Mrs. Elliott {Elli} by Scott Debbie & Christa

Mrs. Elliott {Elli}
SERVICE DOG

Life can be tough sometimes……..

It is ALWAYS sad when you have to “put to sleep” a beloved pet. This is what we had to do last evening and our hearts are heavy with the loss of our cherished dog.

Elli came to us 5 years ago. She was a “service dog” for a little girl who passed away at the age of only 6 years old. It was extremely difficult for the family to continue to keep Elli as the dog was a constant reminder of their little jewel that moved to heaven.

Elli was placed on a special list for Golden Retrievers in need of good homes. Elli was shipped from San Diego California to Tucson to her new home. However her new owners gave her up because she was suffering from severe separation anxiety disorder…. plus she had NEVER been around the extremely lighting and thunder that we have here in Tucson. It was hard enough that Elli lost the little girl that she loved so much but then to be moved into another family at the very time that Tucson was having the monsoons was too much. Elli became a dog out of control.

She was taken from that home and given to yet another family. The family only kept Elli a few weeks before they realized that
they could not handle her.

At that time Christa (our daughter) was active in the TOP DOG SERVICE PROGRAM (training service dogs. Christa owns her own service dog). Top Dog ask us if we would PLEASE take Elli as we were her last hope. After seeing Elli your heart was touched. She was not only a beautiful dog but she had the sweetest nature.

She would do almost
anything to please you.
And of course we say yes.

Elli attached herself to me as I was the person who was around the house the most. Christa worked on Elli’s disorders but after a couple years we realized that we were only going to be able to treat her symptoms and protect her from harming herself whenever we left the house or when thunderstorms occurred. We purchased a HUGE kennel constructed of metal only to find that when we returned home from a short time to the grocery store that she had TORN THROUGH the metal mesh to free herself in hopes of getting to us. We then purchased a large plastic molded kennel. Took out all the metal mesh and replaced it with one inch metal bars. Scott mounted the bars so that they would spin when Elli would dig at the bars.

(This worked for years.)

July through September were the worse months for Elli as the cracks of thunder would destroy her and she would try to dig holes in our carpet or walls in hopes of being able to hide from a sound that she did not understand. We tried MANY different methods in hopes of calming the fears that plagued her but NOTHING worked for very long. The only thing that reduced her fears to some degree was tranquilizers and placing her in her kennel.

Over the past few months I have had to be away from home more than usual in taking care of my elderly Mother and that meant that Elli had to spend more time in her kennel. We noticed that Elli had now learned to chew on the medal bars and the results were that she had broken almost
ALL her teeth.

Last Sunday while Scott and I were at our friends house for dinner when we received a phone call from Christa. She had had to put Elli in her kennel as the sound effects of a movie that she was watching on the television had sent Elli into a panic attack plus “I” was not there. Christa told us that Elli was bleeding from chewing on the bar. We came home and cared for her best we could.

By Tuesday night I came to the realization that no matter how noble our deeds were in trying to give Elli a loving home that she was only going to get worse with age and that our need to keep her alive was just that “OUR NEED”.

It was time to set Elli free.

Elli was one of the SWEETEST dogs
I have ever known and
in return I could no longer
cause her to suffer.

The decision was made Scott and Christa took Elli to our vets to discuss putting her to sleep. I didn’t go as I was a blubbering mess at that point. I KNEW what the vet was going to say. Scott and Christa petted and spoke gentle words to Elli as the drug was given.

Elli simply went to sleep.
(Even our vet was in tears.)

I learned MANY lessons from precious Elli. The most important was her unconditional love. I learned patience and the giving and taking. I learned that even if you try your best that some things are far bigger than your efforts. And I also learned that it is OK to say Good Bye.

Elli will be GREATLY missed but I have to believe that Elli is NOW at peace and maybe she is playing in heaven with her little six year old master that she loved so much.

She has No fears anymore.

Hug your Pet.

With a Sad Heart.

Deborah