A few months ago I noted it was getting harder for her to get up and she sometimes arched her back, a sign of pain. I believe her strong will and exuberance concealed the pain she was in. In late January she and I took our last hike. This year the walks started getting slower and shorter. Though a guardian to my chickens and a companion to cats, horses, and dog friends, she liked to brawl with dogs she didn’t know. She loved to roughhouse but only with me. She knew more than a dozen commands by voice and hand signal but sometimes treated them as suggestions. Even as her muzzle grayed and she grew thin, strangers still stopped to tell me so.īacon had the keen intelligence and playfulness of a German shepherd and from the chow stock independence akin to a cat’s. Since people assume big dogs, especially those with a name like Bacon, are male, I sewed pink bandanas for her to wear. One of her pointed ears tipped over and remained ever at half-mast. Her blue eyes turned the color of honey and the shepherd markings faded as the thick golden chow coat came in. I named her Bacon because I always found food names for pets funny. It seems but a short time ago, I brought home from the dog pound a tawny, six-week-old pup. Human beings can see beyond pain and suffering, as a hospice volunteer I can attest, but animals cannot they are overcome and must be relieved of a burden they cannot bear. As much as we would like pets to die peacefully in sleep and relieve us of this grave responsibility, it is rarely that easy. (Photo courtesy Krista Kafer)Įvery first-time dog owner, indeed every owner of a beloved pet, wonders what they will do in such an eventuality. Taking that final walk at the vet with her this week was a devastation that has left me inconsolable. I waited while she immersed herself in some enticing scent or took a luxuriant roll in the grass.įor almost 13 years, my dog was my partner in adventure, my comfort in loneliness, and my loyal friend. I tested her patience by foraging for wild fruit when she wished to press on. Sometimes I was on horseback, snowshoes, or my bike, she keeping up in merry stride. We walked throughout the city, on mountain trails, and along lakes and streams where, freed from the leash, she would eagerly jump in. Nearly every day my dog walked beside me. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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