Two Dogs

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                                                                       Two Dogs




I really didn’t think it would hurt as much as it did.  I mean, he was very, very elderly and had been chronically ill for a long time.  It really wasn’t a big surprise when he went.  No, not at all.

But it still hurt.  It hurt a lot.

Of course I’m talking about our old Schnauzer dog Barney and, if you’d be so kind, I’d like to tell you a bit about our ol’ buddy.  If you are one of those folks who are averse to dying dog stories, you may be excused now.  I’ll surely understand. I suppose this blog is more a therapy session for me than a necessary piece of literature but be that as it may.

So let’s begin Barney’s story.

First, to understand Barney’s place in our family you’ll have to go back a couple of dogs.  Let’s start with the one we named Dusty.  Dusty was a pound mutt, kind of a terrier if you had to put a name on her.  Long multi-colored fur, some brown and black – sort of a Benji dog if you can remember that show.  Dusty was replacing our first dog, Dutch, who had epilepsy and had passed at age 7.  Dusty was a lot of fun while we had her and a joy to walk.  All the girls you passed would oooh and aaah at her – she was a cutie in her heyday.  While Dusty was still with us, my wife’s girlfriend had received a dog as payment for a baby-sitting fee – long story, don’t ask.  She already had a number of pets and was trying to find a home for the new one, she just didn’t have the room for another dog.  She wheedled and wheedled and finally cajoled my wife into taking him “for just a weekend – to see how it goes.”  Of course that weekend ended up being for the rest of Bailey’s life.  That dog was a silver-and-black miniature Schnauzer, a boy dog, maybe a year old.  Really good dog as he turned out to be.  You can read all about Bailey on another blog that I wrote some years ago.  Anyhow, Dusty and Bailey were good buds for quite a while and we enjoyed their company over the years.  But when Dusty got to be an old girl we became concerned that Bailey might be lost without a companion when Dusty was no more, so we took the plunge and bought another Schnauzer – a salt-and-pepper colored puppy this time to keep Bailey company when Dusty was gone.  We named the new guy Barney to sort of commemorate The Barnum and Bailey Circus, as those two were definitely circus clowns.

A few years ago it was Bailey’s turn to sicken and pass on leaving just Barney with us.  He seemed pretty content to at last be the “top” dog, so we brought no more animals into the house. 

Barney, unfortunately like a lot of Schnauzers, was prone to several common diseases, and he got a couple mean ones – diabetes and cataracts.  We finally got the diabetes under control, it was nick and tuck for a while, but by that time the cataracts had advanced too far to be fixed.  So we were then blessed with a special-needs dog – blind and needing insulin shots twice a day plus expensive vet dog food.  When I say we were blessed I really do mean it.  A special-needs pet needs more attention and more love and we were happy to provide it.  We were conscientious stewards about taking care of him.  A dog is for life and we firmly believed that.  Still do.  He did pretty well for all his infirmities, learning how to get around without using his eyes and tolerating the insulin shots.  He was a tough little guy, living in his dark world and still acting like a puppy a lot of times.  We enjoyed and were blessed by his good company for about another five years and grew used to his habits of sleeping a lot and occasionally bumping into things here and there.  He had a good spirit and loved taking walks with you as long as you were careful to “steer” him a bit with the leash so he didn’t bang into trees and such.  He loved to play and you learned how to play games that he could handle.  I mean, he sure couldn’t fetch a ball, could he?

But the wear and tear of his 14 years finally caught up with him last weekend.  We took him to the vet’s when he’d stopped eating and drinking.  That’s usually a sure sign that the end is close.  The vet did some tests and found he had Cushing’s Disease and that was all she wrote.  The euthanasia needle had to be a blessing at that point.  I doubt he ever felt a thing, as he was already comatose.  He crossed the Rainbow Bridge around 9:30 that evening and joined our other furry buddies waiting for us over there.

We weren’t too terribly surprised, as I mentioned earlier.  This day had been coming for quite a while, but it did hurt.  My wife and son and I all grieved for our lost little friend, mostly privately, as that’s how our family does things.  Tears shed for a lost pet are truly a testament to the love humans share with them.  They are nothing to ever be ashamed of.

We were sad to lose our friend and grieved, each in our own way, but in our hearts knew that we’d find another companion soon.  We loved our dogs and our home was strangely still and unfamiliar without the company of a dog.  So my wife and I did some research on dog rescue groups nearby.  We tried for a dog at a rescue group on one web-site that looked real good on the computer, but were a little late, as he had already been adopted by the time we had seen him.  We looked some more and found another group that had what seemed to be quite a number of  “likely” dogs available for adoption.  It was called “One of a Kind Pets” and was located in Akron, Ohio.  We visited them on Friday and looked at quite a few canines.  One really seemed to strike a chord in our hearts.  It was because of her ears, actually.  This dog – her kennel name was Trick – had two big ears, one that stuck straight up and the other that pointed across her head to the first one!  So cute!  She was a 40-pound mix, brindle in color with white paws and a white flash down her forehead and into her chest.  A handsome dog we thought.  We did the necessary paperwork and check-writing then and promised we’d pick her up on Monday, as our weekend was totally full and we wanted to devote a lot of time to her when we brought her home. 

So today was the day!  My son and I drove up to Akron where the rescue group was located and picked up our dog!  We’d done a little renaming in the meantime and had decided to call her Trixi – sort of a feminization of the original Trick name.  She’s been with us most of the day now as I write this blog and we’re all starting to get quite comfortable with each other.  She’s a MUCH more energetic animal than poor old Barn was, larger in size and will likely run us ol’ folks ragged.  But she really does already seem at home here and, as far as us humans are concerned, she is home.

Please wish us well during our acclimation period and please, if you’re looking for a pet, consider a rescue animal.  Each one you rescue saves two – the one you take home and the one that will fill the cage that becomes empty and will be saved from the euthanasia needle before their time. 

It’s the right thing to do.