Wednesday turned out to be the saddest day in years for our household.
At about 3AM my old hound Roxy, who sleeps by our bed, woke us up with her panting. Not that unusual since, at 14 and a bit years old, a Black Lab usually has to go out and pee during the night. So I got up, spoke to her ,and headed to the back door. I stood alone at the door for a bit, then headed back to see what was keeping her. I found her struggling to get up--her back legs weren't working and she couldn't stand. Miss Linda and I managed to get her out to the living room and I sat on the floor comforting her for the next 5 hours--the vet doesn't open until 9. She kept trying to get up, and finally, at about 8:30, succeeded and wobbled off for a drink of water. She came back and lay down beside me again. Eventually she got up again and went to the back door, so I took her outside to pee. On the trip across the lawn to and from the bush line she fell 6 times.
Miss Linda and I both knew that the time I've been dreading for over a year had arrived.
We loaded Roxy up in Miss Linda's van and the 4 of us headed to town--our 5 year old grandson Orion was staying with us, so he came too. The vet tech was extremely considerate. After administering the sedative which would put her into a deep sleep, she left us alone and we each gave her one of her favorite dog treats.
Orion had been very calm so far. We had often talked about family members being dead and we thought he understood what was happening when we told him Roxy was dead and that death was final. But when I told him we wouldn't be taking Roxy home, he asked why not and and wanted to know why we weren't going to recharge her dead battery so she'd be OK again. As I explained, the crying started--he was heartbroken. Soon we were all sobbing.
We got Roxy and her sister Addy at 8 weeks old. Addy chose Miss Linda as her human and Roxy chose me. She and I have been joined at the hip ever since. She went everywhere with me, except in the big truck--at 76 pounds she was just too much dog for me to lift in and out of the Freightliner several times a day. She slept by my bed, lay on my feet under the table at meal time, followed me where ever I went, shared every treat I had. God but I loved that dog. Roxy and Miss Linda are my two best friends.
Gonna put in my fav picture of Roxy and post this--the tears are falling too heavy to continue.
My girl in her all time favorite place--a 76 pound lap dog. Photo taken March 2019.
View attachment 661776
Gary
