Mom is taking her dog in to be put down.

[EFerrari]

Lucy is a black lab mix, 13, deaf, blind and no longer has the use of her back legs. It's just time, there's no joy or even life in her life. Rosie wouldn't let me go with her but I expect that she will be upset when she gets back without Lucy.

Mom had Lucy and her sib, Joe, for the last decade. Joe had to be put down in 2008 and Rosie was on the floor for weeks. This is the hard part of having dogs, when they're gone.

Lucy and Joe had great lives here on the ranch. They chased squirrels, they ran mostly at will, they were out in the open air much of the time. They rode in Rosie's car and in the ranch truck.

I originally adopted them as puppies.



Then, they were brought up here to live with Mom, which was nicer than waiting all day for me to come home from work. Before I knew it, Joe was gone and Lucy was a senior.



It just all happens too fast.

[barbtries]

1. ah, i'm sorry.

my little chihuahua will be 8 in march. he should still have about 7 to 10 years, but still, i don't look forward to ever having to say good-bye to him. it sounds like these two were very well loved.

[EFerrari]

2. Thanks, barbtries.

Joe and Lucy were great dogs. I'll never forget the day they saw horses for the first time. Both of their heads cocked as if to say, what the hell kind of a dog is THAT?

Ditto for the first time I took them out to Ocean Beach and they got to run in the waves.

All things considered, they had good lives. It's always hard to let go.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Had a 14 YO Black Lab that looked a lot like your Rosie.

He had settled in for a 2 hour ride back home one spring day about 8 years ago...and never woke up. He went peacefully and was relatively healthy up until that day. Having to put a dog down is one of the toughest things I've had to do...twice. I know how you and your mom must be feeling...a good dog is like a family member....

[EFerrari]

12. They are family.

[dana_b]

4. aw, I'm sorry

what sweet pups.

I am not looking forward to that at all. My girl dog is almost 6 now and greying in the face. I remember bringing her home as a young one (11 months old) like it was yesterday.
I hope both you and your mom will be alright.

[EFerrari]

13. I've five cats and a dog.

How I'll do this six more times, I don't know.

But I'd never give up a minute spent with any of them, that's for sure.

[Little Star]

5. It's hard to lose a pet....

I love black labs. Had a few over the years and they are great. Hugs for your mom.

[EFerrari]

8. Labs are like kids that never get to the stage where

they tell you they hate you.

I gave Mom a handful of cut up SlimJims to take with her. That was Lucy's favorite treat. Yeah, this is always the hard part.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear EFerrari...

It does just all happen too fast, always...

Ah, but you love them, and they love you, and that never goes away...

Safe and easy passage to Lucy...

What beautiful pups they were.

[EFerrari]

14. Gorgeous pups.

And great family dogs, unless you ask the squirrels.

[alphafemale]

7. Have you ever seen this? Jimmy Stewart. About his dog, Beau

[EFerrari]

10. Reminds me of this one by Robert Frost

One More Brevity

I opened the door so my last look
Should be taken outside a house and book.
Before I gave up seeing and slept,
I said I would see how Sirius kept
His watchdog eye on what remained
To be gone into, if not explained.

But scarcely was my door ajar,
When, past the leg I thrust for bar,
Slipped in to be my problem guest,
Not a heavenly dog made manifest,
But an earthly dog of the carriage breed,
Who, having failed of the modern speed,
Now asked asylum, and I was stirred
To be the one so dog-preferred.

He dumped himself like a bag of bones.
He sighed himself a couple of groans,
And, head to tail, then firmly curled,
Like swearing off on the traffic world.

I set him water. I set him food.
He rolled an eye with gratitude,
Or merely manners, it may have been,
But never so much as lifted chin.
His hard tail loudly smacked the floor,
As if beseeching me, “Please, no more;
I can’t explain, tonight at least.”
His brow was perceptibly trouble-creased.

So I spoke in terms of adoption, thus:
“Gusty, old boy, Dalmatian Gus,
You’re right, there’s nothing to discuss.
Don’t try to tell me what’s on your mind,
The sorrow of having been left behind
Or the sorrow of having run away.
All that can wait for the light of day.
Meanwhile feel obligation-free;
Nobody has to confide in me.”

‘Twas too one-sided a dialogue,
And I wasn’t sure I was talking Dog.
I broke off, baffled, but all the same,
In fancy, I ratified his name;
Gusty, Dalmatian Gus, that is,
And started shaping my life to his,
Finding him in his right supplies
And sharing his miles of exercise.

Next morning the minute I was about,
He was at the door to be let out.
As much as to say, “I have paid my call.
You mustn’t feel hurt if now I’m all
For getting back somewhere, or further on.”
I opened the door, and he was gone.
I was to taste in little the grief
That comes of dogs’ lives being so brief.
Only fraction of ours, at most,
He might have been the dream of a ghost,
In spite of the way his tail had smacked
My floor, so hard and matter-of-fact.

And things have been going so strangely since,
I wouldn’t be too hard to convince,
I might even claim he was Sirius.
Think of presuming to call him Gus!
The star itself, heaven’s greatest star,
Not a meteorite but an avatar,
Who had made this overnight descent
To show by deeds he didn’t resent
My having depended on him so long,
And yet done nothing about it in song.

A symbol was all he could hope to convey,
An intimation, a shot of ray,
A meaning I was supposed to seek,
And finding, not necessary speak.

[AlecBGreen]

24. that was beautiful

its like Jimmy is saying the things I dont have the skill to get out. Well said

[kimi]

27. Oh wow

I'm blubbering now. So touching.

[nadine_mn]

9. I am so sorry - that is the hardest journey to take with your pet

We lost our black lab in 2010 - he was 13. He was such a joy! But on his last day he really seemed to be struggling, I decided to take him to the vet, I called my husband to come home early. My baby - Lienie was his name - hung on long enough for my husband to come home and once we go to the vet he had a seizure and passed away.

It was so hard - we had lost our other dog (a collie mix that my husband adopted 2 yrs before we met) in 2009, we had to make the decision - she was in so much pain and the pain pills weren't helping, her quality of life had really declined. We brought Lienie and our other black lab mix Jazz with to the vet so our collie mix could be surrounded by her pack one last time.

Jazz is 10 and even though healthy, I know our time with her is limited. Our dogs pack so much love in such a short time - it truly is a gift of pure love from them.

Big hugs to you and your mom - I know how hard this time is

[EFerrari]

11. Thank you.

[polly7]

15. I'm so sorry.

I had to do this a few months ago, it still feels like a kick to the chest when I think about it much and of course I miss him every day. They really are family. Lucy sounds like she had a terrific life, may she rest in peace ....... hugs to you and your mom.

[RebelOne]

16. I am so, so sorry.

I had to do that July of 2010. My Rottweiler was almost 13 years old and had bone cancer in one of her legs, plus the vet found tumors in her liver. I was giving her all kinds of meds. But the pain meds were just not working any longer and she could not walk. I finally had to take her to that last fateful journey to the vet. I had her cremated and I have her ashes because I could not bear the thought that she would end up in a trash dump.

Yes, I am sure that Lucy had a wonderful life, so you can take comfort in that.

[EFerrari]

17. Thank you so much.

[riderinthestorm]

18. I am sooo sorry. I hope your mom had someone to go with her. Nobody should make that journey alone..

It really is the last loving thing we can do for our pets, let them have a dignified end.

[EFerrari]

19. Rosie wouldn't let me go with her.

So, instead I made dinner and called a couple of her friends to notify them and will just be ready.

Thanks.

[riderinthestorm]

20. Sometimes that's all you can do.. share the kleenex (or roll of tp) at home.

My husband's stoic that way with our pets. He always goes alone when it's "his" special pet....

For me, I want the whole world to weep along with....

[AlecBGreen]

21. so sorry

hang in there

[EFerrari]

22. Thank you, AlecBGreen.

[AlecBGreen]

23. I had a black mutt named Lucy too

she showed up the day before my 13th birthday and joined our family. She had the lovingest eyes Ive ever seen in a dog. She was so sweet

[EFerrari]

25. This Lucy wasn't as much loving as she was game.

No matter what happened, she looked at you like, "Oh, yeah? That's cool. What's next?"

Or, maybe that was her way to be loving. She was always second banana to her brother Joe and she never noticed or seemed to care in the least. She was great dog.

[fizzgig]

26. it does happen too fast

and it hurts so much.



14 years ago, i brought home a little orange kitten. i left her at home when i moved out, but see her a couple times a month. i'm dreading the day i get the call.

[kimi]

28. My condolences

It is without doubt one of the most difficult decisions that a pet companion can make. I'll never forget taking my Tabitha cat to the vet the last time, with her purring all the way there, then sliding away at the end. It was peaceful for her, and just so -- well, kind in the end. She'd suffered so long and was facing more, and - well.

My heart goes out to you and your mom. Safe passage to Lucy.