I'm so sad...dog story

JustaMom
Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:46:07 +0000

Thanks everyone for the kind words & the shared stories.

I not only read The Art of Racing in the Rain, I bought copies for everyone I know. What a great book.

Our boy had never lived in a home, and when we rescued him he had been living in a car. He was so skinny and filled with “nervous” dandruff. He would literally have to touch my body all the time for the first year he was with us. If I went to another room, his body would be pressed against my leg as I walked. He was skittish and terribly afraid of other dogs. So much so that I had to walk him at night. At the end he was robust, muscular, and would spoon in the bed all night long.

A cute story…after awhile (of being with us) he began wanting to take care of and “protect” me. One night as we walked, we approached a lawn that had a curled up hose on it. The boy crouched way low, and slunk super slowly and then POUNCED right on that hose! As soon as he discovered it was an inanimate object he stood up proud, shook a wee bit, looked up at me and gave me the “you’re so welcome…I would protect you any time” look. I laughed so hard I think I embarrassed him.

Someone asked if we knew what caused his paralysis, not really. Without extensive and expensive testing, which I wasn’t willing to do (and the vet said, “it simply postpones the inevitable”).

The boy was around 9 or 10 (he was around 4 or 5 when he came to us), and the vet said it could have been anything from an inner ear infection, a neck injury, or even cancer.

I’m doing better, but the task of breaking the news to my D is what’s making me anxious.

Part of me thinks, get another dog, and part of me wants to wait and see what life without one will be like. It’ll be interesting to see which side of me “wins”.

I love reading everyone’s stories.