RIP Chime the kelpie
I don't think we are ever really prepared for the loss of a pet. Even when they are getting old, like both our dogs and you start thinking about what might happen, you still aren't ready when it happens.
Chime died on Monday, around midday. She had been active all morning, but then Pete found her lying down and unable to get up. He lifted her into the car and rushed her to the vet, but she didn't make it. We're not sure what happened, it was too quick for a paralysis tick, he couldn't find a snake bite, we can't think of any poison that she could have eaten, maybe it was just old age, she was 12, nearly 13.
I realise now that most of the photos I have of her she is sleeping. She must have really slowed down, but we hadn't noticed. We only looked after her for 2 and a bit years, she belongs to a friend who is overseas, but she came everywhere with us and slept inside, and she had bonded with our dog Cheryl.
At first it hurt so much we thought we could never keep another dog. But I can't imagine missing out on all the affection and company that a dog gives you. The joy of having a dog in the house is worth the emptiness when they are gone. I'm sure there will be more dogs in the future, after we've had some time to grieve.
I'm not very good with posts about feelings. My posts tend to be about facts and information. How tos. How to grieve for your dog: I don't know yet. How to keep an old dog happy: daily bone, occasional milk, yoghurt, eggs, offal, scraps of meat; somewhere cool to lie in the heat of the day, somewhere sunny to lie on cold days, somewhere soft and cuddly to lie at night; the occasional short walk out to the paddock; grass to roll in; no baths or nail clipping; another old dog to get up to mischeif with.
We take some comfort from how quickly she went. She didn't have to suffer through old age. We didn't have to make that agonising decision to let her go. She had a good life and lots of people will be missing her.
If you haven't had a dog in your life, maybe you can't understand the impact they make, but our dogs are part of our family and we are really feeling this loss.
Hug your dogs everyone, you just don't know when they are going to go....
Chime died on Monday, around midday. She had been active all morning, but then Pete found her lying down and unable to get up. He lifted her into the car and rushed her to the vet, but she didn't make it. We're not sure what happened, it was too quick for a paralysis tick, he couldn't find a snake bite, we can't think of any poison that she could have eaten, maybe it was just old age, she was 12, nearly 13.
I realise now that most of the photos I have of her she is sleeping. She must have really slowed down, but we hadn't noticed. We only looked after her for 2 and a bit years, she belongs to a friend who is overseas, but she came everywhere with us and slept inside, and she had bonded with our dog Cheryl.
At first it hurt so much we thought we could never keep another dog. But I can't imagine missing out on all the affection and company that a dog gives you. The joy of having a dog in the house is worth the emptiness when they are gone. I'm sure there will be more dogs in the future, after we've had some time to grieve.
I'm not very good with posts about feelings. My posts tend to be about facts and information. How tos. How to grieve for your dog: I don't know yet. How to keep an old dog happy: daily bone, occasional milk, yoghurt, eggs, offal, scraps of meat; somewhere cool to lie in the heat of the day, somewhere sunny to lie on cold days, somewhere soft and cuddly to lie at night; the occasional short walk out to the paddock; grass to roll in; no baths or nail clipping; another old dog to get up to mischeif with.
We take some comfort from how quickly she went. She didn't have to suffer through old age. We didn't have to make that agonising decision to let her go. She had a good life and lots of people will be missing her.
If you haven't had a dog in your life, maybe you can't understand the impact they make, but our dogs are part of our family and we are really feeling this loss.
Hug your dogs everyone, you just don't know when they are going to go....
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| Chime (on the right) with Cheryl |
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| Chime sleeping on the mat I made her |
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| Chime and Cheryl snuggled up |
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| Young Chime in a dog coat I made her |
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