Bye bye baby, bye bye...

[Serpentine]

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/serpentine16/photos/menamy.jpg
Technically, she's not my dog. She's my stepfather's. On the other hand, he got her as a puppy when I was about 6, and he and my mum moved in together at about that time, so she's at least been in my family for most of most our lives.
Once, when I was little, I was amused by her sort of wincing when I swung a stick towards her. Unfortunately, I've always been clumsy and accidently smacked her on the head. She yelped and I think got a lump. I felt really bad and immediately fell upon her hugging her and apologising furiously. She seemed to forgive me...
Regretably, that wasn't the last unintentional abuse she suffered... We once drove out to the other side of the Hume Weir to swim. Mum and her husband didn't want to let a wet, dirty dog inside the car, so they decided to drive really slow and let her walk alongside. Unfortunately, you can only drive a car so slowly, and she always had to be right out in front - they kept stopping near some nice soft grass to let her have a rest, but she always trotted up ahead on the road to wait for us to keep going. By the time we got home - actually, I have a feeling they may have given up a bit before then - her poor pads were worn right through. She was limping for days afterwards. Mum and her husband both felt really bad about it, and smothered her in attention for some time.
She's a big fan of water and swimming. You'd splash her with water, and she'd jump up and try to snap at it, and would bark at you if you stopped. She swam right across the weir with me, a couple of times. She even had a ride in the canoe, when it capsised and we had to drag it halfway across mostly full of water. You can make her howl by playing a recorder or simply howling yourself. She really likes her food, or at least she used to - she's gone off it lately. She'd sit underneath the grape vine and very delicately pick off the ripe grapes, one at a time. She would even crack open most nuts - even soft ones, like peanuts, she would carefully crack open then pick out the tasty nut. She doesn't like lettuce and carrots and the like, though.
She used to sit under the plants in the corner with me, when I wanted to be out of the house and alone.
She really liked sticks - the bigger the better. Many the time when she'd trot up from behind you with a branch a couple of metres long and bash you across the back of the knees. Sometimes she'd see what she thought was a fantasticly massive branch, just right for gnawing, try to tug it away, oblivious to the fact that it was attached to a huge tree half-buried by mud.
She'd sleep on the floor of my room to keep me company when I was home on my own. She wasn't meant to, but I let her up on the couch to lie on my lap, too.
I spent quite a lot of time trying to teach her to stay. She kinda got it... She's a very good catch, though.
She took to the beach surprisingly well when mum and her husband moved there. We were expecting her to go running down in the water, take a big drink, and then run away trying to spit it out. Nup - she loved the ocean just as well as the lake.
Before they went to the beach, about 5 years ago, she was already starting to get rather stiff and sore, and she got this weird snotty thing that made her sneeze green gunk all over the place that never went away. She's had a couple of parasitic ticks, but she seemed to get over them pretty well. She's deteriorated lately, though - she can't even climb the stairs any more, and stopped going down to the beach. I got a message about an hour and a half ago - they're putting her down at 4.30. They don't live that far away, but on the other side of a mountain range. Maybe in mum's flash car we could make it in time, but not down that mountain in my crappy little thing. So, my sister's going without my being able to say goodbye - I haven't seen her in months. Still, I guess it's probably for the best, and mum mentioned her deterioration a few days ago, and the possibility of having to have her put down.
So, enjoy your last half hour, little girl, and sleep well :smallfrown:


http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/serpentine16/photos/amy.jpg

[Brickwall]

...you're making me go to bed sad now. :smallfrown:

[Copacetic]

*Hug* I'm sorry Serpy. I really am.

[Crimmy]

I know what that's like.
My cousin's dog had a tumour on the inside of her nose.
It died of asfixia.
I had known that dog for at least 10 years, and when I heard about it, it was so sudden that I tried to go up to it and say "please don't go!".

I join your sadness, and hope your doggie departs in peace.

[Serpentine]

I forgot to say, she's about 15 years old. Not too bad for a dog, I guess... She's a border collie-kelpie cross. Wikipedia says border collie life expectancy is 13, but doesn't have one for kelpies.

[Serpentine]

Just gone 4.30pm. :smallfrown:

She sometimes brought horrible moldy old rabbits up to the varandah. That was charming.
She loved mum's husband's old Suzuki. If anyone even looked like they were doing something with it, she'd jump up in the front seat and stay there, all hopeful of a trip, for an hour.

[Bitzeralisis]

She died.

Simple, yet there's something about that phrase that makes my soul feel even sadder...

She died.

[Serpentine]

She chased cats sometimes, if they ran away from her. If they stopped for whatever reason, though, she wouldn't know what to do with them, so she'd sort of look at them then wander off.

Sorry for the melodramatic snippets, it's just stuff I don't want to forget about her.

Heh, she was named after mum's husband's neice, born around the same time, because they shared the same colouring or something :smallbiggrin:

[Agamid]

ow serp, i'm really sorry, it sucks when pets die.
one of my rescued bearded dragons just died too. she was hit in the side of the head by a lawn mower blade about 8 months ago and was finally coming good when she just died, really suddenly wednesday morning.

And now i have to go get the last living relative or my first ever lizard (and one of my most affectionate lizards) put down because the cancer in his jaw bone has broken it in several places and he can't eat without severe pain anymore. It really sucks because about 4 or so months ago his brother died from the exact same thing, which means that it was probably genetic...

[Serpentine]

Ouch, nasty. Well, Amy was getting old and grey and sore, grouchy and deaf, had that weird snotty nose thing, was having trouble moving around, was losing a lot of weight, wasn't eating much and possibly had cancer somewhere, but at least there was nothing as horrific as some things I've heard about (being eaten from the inside-out, riddled with cancer, lingering illness, etc.), so that's something at least. No word, yet, about whether the deed is done...

It's odd, really, but somehow Brickwall's response really made me feel a bit better... Maybe it's just the idea that he might actually care :smallsmile:

[Gaelbert]

Wow. That's sad. The unconditional love that dogs give... that's why they are humanities best friend. Time in, and time out. Through bad times and good times they will stay with you, utterly dedicated. Full of love. I'm a dog person myself, and unfortunately we have had to put down one of our dogs in the past, so I know what you're going through. But at least now she's out of pain.

[Diva De]

*big hug* So sorry, Serp.

[Hell Puppi]

*big hug* So sorry, Serp.

*hugs sadie, her dog*

She's just now 6, and I'm already afraid of losing her.
Seems so sad that dogs get only 12 or 13 years, but then again they seem so full of life when they're here.

[Serpentine]

>hugs Moses, le cat< At least there's a not-unreasonable chance that he'll still be with me when I'm 30...
Though it does look like he nearly lost an eye to another cat last night :smalleek:

[Icewalker]

Cats are good at sticking with you for a long time.

Very sad story...:smallfrown:

[Vaynor]

I'd had my dog since I was 2 (15 currently), and she was the best I could have hoped for. She was really good with me as an annoying toddler (she didn't mind at all when I jumped on her, or played rough as children will). She was always a little chubby, but from her middle to last years she got fat, but in a lovable sort of way. She also went blind from a degenerating disease in her corneas at about the age of 8. She was the best pillow and friend ever. We had to put her down when her brain cancer got bad enough where she could no longer determine from which side of her sounds or feelings were coming from, and coupled with her blindness it caused many run-ins with the closest wall or piece of furniture. She grew painful but benign cysts on her legs and chest, and could barely walk. As her favorite things to do were eat and sleep, on her last day we fed her non-stop hamburger meat fried in lots of butter (to her it was good).

I'll miss her forever. :smallfrown:

@Serp: I hope her last hours are comfortable and surrounded by everything and everyone she cares for. It's always horrible to lose a family member.


It's odd, really, but somehow Brickwall's response really made me feel a bit better... Maybe it's just the idea that he might actually care :smallsmile:

Brickwall? Care? That's unpossible! :smallwink:

[Serpentine]

If he cares enough about animals to be sad when someone else's pet dies, then he can't be all bad :smallsmile:

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

My sincere condolences, Serpie. I wish I could say or do more. All I can do is offer *HUGS!*

[Bag_of_Holding]

I'm truly sorry to hear it, Serpentine. I hope your grieving brief, and cherish every moment spent with her; it's always so nice to be remembered, is it not?

[The Bushranger]

so sorry to hear that, Serp.
*hugs*

[Dallas-Dakota]

I'm sorry to hear that Serp.
I hope you will cherish the moments you spent toghetter.
All I can do is... *hugs, lots of hugs*

[DarkLightDragon]

Having already had TWO family deaths this year, with both being only two weeks apart, and the mother of someone in my year group at school passing away very recently, I understand how absolutely devastating it can be. With the second family death, I was completely shattered for days and didn't want to do anything but eat and sleep. My eyes still water sometimes.

Anyway, you have my condolences. You're lucky to have had such a sweet dog. :smallsmile:

*gives big hug*

[Woofsie]

*Hugs* I'm really sorry to hear that Serp. :smallfrown:

I can't honestly say I know what you're going through, but from the sound of things she had a really long, full life. Maybe you can find some comfort in that.

[EmeraldRose]

*hugs Serpy*

[Ego Slayer]

Aw, Serpy made me cry. :smallfrown:
*big hug*
Now you've got me thinking about my family's long-gone dog... 17 years old. She occasionally slept on the floor of my room, too.
Bleh. v_v

[Emrylon]

I'm really sorry to hear that.

My Dog was put down last week. She was ten years old and she was the most obediant gentle dog in the world. She was absolultly fine and then she suddenly got very ill and the vet told us she had a tumor on the outsise of her stomach so she couldn't digest anything so she had to be put down.

[Shraik]

I feel so bad for you
This can't be easy to deal with.
*hugs*
At least she lived a long life and was able to enjoy it.

[banjo1985]

Aw I'm sorry Serp :smallfrown:
Not much to say, but 15 is a fine old age for a dog, and that life was lived to the full.

[Mattarias, King.]

Daw. :smallfrown:

I'd usually have something to try to lighten the mood, but I got nothing.

I've never had any kind of pet you could hug, but I see how nice it is. :smallsmile: I hope your kitty stays with you forever.

[Trog]

My sincerest condolences.

*plants red fern over thread*

[zeratul]

I'm really sorry scorp. I've lost various pets to various things in the past, so I know how bad it is *big bear hug*.

[mercurymaline]

Aww, Serp...*hugs*
I'm so sorry. I wish there was something more I could say to help. *More hugs*


morbid

[Raiser Blade]

Wow at first I thought you were leaving. That was scary. :smalleek:

Sorry about your loss serp. :smallfrown:

[Syka]

I'm sorry Serp. :smallfrown:

The guy I dated last year had this beautiful husky he'd had since he was 8, she was 13. She died about two weeks after we broke up and he told me. I almost cried because for 9 months she'd been my adopted dog since I can't have one, and I know he was heartbroken about it, probably more than we were when we broke up. It was best for her since she was blind, probably going deaf, and having severe difficulties walking, but she was one of the sweetest dogs.

I'm kind of concerned for my boy. His husky/beagle mix is getting up there, she's about 13 or so I think and he's had her since he was..I dunno, like 10? She's still doing decently well, but her epilepsy is starting to get a little worse but, for having moved last year from a good piece of land up in Illinois down to a house with a small yard in Florida, she acclimated very well. But I know if anything happens to her, it's going to be heart wrenching. I love how if she wants to be petted she'll come to someone sitting on the couch and just shove her snout next to/on them. :)

It's just as tough loosing a loved pet as I think it would be to lose a friend or family member. Because they ARE friends and family.

Cheers,
Syka

[Serpentine]

My Dog was put down last week. She was ten years old and she was the most obediant gentle dog in the world. She was absolultly fine and then she suddenly got very ill and the vet told us she had a tumor on the outsise of her stomach so she couldn't digest anything so she had to be put down.Aw, I'm really sorry. It's especially bad when they go without any real warning :smallfrown:


*plants red fern over thread*Why a red fern? :smallconfused:


I'm really sorry scorp.I'm sure she'd appreciate it :smallwink: I mean, thank you.

[Jack Squat]

Why a red fern? :smallconfused:

There's a book called "Where the Red Fern Grows". It's about a guy's memories of some dogs he had growing up. Really good book.

[ForzaFiori]

Why a red fern? :smallconfused:

I could be wrong, but i THINK its a referance to the book "Where the Red Ferns Grow"

quite possibly one of the sadist books ever.


I am so sorry to hear about your dog serp.

*hugs*

i know how hard it is to lose pets, i've had several cats die suddenly and such...It sucks. Hopefully all your other pets will live plenty long.

[Felixaar]

*hugs*

...

And that's all I can do, because if I dont ill just get angry and cry.

*hugs*

[Player_Zero]

That's pretty harsh... I'm sorry for your loss.

Not to be self-centered here but, I don't know what I'd do if my cat died; even though I know she won't live forever and especially since she's almost twenty, was been diagnosed with leukemia (admittedly this was ten years ago now and I'm not so sure this was accurate) and is now deaf... She's been with me since forever, I think it would be rather more than devastating more me and my fragile grip on reality.

Maybe for now all I can do is maintain the fantasy that she will live forever...

Yeah, this makes me sad, I'm gonna' go do something happy.

[Gem Flower]

Awwwww, Serp.:frown: I'm sorry. *hugs* *hugs again*

[Zeb The Troll]

Where The Red Fern Grows (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/redfern/summary.html) is an incredibly good book. I had to read it in grade school, so I'm sure you'd find it a quick read. Basically this guy is recalling these two hound dogs he had growing up and, if I remember right, he retells their lives all the way from puppy-dom but the sad part (not the sadist part :smalltongue: ) is telling about when they died.

I'd highly recommend it. It's a classic.

[Supagoof]

*Supa comfort hug*

Sorry Serpentine. Losing a friend is not easy.

I read a statistic that says we will have over 300 friends in our lifetime. I like to think those of us who are here are ahead of the curve on that one.

[Sneak]

Aww.

I've lost pets in the past (2 cats that I had grown up with my whole life, literally), and it's not easy. There's nothing I can really say that'll make it any better, but just know that you have the condolences and support of an entire playground.

[Serpentine]

I read a statistic that says we will have over 300 friends in our lifetime. I like to think those of us who are here are ahead of the curve on that one.Moral of the story: Don't make friends :smallwink:

I talked to mum about just what happened. It was kinda funny... They took her to the vet, who told her that she had liver failure and who knows what else, and suggested that they keep her there and put her down. They (being mum and husband) decided to take her home, instead, but later she just got worse and worse so they got the vet to do a housecall. When they first brought her home, though, she wandered off to do her business where she usually does it, barely able to walk. After a while mum slowly followed, but couldn't see her anywhere. After sometime of searching around, they finally tracked her down: Amy, who could barely walk and had been too sore and weak to go for any walks for weeks, had dragged herself right down to the beach (10-15m away) and took herself for one last swim...

[SoD]

...I feel really bad now...I saw the thread title and grinned to myself thinking 'ah, here's Serpentine saying 'so long, farewell, baby bye bye!' in an obviously fake april fools day joke...and then I read what it said...

I feel really bad, and very sorry both for what happened, and for what I first thought...

[Yeril]

*koboldy hugs*

I don't realy have anything to say.