My little brother, Monte, had to do a very brave and difficult thing yesterday. He took the family dog, who has been around since Monte was 3 years old, to the humane society to be put to sleep. Missy's been with the family for about 17 years so that would make her somewhere between 100-120 in dog years.
Missy was starting to look her age and have many health problems i.e., loosing her fur, her hearing, her zest for life and she had a terrible cough that was keeping her up most of the night. She also recently developed a growth on her chest that was changing the shape of her back and made it painful for her to walk. She's had many brushes with death over the years. She was reported to the pound by the mailman 4 different times because she was so "FEROCIOUS" that he wouldn't drop off the mail while she was barking (the mailbox had to be moved out to the street because of her), she was hit by a car one time while s
he was out with Monte on his paper route, she'd gotten into some anti-freeze one time, she began dragging her back legs as if she'd had a stroke one year and yet she still kept on going. She's been like a cat with nine lives. Mom and Liz offered to go with Monte and give him some moral support at the humane society, but he wanted to go alone. Liz was able to give quiet support in the back yard as Monte said his goodbyes and laid Missy's body in the ground to rest.
Monte chose to bring Missy back home to bury her in her favorite
"barking & treat sneaking" corner of the yard. She would always run out there to bark at and with the other dogs. Eventually we found out the neighbors (Walt & Pacita Miles) were giving her treats and snacks from the other side of the fence. It looks like Missy fooled us all and had the neighbors trained to feed her on command.
The humane society gave Monte a thoughtful poem to bring home a
nd read every now and then which tenderly reads that Missy will be running and playing in a better place now, but every so often she will look back longingly, wondering where her longtime pal is. She will wait for Monte at the rainbow bridge and when they meet again, she will remember him, run to him, jump up and down and they will cross the rainbow bridge together.Missy 1992-2009
Goodbye, Old Friend. We will miss you!!!
8 comments:
oh my heavens that almost made me cry.... shes been there since as long as i can remember... at least she will go to little doggy heaven :) i love you missy!!!
That is so hard to go through. Pet's are definitely members of the family, and it's hard to put them to sleep. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss.
Wow, what an awesome tribute. Thank you for saying it "best". I have shed many tears this weekend watching Monte's pain, thinking of her loyal love for the entire family, and even wishing she were there to clean up the Sunday dinner scraps. I even cried in one of the hymns at church (you know me and music) Now we will have to start sweeping under the table. She loved, played and gave her all to this family and as hard as this was, it was even more difficult to watch her suffer so much every day and especially at night.
Awww man! That was so sweet Toni!! I didn't expect to get all bleary-eyed, but I did! I have a lot of memories of Missy myself, I'm sorry that this had to happen, but I'm very proud of Monte. Give him a hug for us!
:o)
Toni, that was a great tribute. Tina told me about your post on Missy and so I wanted to read it. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw those pictures. Not being much of a dog fan growing up, Missy was one dog I loved to be around. Monte is such a strong person. I hope he is doing ok. Give him a hug for me too!
Yeah, I was all fine with the shock of finding out about this on the internet myself... until this! Looks pretty rough, and reminded me of going through that with Dad and Butch~ Ugh* Nice post, though, thank you!
PS - I think she outlived all her children!
Brings back memories of our cocoa... It's crazy how they are a part of the family -- they sense and respond to emotions, and add a little extra to the home. It is a hard loss, Monte is a tough guy. :)
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