Saying Goodbye to Man’s Best Friend March 6, 2014mindmenderEdit2 comments Frequently pet owners, especially dog lovers are known to say that losing their dog is more difficult to work through than losing a loved person in life. Being a devoted dog lover I find much truth to that as well. I can’t say that I am proud of that, but I must admit it to be true for me. This week I said goodbye to my 12 year best friend, pal, confidant and number one fan, Rudy. Rudy was a Saint Bernard and entered my life at a very critical emotional time for me when many good things were happening along with some very bad things. He became my neutralizer in so many ways and true to form, “rescued” me because that’s what Saint Bernards do. Saints being extremely large animals offer all that more love! Unfortunately, they don’t have very long life spans. Most, they say, live 8-10 years. My first Saint, MacKenzie left me at 9, so I was truly luck to have Rudy around for 12 years. After his 10th birthday though, I began to worry. Not because he was ill at all, but because he wasn’t getting any younger. He did show some signs of age as the past 2 years went by, his back legs weren’t what they used to be all the time, but most times after getting up, he’s still run, walk, and spar with his buddies in the yard. He was a fighter that’s for sure. If I saw him struggling a bit to stand and tried to help him, he let me know clearly he wanted and needed no help! And, he didn’t. He managed just fine! Slower, but fine. It was March 3, 2014 when I came home from work, and my wife told me that Rudy had fallen in the yard. This has never happened before, but he got himself into the house. He ate his dinner as usual, and went out one or two more times that evening before bed. I was lying on the couch with him on the floor respectively at my side as always, but something wasn’t right. His breathing was quite heavy and he wasn’t sleeping. I decided to stay with him, but both he and I were up all night, his breathing was too much and he just couldn’t rest. Needless to say, neither could I. At 5am I tried to get him out thinking he may need to go outside or have some water. It was extremely difficult to get him into the kitchen, and although my heart denied it, my mind knew that that day, Tuesday March 4, 2014 would be his last on earth. In to the kitchen, he didn’t make it far before he laid down again. I brought him the water bowl which he consumed what seemed to be gallons. Then I laid down on the floor next to him while his breathing continued to be very heavy. At one point after 30 minutes of nonstop heavy breathing, I thought he may pass away then, but he fell asleep briefly, and I passed out as well. Forty-five minutes later he was sitting up and now so was I. I felt quite helpless and wanted to get Rudy what ever he needed, but it was just after 6am or so now. He drank more water, and my wife helped me get him outside with his EZ Lift brace. Once out, he peed and peed and peed some more. We thought now maybe he could at least sleep a bit until our vet opened up. And he did. My wife, me, Rudy and our other 3 Saints all slept on the kitchen floor waiting for the world to open up. Finally though, Rudy was sleeping. He was sleeping so well, that I thought I could get a quick nap in too being I had been up all night. We all wound up sleeping until noon when I called our vet who I was told had left for the day. Yikes! Now I knew what to do. I had to call Garden State Veterinary Services. They are New Jersey’s only 24/7 emergency animal care center, and from the phone call throughout the process, they were a truly class act of wonderfully caring people. It was strange though how when we used the EZ Lift again to get Rudy to the truck, I thought he may want to pee again, but he directed up towards the truck. Then amazingly helped us help him get in! This dog couldn’t walk 5 minutes ago, now here he was helping us! Upon arrival at Garden State I thought for sure we would need help getting him in there, he weighs 185! They were ready with a gurney, but Rudy alone with me meandered into the facility…very slowly with breaks, but he did it. Needless to say, Rudy did what he had to do, and I swear he was more worried about us than he was about him. It’s never easy to stay with your beloved pet while they pass, but I know it’s the only thing to do! After all, they would do it for us! He went very peacefully and looked just like he always did when he was sleeping. And how he needed to sleep. Why are pets harder to part with than people? My best guess is that (speaking for dogs) pets are the closest thing to God’s love we will ever know on this earth. It is truly unconditional and humans are just not capable of such love however much we WANT it. Dogs do not hold grudges, they are always excited to see us, they treat us like we are royalty, they love us regardless of how we look or where we live, what kind of cars we drive and all that other nonsense humans use to measure things. They want only for our attention, love, support and care in return. Show me a person who can do that! Dog’s are not called “Man’s Best Friend” for no reason. And we all know God spelled backwards is Dog. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Rudy’s passing has hit me harder than any other dog’s I have ever had. We had a very special connection, and he followed me every single place I would go in the house. When we would have guests, Rudy was a barker. And I’ll even admit a very scary barker to those who didn’t know him. All he really wanted was to be able to “sniff” a visitor, and he would be fine, but most guests wouldn’t trust him that much. Because of this, he and I were normally confined to the kitchen when people were over. The “brave” who dared join us would soon see he was really a pussycat underneath that thunderous bark and tremendous size. I don’t know how long I will be mourning the loss of my best friend, probably forever. I know I have and will have other dogs with their own special abilities to love, but Rudy was truly in a class by himself, and if there is a Rainbow Bridge in Heaven, I know for sure HE will be there waiting for me. So long my buddy. Thank you for the honor of being my Best Friend for your 12 years. I love you and will always miss you. rudy
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 00:40:11 +0000
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