WDP — Doggoneit

Describe the last difficult “goodbye” you said.

For me, the hardest goodbye is when I have had to make that gut-wrenching, heartrending decision to euthanize a beloved pet because the quality of its life, mostly due to old age and heath issues, has deteriorated to the point that it’s suffering.

In November of 2020 we had to make that decision for our 15 year old German Shepherd/black Labrador retriever mix. And in January of 2022, we had to do the same for our 16 year old black cat.

I still get choked up when I think about these two. I swore after our cat died, that I was done with pets and that I never wanted to have to say goodbye to one ever again. But in March of last year, my wife and I rescued another dog, a 14-month old American Staffordshire terrier mix.

If we’re lucky, we’ll die before she does and we won’t have to go through another difficult goodbye.

22 thoughts on “WDP — Doggoneit

  1. Paula Light March 2, 2023 / 9:26 am

    I am going to reply similarly. It really is heartbreaking 💔

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Misky March 2, 2023 / 9:30 am

    Be sure to make some sort of arrangement for your Staffy should she survive you and your wife. A friend or family member, as dogs also grieve.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. writerravenclaw March 2, 2023 / 10:19 am

    It is like losing a family member. My dog Scamp died five years ago, and he went everywhere with me. He left a huge gap in my life.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Marilyn Armstrong March 2, 2023 / 10:48 am

    I doubt there is a heaven for me, but I sure hope there’s one for our dogs and cats. They really deserve it!

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Mister Bump UK March 2, 2023 / 10:49 am

    Man, it’s a no-brainer. Just think of the quality of life you gave them that they’d never have had otherwise. Sure, animals (and people) die, but death is a part of life.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango March 2, 2023 / 11:23 am

      Intellectually I know that. Emotionally it’s heartbreaking.

      Like

  6. pensitivity101 March 2, 2023 / 12:16 pm

    Know where you’re coming from Fandango. I didn’t want another dog after Maggie, but after three months, Hubby said I was shit without a dog so we started looking. Maya has been with us a year now, but it was fifteen months after Maggie died that we found her. She’s hard work, but it’s paying off. If our health was deteriorating to such an extent that we couldn’t care for her, we would try and find her a forever home before we passed. That would be a heartbreak of a different kind.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. bushboy March 2, 2023 / 4:56 pm

    The way things have been going, she’ll probably bump you off 😂

    Liked by 1 person

  8. jilldennison March 2, 2023 / 11:47 pm

    We have had to say ‘goodbye’ to more pets than I can count, and each one leaves a hole in our hearts, but the memories of all the joy they brought us far outweigh the pain of having to say goodbye. Still, we have five who are getting older and the next ‘goodbye’ is likely not far away … 😢

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Taswegian1957 March 3, 2023 / 6:13 am

    It’s been nearly a year since I lost my 16 year old dog. It’s horrible every time you have to say goodbye to a pet. We have two other dogs here that belong to my sister that are ten and twelve. I don’t think I would get another while we have them and I am afraid to get a pet that might outlive me. We don’t have anyone who could adopt it when we are both gone.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango March 3, 2023 / 9:10 pm

      Maybe even more because they don’t really understand why it’s happening to them.

      Like

Leave a comment