Many years ago, my wife Suzy lost her pet, Katie. A black and tan doberman who was a few bricks short of a full load. This broke Suzy’s heart and I knew in no way we could ever replace that dog.
After a short time I was driving across town and had passed the entrance to the local dog pound a mile or so back. Right out of the blue something told me to turn around. I thought it was a weird thought and ignored it. Another mile passed and the intensity of something telling me to turn around became ovewhelming. A little confused but going with the feeling, I turned around and drove to the pound. I wondered what on earth am I doing here. I didn’t want another dog, at that time I loved animals but didn’t have the attachment to them as Suzy did.
I went into the pound and looked at the dogs, all lined up in their cages. Nothing struck me. I thought to myself that I had better things to do than be there so I started to leave. It was at that time a pound worker walked past me and opened a cage placing the lanyard from his stick around the dogs neck. It’s then I observed a black and tan Coon Hound being led from the cage. That dog had the look on it’s face that it was all over. No resistance, just a simple look of doom. I asked the man what he was doing with that dog, he simply answered “Her time has come.”
Something in me stirred and I told him no it hasn’t, I want to adopt her. I did the paperwork and paid the fee. She was mine. As I put her in the car I was already kicking myself wonderiing why I had done such a foolish thing. So off to the house this dog and I go. She had no spirit left in her, I could not get a response from her in any way. I told Suzy that I believe I had made a mistake, that this dog’s spirit was broken.
For fear of her running off, I took her in the house to see how she reacted. She found a place to lay down that was as secluded as could find. She wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t even perk an ear when you ried to get her attention. The only thing the dog did was walk to the door and stand there when she needed to potty. I knew then that she was housebroke and must have had a decent place before becoming a ward of the County.
I took her to the vet and asked him what he thought. He said first that she appeared to be about five years old and has lost someone dear and her life interupted. He told me to have patience and maybe she would come around. I figured if anyone could bring the dog back to reality, Suzy could.
She started eating, but that was it for a long time. Then one night, for no reason, I was in bed about to fall asleep and I felt a warm furry head lay upon my arm. I laid there and petted that dog till I fell asleep. This became a ritual for a long time and then slowly she started coming around. She lived all of her life pretty much a loaner, but passing time brought an unconditional love out of the heart of that dog. We sat in the den saying all of the names you could imagine trying to hit on her name. Finally, something with the same sound of “issy” raised her ear and we started calling this special dog Prissy.
I guess we fall into that catagory of pet fanatics I’ve heard people talking about…and proud of it. Being unable to have any kids of our own, we tended to place a lot of attention to our dog. Time passed and Prissy was branded as Daddy’s little girl. I would call her this and she would just light up and nearly throw her back out wagging that tail.
In the winter of 1991 I was in an accident that broke my back and here I was stuck in the house for the most part, with Prissy. She became a dear friend to me. I guess at this time the true bond was formed. Life goes on and in the summer of 1996 I was injured badly in an auto accident. This took me out of the working world and I retired. Prissy and I knew each others routine, we ate lunch together, I sat around and talked to her for hours just like she was going to answer me. And in her own way she did many times.
Time goes on and the fact that she was getting older was something I refused to accept. She held her own, our routine changes some to accomodate her needs as a senior. She was becoming more frail and experiencing the normal sight and hearing problems that come with age. But every morning I would get up and come through the house and as soon as I saw here I would exclaim excitedly, “There’s Daddy’s little girl!” She would always hear it and show it accordingly.
I bought a motorhome recently and Suzy and I had the privilidge of taking her on two trips, one to the beach and one to the mountains, This put a spring in the old girls step. She seemed to enjoy that to no end. Not long after our last trip she started going down quickly. My worst fear was coming, it’s the thing I had tried not to face but it was here. Her quaility of life was gone, she couldn’t walk and soiled herself which seemed to embarass her terribly. She was hurting, she tried not to show it, but I could see. My devoted friend of all of these years was suffering and it was tearing me apart. How do you abandon hope and accept what is happening? How do you make that decision?
Suzy and I discussed it and the decision was made that our little girl needed to be put to rest and taken out of the painful misery she was in. We took her to our trusted vet of many years and he only verified what needed to be done. He asked if we would like to leave her and pick her up later and I said no way. This dog has been there with me through all of my hard times and I would not leave her during her journey.
Our precious girl laid on that table with her frail little body. I held her little head as the vet gave her the shot and just kept telling her that she was Daddy’s little girl. I tried not to show any emotion because I didn’t want Prissy to feel like anything was wrong. Our little girl took her last breath as we held on to her and my heart simply broke. I sat there and cried like a man because I knew in her journey to the next life, she took a part of my heart. A part of my heart that will always be hers.
Each day I still walk through the house looking for her. I sit down to eat my lunch catching myself still pushing part of my food aside to share with Prissy. A person who has never been loved unconditionally by a friend like Prissy, has never been truly loved.
Prissy, I have no idea what God’s plans are for your soul. But I will always hope that in the end we can be reunited as family again.
We love you Prissy girl,
| Lee & Suzy Barnett |