Musashi was a great warrior and was given his final rest at 5:30am of September 1st, 2007. At the final moments, he was resting on his favorite cushions and I was lying right next to him. He put his head on my arm and was sleeping very comfortably. Prior to the time, my husband, Brendan and I sat with Musashi for 90 minutes comforting him and telling him how special he was to us. At 5:30am, Dr. Mendelzon and Christopher, technician and Musashi’s number one fan, came into the room and gave Musashi the injection while he was sleeping so soundly. Within a minute, his breathing stopped and he went to the eternal peace.
Musashi was a brave fighter. During 4 months of his battle with Hemangiosarcoma, Musashi never cried, whined, nor whimpered. He faced all the challenges with high spirit. I am so proud of him. Now he is at the place where there are no pains, no bleeds,
no needles, and no meds.
Everyone has special moments with his/her furry baby. Below are some of our special episodes.
Brendan and I loved him so very much. But Musashi was definitely mama’s boy. Brendan called him as a canine compass because he said that he knew where I was by watching Musashi’s eye movements. In the kitchen or living room, Musashi always had his eyes fixed on me. He liked to follow my movements. He always wanted
to know what I was doing.
Musashi and I enjoyed evening walks. Because of his bad hips (hip dysplasia), Musashi walked funny, kind of wobbly walk, but he never lost his dignity. He carried himself in very dignified ways. When he was young, I had hard time controlling him. We attended 3 different obedience classes and bought so many books on training. But Musashi was just himself. As he matured, he became a perfect walker, though. We were like twins on walks. We wore matching vests with reflectors. I wore a cap with small lights on so that everyone could spot us from anywhere. Even on a rainy day, we walked. Musashi wore a yellow rain coat. I wore a green rain poncho. We loved each other’s company.
I miss him so much. I miss all sorts of sounds he used to make. Big splashing sounds he made when he drank the water. Crushing sounds of his eating ice cubes or crunchy treats. His barks at birds in the trees or deer in the woods. He made such contended deep sighs when dozing off to sleep and so relaxing snores during sleeps. When he wanted to play with me, he made cute begging cries. He howled so joyfully with happy birthday songs. I loved them all.
Musashi was a paradoxical dog, too. He loved quiet moments in the backyard lying on the grass and absorbing gentle sunlight. But he barked loudly at anyone and anything that disturbed the tranquility, boys riding on the skateboards, trucks collecting garbage, or cats fighting. He enjoyed the quiet moments but made noise when his quiet moments were disturbed.
Brendan and I had so much fun with Musashi, especially playing with his favorite pink spiky ball. He was a great catcher, much better than a professional baseball catcher. I showed him the ball. He focused on it so intensely (he won the First Place in “staring” at his obedience school when he was one and a half years old) and wait. I threw the ball to him (curve, toss, straight, or whatever), Musashi caught it perfectly. He dropped the ball and showed BIG SMILE. Oh, I loved that face. When his appetite was not so great, I sang and danced, AND threw the pink ball to him. He became excited and picked up the ball and brought to me. I gave him a treat. We repeated a couple of times and I gave him Evo kibbles. Then, he usually started to show his interest in dog food and started to eat his food.
Musashi was a sweet boy with a big heart. As he was given various nicknames by different people, he was a unique, special dog. Gift from the heaven. One and only. 3 H’s (Handsome but Handful Hound). Sweet but rambunctious. Lion dog (on a Halloween night). Escapee (he escaped from the cage at the emergency hospital to see me in the waiting room). Seal (he refused to go into the dog house Brendan had built for him even when there was hard rain, standing in the rain totally soaked like a seal). Dog with an issue with the tissues (he just loved tearing up tissues and paper towels). Sashi who was an excellent surfer around the kitchen table. When I heard Brendan’s “Saaaashi”, it meant that Musashi stole something delicious from the kitchen table.
Right now, the house is so empty and so lonely without Musashi. But we are lucky to have so many wonderful memories with him. Brendan and I were chosen by Musashi to become his parents on December 31st, 2001 when he was roaming around the neighborhood. Since then, he had been such joy of our lives. He was also adored by his little sister dog Mame and little brother cat, Mu. We all miss him very much.
Sashi, we love you so much and you will live in our hearts forever.
Lots of Hugs & Kisses To You, Sashi,
| Musashi |
| Yukie & Brendan |