I remember the day that we got her, I was just a few months short of five years old and liked to believe that getting a puppy was a special gift just for me. My family and I had been searching for the perfect puppy for a few months by the time we stopped by a petshop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey but since this would be our first dog, we weren’t
exactly sure on what to get.
I remember I was sick that day but I begged my parents to let me go with them, I remember walking into the pet shop and being overwhelmed at all the puppies and being amazed at the large potbellied pig that held residence there. When I spotted Freckles in the top cage I knew she was it and when they let us play with her I wanted no other dog but her.
She was a tiny puppy with big ears that would get wet when she drank out of her bowl. The people at the petshop told us she was a pure bred Bluetick Beagle [if your not sure what I mean think of the coonhounds that are black and bluish but in beagle form]so we named her Freckles because of the brown freckles on her white paws. She was a great puppy, she would play with you when you wanted to play,when you just wanted to sit down she would be right next to you on the couch and when you were sick or sad she wouldn’t leave your side and would jump up to lick your face if you started to cry.
She never barked or howled alot like most Beagles nor did she ever try to run out. She would never try to bite anyone other than a play bite and even that wasn’t hard and there wasn’t a single person she didn’t like.
Since I grew up with her I felt as if she was my bestfriend, she was always there for me when things got to me..she was the only one I could tell all my problems to or just sit with and cry. As she got older she had a few health problems because she was a little over weight. Occasionally she would hurt her shoulder or her back leg and would limp for a week or two, but would eventually get better…but we thought she wouldn’t get very sick or something like that. One day in February 2004 while my sister was petting Freckles she felt a slight bump by her neck but didn’t think anything of it.
Soon we all started to notice the bump on her neck get a little bigger, we also noticed that there was another bump on the back of her leg. In the first week of March we took Freckles to the vet to check out the bumps. The vet confirmed our worst fears, she had cancer in her lymphnods. We asked how much longer she had to live with out chemo and he told us anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 years which didn’t exactly help. We thought about giving her chemo but decided against it because it wouldn’t be fair to her, we could keep her alive for a few more years but those years would be filled with visits to animal hospitals, injections, and pain… we decided to just make the rest of her life as comfortable as possible. Freckles was basically fine for the next two weeks but we eventually got to notice how tired and withdrawn she was becoming.
On March 23, 2004 I got a ride home from school from a friend and as soon as we pulled up to my house I realized something was wrong because both my parents were home from work. When I got out of the car my dad walked out of the house close to tears and we just looked at each other, he nodded and I ran into the house dropping my school bag on the lawn. When I walked inside I saw my sister crying on the couch and holding Freckles, she was still alive but she just gave us a look like “Can I go now?” My mom told me that Ashley (my sister) was walking Freckles and she just collapsed. We all knew what was going to happen so we spent the next 2 1/2 hours just sitting with her
and making her comfortable.
At about 6 PM I went with my parents to bring her to the vet’s office to put her to sleep. In the room we spent a good 15 minutes just sitting there with her trying to calm her down since she hates going to the vet.
When the vet tech came in to give her the sedative she gave us another 5 minutes to wait until she became sleepy and left us alone. Freckles has always been a fighter and she fought against the sedative with everything she had. When she got as relaxed as possible, my mom walked me to the car with tears streaming down both of our faces and waited for my dad to come out. He walked out about 2 minutes after we did and was trying so hard not to cry.
The scary thing was that it was just a few days shy of being exactly ten years since we got her. I know that Freckles is in a better place and I know that she had a wonderful life but I miss her soo much. I feel as if a part of me died with her but I can’t be selfish and I know that we made the right choice…. Freckles truly was the best dog ever…
Rest In Peace my little munky.
With all my heart and soul,
| Freckles |
| Kelsie |