my mother called today to let me know that they had to put our family dog, Wally, down due to a degenerative disk in his spine that was pinching a nerve. the pinched nerve apparently caused him to lose all feeling in his back half... back legs couldn't move, no control of bowel movements. he's 12 years old, and had been showing his age - li'l grey hairs on his chin, enflamed arthiritis. this specific condition had been developing over the past month or two. the vet had put him on a steroid which helped at first, but in the last two weeks didn't seem to help at all, and in the end he seemed to be in more and more pain.
the decision was made. he was taken for a final walk, which he couldn't make, at his favorite spot on the creek. dad even gave him a whopper (no condiments cause he never liked ketchup or mustard). the vet's assistant who stayed w/ him was my aunt, so he had a familiar face with him until the very end.
we couldn't have been blessed with a better four legged family member.
he was the pickle present! some of you may have this tradition at christmas: whoever finds the pickle ornament on the tree christmas morning get an extra li'l gift! well, my siblings and i couldn't find it one year and took a break from searching to assemble and play with our haul when we heard the clicking of puppy claws on the kitchen floor... and there was this li'l black lab puppy with a large red bow on his neck and the pickle ornament hanging from it. we'd wanted a dog for so long... Santa finally came thru. we named him Wally C. Pickles (registered as Wally Christmas Pickles) and he was loved, and loved us in return, every day.
thanks for listening. this was therapudic for me a little.
my husband and i are getting our first puppy soon, and if she brings even a fraction of the love and joy to our lives as Wally brought to my family we will be two of the luckiest folks ever.
(below - Wally with my husband Josh this past christmas)
