Recently, two of my friends had to put down their dog when it became painfully obvious that she could no longer enjoy life on this Earth. Though the kind and loving action had to be taken, my friends were suffering as they did it. They are missing her terribly. The void is a physical pain. Yet, Larry confessed to me, he had peeked at Petfinders.com. Was he a terrible person?
Hell to the no!
I lost my first dog, Lucy the Wonderdog, this month some fifteen or so years ago. I didn't think I could ever recover, yet alone love another dog. Then, I saw Trixie at F.A.R.M. (Fallston Animal Rescue) Her picture called to me, so I went to get her. She was mine. And I didn't know what to do with her. I felt disloyal to Lucy. Could Lucy see that I "easily" replaced her? How dare I love this new dog when I hadn't finished mourning my last dog. Why had I done this? Trixie used to look at the picture of Lucy that I framed and placed on top of a cabinet in my living room. It gave me the creeps. Why that picture? Did she know something I didn't know? One day I was in the back room, and I heard something crash. It was Lucy's picture. It had fallen off the shelf. By itself. For no obvious reason. The other pictures beside it were still on the shelf where they'd always been. Trixie sat beside me, looking at it and then at me. I am convinced that Lucy wanted me to know she was still with me. And, I believe, she wanted me to know it was ok that Trixie came to live with me. I mean, the picture didn't fall and smash my new dog on the head, did it? So, there you go.
I had fifteen wonderful years with Trixie before I had to let her go. That was it. I knew I was done with dogs as I didn't think I could survive that pain again. But, like Larry, I couldn't resist peeking at Petfinder. It was a month before I saw her picture, but I felt Winnie calling to me to come get her. I adopted her and wondered, again, what the heck had gotten into me. To say this dog was quirky was an understatement. And, she wasn't housebroken. What had I done? Why? One night as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard her in the kitchen. I figured she was getting a drink (and then going to pee on the kitchen floor once again). Sighing, I tiredly decided to just clean it up in the morning. She padded down the hallway, got to the bottom of my bed, and then just stopped. I patted the bed, and when she still didn't jump up, I sat up to see what was going on. Nobody was at the bottom of the bed. Winnie was where she'd been the whole time, sleeping soundly at my side. I got chills. I knew that I'd had a visit from Trixie. She'd investigated and decided all was ok with the new dog. So, there you go.
My message to Larry and Mark, and all people who lose their beloved pets: Don't hesitate to rescue again. Our animals don't want us to be alone. Our animals know the pain of abandonment and the joy of adoption. They want us to share this love again.
So, there you go.
