I was going into the office late today, so I was still laying in bed when my wife had left for work. She came back into the house and told me Boy was laying at the end of our driveway not moving. I got on some pants and went out with the flashlight and sure enough he was dead. He apparently had been hit by a car but there were no obvious wounds. It looked like our other dog Jersey stayed by him since he died.
I was going to bury him in the woods in back of the house, but the ground where I live is just about all rock. He weighed about 65lbs, so figured there was no way I could dig a hole big enough for him. I called our vet and they said they cremated dogs, so I took him there.
Boy was a sweet dog, one of the ladies at the vets office was heartbroken that he had died. He was at the vet at least 2 or 3 times a year. He was always getting beat up, snake bit, or catching some fungus. We called him our problem child.
I called him the happy idiot, because he seemed oblivious to the world. He would always run up the driveway smiling and barking when we came home. Nothing existed to him but milk bones and getting petted.
We got him in a round about way. Our elderly neighbor took him in as a stray and he was her constant companion when she could still get outside. When she got ill we took over his care and when she died we told her children that we would keep him, since he stayed at our place all the time anyway.
He was a strange looking dog. First time I took him to the vet I asked what he thought he was and he said definitely had some Catahoula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catahoula_Leopard_Dog) in him, but who knows what the rest of him was. He's the only dog I ever saw with gold eyes. He's also the only dog I ever saw that sat flat on his butt like a person.
I guess I did my far share of griping about him (especially the vet bills), but I sure am going to miss that smilin' face when I come home everyday.
Boy as his smilin' self.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/trekgeezer/boy1.jpg)
Here he is with his pal Jersey, I guess she watched over him until my wife found him.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/trekgeezer/boyjersey.jpg)
Trek,
I'm sorry to hear about this. But you know he had the bestest buddy for his last years.
-Ed
Condolences for your loss. Sounds like you did a good job of making his last years happy ones.
My condolences to you. :bluesad:
I still miss my old dog, Max. At least you weren't there to see it happen. He seemed a happy dog, who had a happy life.
Cute little guy, and he sounds pretty lovable. Really is a shame.
Looks pretty white in the face. How old was he?
So sorry about this, Trek. Good for you for taking him in when your neighbor passed away.
He's one great lookin' happy guy!
One of my dogs 'Saffy' (Fox Terrier+??? mix) has similar eyes - the vet tech claims she has 'human eyes'.
Quote from: AndyC on September 11, 2008, 12:22:12 PM
Cute little guy, and he sounds pretty lovable. Really is a shame.
Looks pretty white in the face. How old was he?
Andy from what the vet estimated him at about eight years ago, I'm guessing he was around twelve, but since he was a stray it's hard to tell.
Jersey will be fourteen next January and she's still as spry as when we got her.
Thanks for the condolences everyone. I was a little more taken aback by it than I thought I would be.
My condolences, Trek. I like dogs more than I like most people, so it always saddens me to hear when a faithful friend or companion has suddenly died.
My condolences Trek. It sounds like he had a very happy life, and that's all any of us can ask for :smile: Just think of all the good times you had together, and don't focus on his passing.
I'm VERY sorry to here this. It hits very close to home for me. My dog...my buddy Ted,died last Thursday. I buried him in my backyard. I cried like a baby. :bluesad:
Sorry about your loss. He was a really cool looking dog.
I'm coming up on the year anniversary on October 15th of me having to put my cat Toonces down who was 17 1/2 years old. Kidney failure got him. So losing a close pet is on my mind these days.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. He was a handsome dog and I'm more than sure he enjoyed every minute he was with you and your family. RIP
R.I.P. :bluesad:
My condolences to you, Trek.
Over the past few months I've lost two cats.
Bootsie would disappear for a few days at a time, but he would always come back, except for this last time; that was a few months ago.
At the same time Bootsie disappeared, I found Gray Cat on the side of the road. She had only been around for a month or so, and belonged to a neighbor, but she would make a beeline for me whenever she would she me and it made me quite sad to have seen that happen to her.
Bootsie did leave a son behind; I named him Dracula (he's all black except for a white patch at the bottom of his neck [front side] and you can see just the tip of his canines sticking out when his mouth is closed).
We ain't too creative with names around here. Bootsie was named so because he was mostly black with a white underside and all white on the back legs from about the knees down, which made it look like he was wearing white boots. Gray Cat was simply called Gray Cat because she was gray. Dracula, for his teeth and general coloration.
How did your dogs end up with the names Boy and Jersey?
Sorry to hear that Trek.
He did have some trippy-looking looking gold eyes, didn't he?
So do you know for sure that he was hit by a car or did you just assume that he was?
By the way, have some condolence karma on me. :smile:
Sorry to hear about that!
Quote from: Cap'n Trek on September 11, 2008, 11:32:02 AM
I was going into the office late today, so I was still laying in bed when my wife had left for work. She came back into the house and told me Boy was laying at the end of our driveway not moving. I got on some pants and went out with the flashlight and sure enough he was dead. He apparently had been hit by a car but there were no obvious wounds. It looked like our other dog Jersey stayed by him since he died.
I was going to bury him in the woods in back of the house, but the ground where I live is just about all rock. He weighed about 65lbs, so figured there was no way I could dig a hole big enough for him. I called our vet and they said they cremated dogs, so I took him there.
Boy was a sweet dog, one of the ladies at the vets office was heartbroken that he had died. He was at the vet at least 2 or 3 times a year. He was always getting beat up, snake bit, or catching some fungus. We called him our problem child.
I called him the happy idiot, because he seemed oblivious to the world. He would always run up the driveway smiling and barking when we came home. Nothing existed to him but milk bones and getting petted.
We got him in a round about way. Our elderly neighbor took him in as a stray and he was her constant companion when she could still get outside. When she got ill we took over his care and when she died we told her children that we would keep him, since he stayed at our place all the time anyway.
He was a strange looking dog. First time I took him to the vet I asked what he thought he was and he said definitely had some Catahoula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catahoula_Leopard_Dog) in him, but who knows what the rest of him was. He's the only dog I ever saw with gold eyes. He's also the only dog I ever saw that sat flat on his butt like a person.
I guess I did my far share of griping about him (especially the vet bills), but I sure am going to miss that smilin' face when I come home everyday.
Boy as his smilin' self.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/trekgeezer/boy1.jpg)
Here he is with his pal Jersey, I guess she watched over him until my wife found him.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/trekgeezer/boyjersey.jpg)
:bluesad: Sorry to hear that, Trek. Warm hugs, my friend.
At least he had you to look after him: I don't think I'm wrong in saying (like Ed did) that he had a great pal in you. :smile:
Quote from: Menard on September 11, 2008, 07:59:54 PM
How did your dogs end up with the names Boy and Jersey?
When Mrs. Allen, our elderly neighbor, took Boy in she just started calling him that and it stuck.
Jersey's is a little weirder. Her mother is actually a black Labrador and the people who had her were surprised by her appearance and the lady said she reminded her of a Jersey cow.
Thanks guys for all the good wishes.
Losing a pet is always hard. It is also something we all have to experience, because their lives are shorter than ours.
I still remember when my dog, Zeus, passed away. My plan for this Christmas is to get a dog for the family. All the children will cry one day when the dog passes on, but there will be a lot of good times before then. Those good times are what makes it worth the grief. They are why we grieve.
Quote from: Andrew on September 12, 2008, 07:21:02 AM
I still remember when my dog, Zeus, passed away. My plan for this Christmas is to get a dog for the family. All the children will cry one day when the dog passes on, but there will be a lot of good times before then. Those good times are what makes it worth the grief. They are why we grieve.
That's the big downside of dogs, a relatively short lifespan. But as George Carlin said, "Life is a series of dogs."
Our dogs were already on the downside of middle age when we had our daughter. Sadly, the older of the two (a dog with temperament problems) did not like our daughter from the start, and in spite of our best training efforts, became openly hostile by the time she was crawling. Callie was about ten at the time, with some health problems that defied diagnosis and enough anxiety that she wouldn't have adjusted well to a new home. So, after weeks of debating what to do, callie finally got a morning of sausage for breakfast, swimming, frisbee (which she normally couldn't do anymore because of bad joints), followed by a one-way drive to the vet.
Briar, the younger of the dogs, turned ten this year. He and my daughter are finally figuring out how to play together, and she's taken to hugging and kissing him and feeding him treats from the dinner table. But he's slowed down considerably of late, and his face is looking pretty white. I expect his time will come when my daughter is maybe five or six. I'll probably be sadder than anyone, since I'm closest to Briar. He's currently recovering from a bad bout of pancreatitis which has put this on my mind this week.
We've talked about how nice it would have been to have a puppy that would grow with her and be around into her teens, but a gentle, faithful, quiet old dog has advantages as well.
Sad news, Trek. The dogs run loose in your neighborhood? Where I am, it would not be a good idea (which doesn't mean my Rodney the beagle doesn't occasionally get out and frolic 'round the 'hood). People drive too fast around here (I saw my neighbor's dog, which is still often running loose, get hit by a car - he was okay). It sometimes is harder to let go of our four legged companions, like Shadow suggested, dogs are often much better company than people.
I am sorry for you, but also glad you gave Boy a happy home. He sure looks like a happy boy! :smile:
I'm so sorry for your loss of Boy. It hurts that they never live long enough, but a life without a dog in it is missing too much. What happy times you must have had!