When my husband and I purchased our first home, we made sure we had a backyard so that we could have a dog. One of our hotly debated topics during our courtship and into our first years of marriage was what kind of dog would we get. Would we get a terrier or a sheltie? My husband changed my mind and I am now a sheltie lover for life. We loved our first little dog so much. Baraq was a delight to us and a source of great comfort during the bombing in Serbia and again when the towers fell on September 11, 2001. He was also some kind of celebrity in the neighborhood. One day in Gage Park, a little girl came up to us and asked if he was Baraq. We were confounded. To this day, we do not know how he had become so well known in the neighborhood. He had a hard time when we brought home our first son. Once he found a job, he was OK again. A sheltie without a job is an unhappy sheltie. One day, he could not get up. It was a Wednesday morning, and my husband was taking out the garbage. Baraq loved taking out the garbage. He loved barking at the new garbage bags. He could only just raise his head and try to get up. That was the morning we took him to the vet and put him to sleep. What a good little dog he was and how his death still brings me to tears.
Part of the deal with our animal companions is that one-day we might have to decide when it is kind to let them die. It will not be an easy or happy choice we make. We make this choice out of love for them. When is it the right time to make this choice? That can be a difficult answer. With our first dog, the vet told us that he could not recover. The dog my family had when I was in high school had gone to the groomers one day, came home and went to her bed and died. Sometimes we have to make the choice at other times, we don’t, but we must be prepared when faced with a very ill pet. We have to decide what a good life means for them. Do they have all their faculties? Do they know who their humans are? Are they in pain? Do they still want to be social? Are they eating? Are they getting sick? These are the kinds of questions we need to think about when faced with an ill animal companion. They depend on us, and we need to be dependable.
Part of the deal with our animal companions is that one-day we might have to decide when it is kind to let them die. It will not be an easy or happy choice we make. We make this choice out of love for them. When is it the right time to make this choice? That can be a difficult answer. With our first dog, the vet told us that he could not recover. The dog my family had when I was in high school had gone to the groomers one day, came home and went to her bed and died. Sometimes we have to make the choice at other times, we don’t, but we must be prepared when faced with a very ill pet. We have to decide what a good life means for them. Do they have all their faculties? Do they know who their humans are? Are they in pain? Do they still want to be social? Are they eating? Are they getting sick? These are the kinds of questions we need to think about when faced with an ill animal companion. They depend on us, and we need to be dependable.
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