My wife and I took our dog Georgie to be put down earlier today. It was her time and, I truly believe, she knew it as well.
She was adopted in 2002 as, what was stated, a Shepherd/Lab mix. I don’t believe this was true. She did indeed have a lot of Lab in her, including webbed toes but had erect ears and spots on her tongue that reminded me more of a chow than anything else. If we were walking by a lake or creek, she would stare at the water as if there was some inner drive pushing her to go for a swim. She sometimes would, but only if there was a sloped bank or some other obvious way in and out.
My wife and then 7 year old son selected here when she was about 3 months old from the city’s SPCA shelter and had me come by to take a look before they signed the papers. She was a dog who was content to observe happenings around here and this showed when I saw her for the first time as she was sitting in the middle of a pen just watching and observing. When she saw me for the first time, I received a small wag of the tail and a formal greeting as if to say “Hi, let’s go now.” My wife was not looking for a particularly large dog and the size of her paws made us think she would be mid-sized. She fooled us and grew into her 60 or so pounds of graceful tan beauty.
Our walks were more of a social event for her as she greeted the scent of every other animal who went before us and (if not on someone’s lawn!) left a bit of pee-mail in return. Most of her life pre-dated dog parks in the area so we’d go off-leash in remote parks or other areas allowed a bit of freedom. She did take every advantage of lapses in security by sneaking out the open door and either sitting in the front yard in our cul-de-sac or scouting out the neighbor’s houses. I once received a call asking “Did you know Georgie is out and has a possum in her mouth?” I ran outside to see her proudly trotting back home with her prey looking very much like a dead possum when I got her to drop the thing. The neighbor came by and we talked a bit a few feet away from the very still critter when it slowly looked up and snuck off toward the creek. She would go on to repeat this performance including three months ago she she was well beyond possum-hunting age. I still wonder if it was the same critter who no-doubt was thinking “hell, not again!”
Age takes its toll and she began slowing down a few years ago. Walks become shorter and naps became longer and the grey hair on her snout started showing through her yellow fur. Her arthritis slowed her down two years ago to the extent that my wife and I both took her to the Vet where we thought, at 15, there was not much more we could do. What happened is that the Vet gave us a 30 day supply of Rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory, to see if it helped. And, help it did, as a day later she was able to move around much better and started enjoying life again, Returning to the Vet the next month, he supplied us with a continuous supply and showed me the notes from the last visit which implied he expected euthanasia on this visit.
We knew this could not go on forever but Georgie was still a happy dog to the extent that she would be positively puppy-like with her toys once a day and still (slowly) greet me when coming home from work. It was clear that motion was more painful, however, and our walks became sessions in our front yard where she would wander the lawn or sit and stare at the house where her last possum was hunted down.
Something happened late last week when she woke me up in the middle of the night and wanted attention. Did not need to go outside or anything, just wanted her back rubbed and her ears scratched. The next morning it was clear that her movements were greatly reduced and she did not have total control of her legs, as if she experienced a small stroke. She stopped eating and gave us other clues to let it’s know that it’s time. We made the difficult but very necessary decision yesterday and took her to the Vet this morning. Certainly not the first pet I’ve had to say farewell to but this cuts deeper than the others.
So, rest well Georgie! You were a great companion!
And, thank you all for allowing me to share my grief.
