I had to put down our 13yr old golden retriever Annie on Sunday. She was refusing food, could not stand and was lying in her own urine, was in pain, and had internal bleeding as shown by white gums. It was time.
It has been hard on us all. I think when it hurts the most is when we notice the hole in our lives. My son was doing the dishes, and he remembered she used to watch him, and he broke down. My wife took the surviving dog Hero out this morning, and was really hurting. I sing a stupid goodbye song before I go to work (started doing this when the kids were young and had separation anxiety, just kept doing it for the dogs), and I lost it this morning.
I know some people who say no more when their dogs die. My parents for instance had 3 go in short order and have been without dogs.
Not me. I want a new pup. Something about the pain you feel at that life gone that reminds you of how great that life was, and it makes me want to seek out new life. There you go, my $0.02 epiphany for the day.
Daughter in SF is having a hard time. She FaceTimed us during the procedure, and my son was her arms. Annie was her dog.
We saw her going downhill for a while now. We did go out to the cabin in WVa one last time for Annie. She swam in the pond on a great sunny day. We gave her a pork chop for dinner. Ticked that off the bucket list.
So here I am with a bad case of dog blues.
Update- about a week has passed since we put Annie down. A wood box with her name and her ashes arrived. We have gone from hurting daily to renewing our relationship with the surviving dog, Hero. He was always the submissive one of the pair, and now seems to be slowly adjusting to being the focus of the family. It really helped having a low key stay at home weekend last weekend. Working while grieving was hard.
My wife walks him more, and that seems to be helping both of them. For my daughter in SF, I think the reality of it will not hit until she comes home late summer for our beach trip.
I have pushed for a puppy, but my wife wants to wait until we are done travelling for the year and have a lot of time home. I think about all those pictures we took as her end was nearing, and I do not want to see any of them. I like instead the action shots of a younger Annie.