Farewell to a furry friend - Democratic Underground

BlueStater

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Wed Jul-20-11 05:51 PM
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Farewell to a furry friend

Edited on Wed Jul-20-11 05:52 PM by BlueStater

(I wrote this a few weeks ago but wanted to wait until I got some photos of my dog to show you all. I apologize about the small size.)

On June 21, 2011, at 11:20 PM, my beloved Shetland Sheepdog, Summer, left me, my family and life as we know it. She was 12. I don't even know how to describe the enormity of this event or what this dog meant to my parents and myself but I think if told you about Summer and reflected on her life, you'd get a better understanding on the deep sense of loss that everyone has been feeling lately and will more than likely never completly leave us.

I'm going to take you back to a calmer, simpler time: the year 1999. I was 12 years old and would be starting the 7th grade in August. For as long as I could remember, I had always wanted a dog. I had never really owned a pet before. My older sister had owned a cat named Mickey (I came up with the name) but he wasn't really mine, of course. When I was around 10, I owned a few fish that only survived for about a week. But now, for the first time, my brother and I would be getting our first real pet and it would be a dog. My parents had chosen a Sheltie because they had heard that they were a friendly, loyal breed that were great around children. And so, with that, Summer would become my main companion for the next 12 years.

The day we first brought this little puppy home was one of the happiest of my life. I felt like I was walking on air and I guess all pet owners feel sort of the same way when their furry friends first enter their lives. It was my father who came up with her name (he had recently heard "Summer" as a girls name and thought it sounded pretty). Like all puppies, Summer was incredibly energetic. At times, she would get so excited she would run laps around our tiny apartment. We also had to be careful whenever we opened the front door for fear that she would run out. She had escaped a few times and we ended up chasing her half way around the neighborhood. She was mischievious like all puppies are. One of my earliest memories of her was when she stole my dad's sandwich, which was about twice as big as her head. As you can imagine, my father was NOT happy at the time but now we all look back at that moment and laugh

Other interesting quirks about Summer was that she barked. A LOT. One thing my parents didn't know about Shelties was how vocal a breed they were and Summer definitely lived up to that reputation. She barked at people, other dogs, etc. and it definitely became too much at times. She also had a tendency to howl a lot. Even though Summer was a bit of a standoffish dog and, at times, didn't have much patience for being held, she could also be very needy. She didn't like to be left alone in a room for too long. I'll never forget the first time we had to leave her at the vet while we went on vacation and how happy she was when we returned.

As I got into my teenage and early adult years, I had less time and patience for Summer. I wish I had played with her more. It's something I highly regret but I suppose all pet owners have their share of regrets about things they could have done differently with their loved ones. Not all of it was my fault. Summer was never much for walking even when she was young. It became so bad later in her life that I eventually stopped trying to walk her and just carried her whenever I took her outside to go to the bathroom. Two years ago, I tried to start taking her for walks again. I took her for a three mile walk and that turned out to be a big mistake. She got incredibly dehydrated and threw up right when we got home. Needless to say, that experiment did not last long.

For the final two years of her life, Summer had developed a few health problems. She had gotten fleas, despite never have had them before, and they put her (and us, by extension) in constant misery. We had managed to get rid of them at one point but they came back and, I extremely regret to say, stayed with her for the rest of her life. We tried our best to fix this problem but we failed and we all feel terrible about that. She also suffered drastic weight loss later on. She was always a bit overweight for a Sheltie so it was alarming when I could pick her up with relative ease. I didn't think much of this at the time but, in unfortunate retrospect, I probably should have.

As she reached her golden years, Summer didn't have much energy anymore and spent most of her time sleeping. While once a bit of a standoffish dog, she would now lie by my feet while I would use my family's laptop and rest. Whenever I look down and don't see anything, it hurts.

On her final five days, she stopped eating her food and drinking her water. She also had a few other notable signs of sickness which I would prefer not to say. This was when my family knew something was seriously wrong. I had to give her water through a dropper to keep her hydrated. She fought as hard as she could to stay with us but, on a Tuesday night, her little doggy heart beat for the last time. Things have been extremely surreal for me since then. At the beginning of June, she was with us and seemingly healthy. We could never envision then that she wouldn't be with us anymore by the end of the month.

Life just hasn't been the same since she's been gone and I doubt it ever will be again. I was a kid when I first got her. Now I'm an adult and the world is so much bigger now than it was then. Part of my childhood seemed to die along with her. Any pet owner will tell you that they're not just pets. They're family members and the pain when they leave us is as great as the loss of any people. I tried to be a good owner. I certainly made some mistakes along the way but I tried.

While she may be gone, she'll forever live in our memories. And the happy times I had with her was worth the sadness at the end.

Rest in peace, my little buddy. Thank you for enriching our lives for your short time here on Earth. I'll love you always.

May 28, 1999 - June 21, 2011

Me (center), my father, and Summer circa 2009