes them so awesome.
 
Currently, I cohabitate with two dogs- a fifteen-year-old poodle who is blind and nearly deaf and is showing signs of dementia. She has been with me forever. I am also the proud owner of a Jack Russell terrier, who is also getting up there in age. She is nearly thirteen, and her favourite things are rolling in the grass and sunbathing on her special cushion. She is also showing signs of dementia, but that is no big deal, as we will stick with her to the end. We have no idea how old our cats are, as they are all rescues. All we have are estimates from the Vet at give or take seven years old for all of them. They just dropped by and never left.
I have always had dogs; usually, they were the big terriers, such as Staffies and Bull Terriers. Damn stubborn dogs, but you can get away with minimal training because they are Nanny Dogs.
 
3ml said:
I agree, they can fill almost any void we need filled. Very special creatures. Very rarely have I not had a dog in my life.

I wish I could find as much happiness in the small things they do like rolling in the grass or snow, playing with a ball. Imagine being so excited to see someone that you have not seen in 15 min lol.
I get a kick put of that. I can literally go out to the garage for a few min, come in the house and it's like they haven't seen me all day lol
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Well said - hard to fathom going out the door to grab something and you hear your dog whining because they didn't get to go out with you. Back in 5 minutes and the howl and act like they haven't seen you for weeks. Time can't be the same for dogs - it would be nice if we could get happiness from such little things. One of his favourite things was to find an empty toilet paper roll, get it out of the garbage and show me, wanted me to tell him no as the intonation of your voice tells the dog you aren't serious (and I wasn't - it was just play) and then they want to play keep away. Can't imagine doing that as a human, but wish it made me as happy as it did him.
At the end when he was blind but would still like to find things, I would buy balls with bells and roll them - he memorized the house and got a great kick out of finding the ball and bringing it back. Unfortunately, when his back went - he couldn't really enjoy that either.
 
Very sorry for the loss of your friend @Goldenrod . It's part of the contract we sign when we adopt a pet, but it's never easy to say goodbye. I still regularly think about and miss every one of mine.
 
Goldenrod said:
I am not looking for sympathy but I know there are many dog people here who can relate. The folks that know me, know my dogs are family and I train them for 100's of hours for protection and obedience so we have a bond that is impossible to break. I had to do the last kindness for my buddy yesterday and say goodbye. We held him until he passed. He went totally blind, his back was so bad he couldn't walk for anymore than a few 100 meters or he would scream in pain and then needed pain medication, and his eyes were starting to hurt him. It came on very fast and I don't know why, but the vets couldn't stop it, and I would never let an animal suffer.

1. To one of my best buddies, my Alpha male, as you can see has one eye that does not look right. He lost sight in one eye putting two large men through the outer glass door. My house was broken into at X-Mas by 4 men. They thought no one was home as my better half was away with the other dogs, and I parked my car under the raised deck to bring in presents through the back stairs to the patio door. You would never see the car if you came to the side with the stairs. His favourite sleeping places were against the door, top of the stairs (where you see him in the picture) so he could see the door, or beside my better half's side of the bed so he no one could get in or near us without him knowing. I don't know what happened but at 4 AM (I think), I thought the dogs were fighting as I heard screaming. I jumped out of bed and my Bouvier must have been at the top of the stairs heard them and when they opened the steel door, he flew down the stairs and put them through the door. 125 lbs of 25 km/h dog flying at you trying to get you out of the house. The rest I don't need to get into as it isn't about him.
2. No one could approach my better half without her saying it was OK - he would simply block you, warn you, but once she told him she knew the man - he was friendly.
3. He patrolled the house 24/7 checking on us and we always knew, as he would come over touch us with his nose and sniff, then go back to sleep for a while.
4. He made us laugh everyday as he had the greatest sense of humour and loved to play hide and seek, hide shoes but not destroy them, and was a little mischievous.
5. He protected our other dogs, if a stray dog came around and was aggressive, or one of the larger dogs was going to step on our little dog, he would stand over her and bump them away.
6. He followed us everywhere, inside, outside, in the car, and while he loved company and meeting people - we had to invite you in or over to talk, otherwise no one got near us. He loved kids and let all children play with him.
7. Once he knew you and accepted you as a friend and not a threat, he never forgot, and you were always welcomed with happy noises and a wagging tail.
8. In general he made our lives better and he will be missed.

I choose to believe energy doesn't die and where ever he is, he is sniffing butts and crotches (he loves to stick his head under women's dresses which was embarrassing), can see, is running and playing and is happy. Time stands still for him and he will see us again. Maybe I am wrong, but it gives me comfort.



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sorry @Goldenrod sounds like he was a amazing dog
 
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