For a dog who didn’t do much, she sure did a lot for all of us.
We made the decision to put Pey to sleep today, which was the humane thing to do – putting her ahead of our potentially selfish urge to prolong her life for our enjoyment. We had a long discussion with the vet about the decision, and he spoke of taking this step too early, or waiting too long. While he couldn’t find anything wrong with her other than fleshy tumors and some typical arthritis, he said she was suffering from “old dog-itis”, and it definitely wasn’t too early. Based upon her last couple of days: less active than usual, the way she labored on our walks, and the difficulty she had in finding a comfortable position to lie in, it was definitely heading to too late territory (she weighed in at 62 at the vets, down from her peak of 86). Last night she did the ‘Terms of Endearment stare’ the daughter gave her mother at her end and we were sure that was it.
While we knew the inevitable on our drive to the vet, we had a few moments to discuss the final decision – should we wait until Thursday (she could have watched the World Cup semis, except she couldn’t really see anymore and Ghana didn’t make it), or could we wait until Atlanta this weekend – but each was rejected as selfish. Once the decision was made, the process was easy and she didn’t suffer. I gave her a rub from each member of the family and she appeared grateful. When I closed with “McGee, you’ve been a great dog”, she was already gone – but I’m pretty sure she got the drift.
Needless to say, I miss her already. Our 2nd walk of the day would have been now, and I’ll have to walk to Gould’s Inlet by myself tonight – but I bet Mary will come along. As Henry said when he was informed: “Maybe God will take Dog Dog for walks now”.
Inevitably, great memories get us through these experiences:
– Nick choosing her because she ran to him when he was with a friend who was looking for a puppy.
-Her recovery from the Thanksgiving weekend where Nick left her on the runner with 3 days of food – assuming she would ration it out. She still had PTSD from that.
– Her incredible ease with, and tolerance of, the grandkids. No matter what part of her got yanked. When she got up and moved, you knew it was bad.
– Henry the dog helper, Charlie the paper helper on our morning walks when the Agninis were visiting recently.
– Her running in circles after Big Roy’s 3 to win a GU game had made everyone go crazy.
– When Becky thought her brother had lost PeyPey.
– Oh, you have a dog named Pepi?
– What’s that Pey? You want a butt scratch?
– Her surrogate family, the Camachos.
– Living in Athens with both Katharine and Matt.
– Living at the Lofts with Nick and Matt. She loved Chambodia.
– Life at the beach. She really did love the salt air.
To paraphrase the Tin Man: Now I know I have a heart, because its breaking.
The Parkside gang will never be the same.
(Originally published July 10, 2018)