It’s almost over: Happy New Year, SJ

I got back from my run today . . . and there was no dog to walk. I'm going crazy. Heading to the shelters this afternoon. Don't know if wife is ready to adopt so soon (I am), but I just need to see and be around some dogs.

 

Prayers for comfort and for better days ahead for all who mourn.

 

BTE-
Sorry you are going thru this.
I've lost 10 of them in me life ... put 'em to sleep, watched one stroke-out, had one blow a clot while I was getting ready for work. I know the anguish. It is pure loss.

Like I tell my kid the only way to treat that pain is to get another one. It is the only way.

 

Sorry man, we lost one of our two about six months ago and it was very painful.

 

Would she consider fostering? Our local Humane Society asks if there is a possibility you might want to adopt so people and pets aren't separated when they shouldn't be.

 

So sad, so sorry.

 

Hadn't even thought of that. Right now she wonders if our other dog picked up a virus, and if he did, if traces of that virus would still be around if we brought in a dog so soon. Some of her worries seem a little out there, but who am I to tell her she's wrong? Every decision I've made this year has been wrong. In any event, we're going to ask a vet if there is any danger in adopting soon to allay her fears.

If that's her only drawback to getting a dog soon, I view that as a positive. Last night she was talking about old dog's spirit taking 40 days to leave, and that's why a new dog so soon is a bad idea. She's an odd combination of non-religious but highly spiritual, if that makes any sense.

 

I waited two years after my previous one died and that was a mistake. But I know people who say they'll never have one again, the anguish was so great.

Animal lovers should have animals.

 

It will devastate my wife and daughters when our dog dies. I’ll miss him, too, but not to their extent. The only dogs I ever had were hunting dogs, coon and quail, and those were kept outside. I never had a dog as a pet.

 

Moddy, I hear you. When I was in high school we had an ancient weimaraner we had to put down because she couldn't squat anymore. And then one day she couldn't get up off the ground, at all. A heartwrenching thing to watch. The dog was just trying to do her business.

And no doubt- they are the best nurses of them all. Every day with an old dog is a gift.