“The First Day”
The date was early August 1988, I was getting ready for school when I heard a loud constant yapping. I tried to ignore it but after ½ hour the yapping still continued. I went outside to see what all the commotion was about, low and behold there was a little black beautiful puppy. The moment I saw her I knew she would be mine forever. I took her into the house, put here into the cage in the front room and preceded on to school. Through out the day I thought of her and I could not wait till I got home. Finally school was out, so I rushed home and wouldn’t you know it she was still yapping away. That evening, I spent the night next to her cage, the moment I put my hand in it she stopped barking and slept on my hand all night long.
“The Search”
The next morning I knew I needed to do the ethical thing, so my mom and I went around the neighbor hood and posted lost/found signs, 2-3 days later no one claimed her so we rushed out as fast as we could and took all the posts down. At that moment I claimed her as mine.
“The Name”
Summer was here and we went camping at the river. That is when the magic happened Scrappy and my self formed our bond that would never be broken. At that time she still had no name, because I wanted to find the perfect name for her.The first morning we woke up, I let her outside of my tent and she ran to the water as fast as she could, it was love at first sight. After hours of playing in the river and her discovering of what tennis ball were, I knew I would be spending a lot of time swimming. I noticed while I was walking her she kept on eating everything in site (sticks, leaves, trees, sand…). I told her to quit eating scraps and it hit me, SCRAPPY what a perfect name.
“The Companion that
became my daughter and best friend”
Through out my teenage hood I did not have a lot of friends, but I had Scrappy. She had become my best friend. Through out the years we went camping, boating, swimming, visited nearly every park went on lots of walks and had lots of talks. We spent all of our time at the river swimming and playing tennis ball. She loved the water so much. By the time she was one she knew how to swim better that I did. At night when I went to bed she would cuddle up next to me, when I was sad she would lick my face as to tell me “it is ok daddy I am here for you.” Never did I ever imagine how much joy and happiness a dog could bring you. That year I no longer thought of her as a dog
but as my daughter and my best friend.
“The Teacher”
Scrappy Doo Menzies was not only the most faithful and loving animal, she was also my teacher. She taught me how to be happy in life, when she met people some how she changed them. She made non animal people dog lovers, she showed that is not silly to have doggy birthdays and she taught how to live life to the fullest. When you were sad she was there to tell you its ok just by a look. I cannot explain in words how much she touched so many lives, for those who know scrappy well you know what I am talking about, only your heart can explain it.
“D-Day”
In mid may of 2002, while I was brushing Scrappy’s teeth, I noticed that her tooth was loose and her jaw was swollen. I took her to the vet. After they did surgery to remove the tooth my vet noticed that she had a lump behind her tooth. She had it biopsied 2x and both times the tests came back as undetermined. So she refereed me to a cancer specialist. I took Scrappy to the cancer specialist and they did a third biopsy, the prognosis was Oral Melanoma Cancer, one of the most aggressive and deadliest cancers in existence. Her life expectancy at that moment was 2 weeks to 3 months, I learned through my grandmothers death of cancer that 2 weeks to 3 months really means a couple of days to a month max. So we went through radiation therapy.
After 1 month of 10 radiation treatments the prognosis was great. The thought changed to possibly cure her instead of contain the cancer. I then elected to start her on a new vaccine that was being developed to fight Melanoma. The following week she would not eat, following her first vaccine treatment, the doctors did an ultrasound, and were bothered by what they found, a small growth on her liver as well as discoloration. The next three weeks she had 3 more vaccines and 2 more ultrasounds, the last ultrasound came back looking very bad, her liver was now failing, it appeared that we beat the cancer in her mouth but it had spread to her liver. Her new prognosis was 1 week to a month max.
“Scrappy’s Last Day of Fun”
On Sunday august 25th 2002 we went to the river. When we arrived Scrappy had the best time. She walked, swam and ran up and down the beach. That was the first time in over 3 months that I saw her run. If you did not know better you would think that the cancer left her body and maybe for a moment it did. Scrappy last day was full of spirit and life, she played for hours at the river, and got to see all of her family. The most unusual thing she did was pace for hours back and fourth along the river, I believe she knew that that was her last day and she said “screw it I am going to have fun.”
“Scrappy’s Last Night”
We left the river later that evening and went to visit my relatives Scrappy slept all the way there. At 8:30pm we arrived and visited with the family for a bit. Scrappy was sleeping with on my lap in the front room, she got up and went to the door, and I let her out and kept an eye on her to make sure everything was ok. After doing her doggy thing she started to not look so well. My heart told me something was wrong, I went inside to tell my wife that we need to take Scrappy to the hospital NOW!!!. I went back out side, I saw Scrappy starting to collapse, at the exact moment she did collapse so did I i could not move. I believe I felt her spirit leaving her body, since I could barely stand I told my brother-in-law to carry her into the car, there was some panic at first. I got in the backseat and held Scrappy on my lap while we drove to her doctor over 60 miles away. As we were driving my back began hurting ever so much, I looked down and I saw scrappy was snoring, except one eye was open and one was closed and her drool was heavy. I looked at her body and saw that she was not in pain; I got a sense of peace from her. At that moment I knew she was not going to make it, With tears rolling own my face, I whispered in her ear, that I love her and it is ok to let go if she cannot hang on any more. We arrived at the vet around midnight. I did not want to take scrappy in as I would have disturbed her from sleeping. The vet checked her vital signs and told me that everything looked ok and I could leave her there overnight, but my heart told me otherwise and I did not want her last memories to be of a vet’s office, I decided to take her home. We got home about 1 am my wife and myself lifted her out of the car while she was laying on one of her favorite blankets, we layed her in her favorite spot and put her stuffed animals around her as well as her tennis ball. That night we slept on the floor next to her with my arm around her. Again I whispered in her ear “that it is ok to let go and that daddy loves you very much”. My wife Ialso told her the she loves her and good night. At 3am I awoke and checked her she was still sleeping I gave her a kiss and layed back down. When the alarm went off at 6:30 am I checked her and noticed that she was not breathing. I woke up my wife and told her that she is gone. Our loving and fateful companion of 14 years went to heaven. I wrapped her in her favorite blanket and drove her to the vet to be cremated. That was truly the sadist day of my life.
“Lessons Learned”
Scrappy taught me that a bond between an animal and a human is like no other. I learned how to love, how to nurture and how
to enjoy life. She showed me how to face death with honor and courage. She gave me the best 14 years of my life I hope I gave her the best 14 years of her life.
“Saying Good By”
Scrappy I love more that words can say. I was 28 years old when you died. I had you for ½ of my life, you will live on forever in my heart and my thoughts until my last days on earth. I thank you for not making me not make that dreaded decision. Your death will not go in vain in honor of you I try and start a cancer fund in your name to help other animals who have this deadly disease. Maybe one day they will find a cure.
I miss you more that anything in this world and would do anything to get you back. Until we meet again you will be in my dreams forever,
Love your Daddy and Mommy
“Final Thoughts”
Once in a lifetime you come across a pet that is your soul-mate. I was so lucky that you were mine. I wish that everyone here
finds that soul mate in sometime in there life time. If you do treasure it for all of time. As I did with Scrappy Doo Menzies
Always in my heart,
| Scrappy |
| Danny |