We drove hours away to get him.
Finally when we got there he was only one of two dogs left. He was kept outside, and was unsocialized with human contact. When they first let him out of the pen he just ignored us and was running around chasing his brother. The breeder asked which one I wanted and I said “We’ll take the big one”. We put him in the front seat on my lap and drove 2 1/2 hours back to our home. He didn’t move. When I got him home he was so scared, and was shaking. He had never been inside a house before.
His first instinct was to run full force into my sliding glass door to get outside, almost knocking himself out. I picked him up and took him to his back yard. That is when I saw a change in him. He went from a scared puppy into a protective and attentive dog. His very first day he was at the house, I put him in the tub and gave him his first bath. I stood him on the grooming table, dried him and trimmed his nails. He never moved, but actually enjoyed it.
The first few days were rough, he was just so scarred of everything,I wasn’t sure if he would adjust to his new life. Many of nights I would get out of the bed and lay on the floor with him and tell him that “it would be alright, and that I would never hurt him”. From that point on he changed. He wasn’t scared anymore, as time went on he became a vivacious companion and always buy my side. He was like my shadow, no matter what I was doing he was there (even when he wasn’t suppose to). He could play ball for hours, go for rides in the car and would sleep as long as you. He loved his family and always tried to please us. These past few weeks have been very hard. Over a short period of time, he started to loose his appetite, and didn’t have much energy. You could tell he wasn’t himself even though he tried to be.
I took him to the vets and was told that he had a bacterial infection. I was given antibiotics and didn’t see an improvement. When he would lay in the other room away from me, deep inside my heart I just knew it was beyond an infection. I took him back to the vets and they did blood work. His levels were all over the place. He was then referred to a specialist. After x-rays and an ultra sound the results were grim.
He had a large mass that was pushing against his stomach, lesions on his thyroid, lung, kidney and spleen. He had stage 2 cancer. That is when I had to make the hardest decision of a lifetime. Should I continue testing to find out what type of cancer, and try chemo and at most maybe get 6 more months out of him, or let him go without pain or suffering. I had a few hours with him, and I held him in my arms and told him his story of when he came home the first day.
I brushed him and held him like a baby on my lap and rubbed his belly. The doctor came in and sedated him. I held his head and kept whispering in his ear that I loved him so much and he is a good boy and we will be together again. I have a empty spot in my heart now that he is gone, but sharing our story lets others know that loosing a pet is like loosing a child and there is no shame in being sad.
I love you, Kruisers.
| Kruise |
| Michele Fowble |