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The Best Dog in the World!
By Chris | August 16, 2009
Last week, my wife and I lost our dog to cancer at the age of 12.5 years. Emily was the “Best dog in the world”. She was one of my favourite photography model as she worked for free, not to mention, very photogenic. I “blog my dog” because I want people to know how much we loved her. We miss her dearly.
We got Emily as a nine week old pup. I “picked it” as I would always say to my wife, Trish, or anybody else who witnessed her good behavior. She was a cheap purchase of $75 but she had high maintenance costs; anti-allergic food, vet bills, hotel sur-charges, ect. She was worth it though.
Well Behaved
She would never jump on people.
She would never jump out of the car unlessed given permission.
She would never enter through a doorway first. People were first.
She never bit or nipped anybody even when teased or hasselled.
She never did her “business” inside.
She didn’t chase our cat, Little Wigs… ok, maybe a little but she didn’t harm Little Wigs. Personally, I think it was a game between them. They seemed to enjoy their little “Mexican stand-offs”.
She was a food beggar so we trained her to stay outside the kitchen while we cooked. She was a “long distance beggar dog”.
Her issues and idiosyncracies
She didn’t like computer or electronic beeps and such. She would get nervous and hide when hearing such sounds.
She was a left handed dog. She always returned a ball to the person on the left. It didn’t matter if two people switched positions, she would still return the ball to the person on the left.
She didn’t like me taking a bath. I guess she thinks she might be next though we haven’t bathed her in years, the groomer did that once a year for us.
Her tricks
The basics of course: Sit, stay, come. She was trained for both verbal and visual commands for all of her tricks.
She would run from across a field when told verbally or visually to “come”.
Shake a paw. A friend who met her for the first time bent down, extended his hand for a shake and said, “Hi, I’m Ian. How do you do?” Emily shook his hand to his suprise.
Though she wasn’t the kind of dog you would expect to “sit pretty”… she could and did.
She could roll over. In her later years, I suppose rolling over was too much of a hassle for her so she turned it into a “turn around”. That was fine.
Fetching
Emily loved to fetch things. She was OCD about it whether the item was a tennis ball, stick, or frisbee. She returned items in a very timely matter and at your feet.
She had a special need for sticks. Hearing the snap of a broken stick would perk her ears right up! She wanted to fetch it. Sometimes, she would what we called, “Pulp mill”. That meant she chewed the stick apart. Also, sometimes she could amuse herself with a stick. During her walks, sometimes she would drop a stick in the creek then watch the stick float away down stream. Then she would quickly run down stream to catch it! Emily would repeat this game with herself many times.
Emily wanted to fetch “at all costs!” When on a hike we had to tell people that were throwing a stick for her to take care in not throwing a stick over a cliff and such. Emily would certainly leap to where the stick was with reckless disregard.
Her Passing
On August 7, 2009, over the course of 18 hours, her health declined dramatically. In the morning, Trish was the last to leave for work. Trish did notice some odd behavior with her lips. Emily did go for a pee and a poo during her little morning walk but she didn’t eat her daily treat, a dental bone. Trish thought it odd behavior but left to work thinking Emily was just in a weird mood. She was concerned but hoped it to be a temporary thing.
When I got home later in the afternoon, I then noticed Emily was acting odd. She would always greet me when I get home from work. This day, she didn’t. I looked for her at one of her “dog spots”. She was in her bedroom spot. She was still lying down. I had to coax her to go outside for a pee. When she did go out, she seemed extra shaky on her feet but she did her business. It appeared she didn’t have the energy to go back inside. This got me really worried. She was reluctant to come back in. She just stood there and stared at me. A lot of coaxing was required to get her back inside, which was quite odd. This really worried me.
I then had to do an oil change on my motorbike at my public storage. I didn’t want to but I promised myself the day before I would do so because we had a long ride planned the next day. I suppose that I was also being optimistic about Emily’s odd behavior.
About half an hour later, I got a phone call from Trish. She asked me where I was and asked me if I noticed anything odd about Emily. I told her what I was doing and I would be back home shortly. I also told her about my observations with Emily. I finished up the bike and went back home. I was away for almost an hour.
I got back home and noticed she had detiorated even more since I saw her the hour before. Emily once again, didn’t greet me. She was laid out and didn’t even lift her head to see me. She just looked up with her eyes. I helped her outside hoping by her having another poo that she might feel better. Emily went pee instead then laid out on the grass with her head down. At that moment, I knew her outlook was grim.
Ironically, Emily had laid in the same spot that Trish and I had seen a cat two weeks previously. The cat was laid out with it’s head down. I had approached the cat but it didn’t even lift it’s head off the ground to check me out. It was obvious that the cat was dying. Emily was now in the same spot two weeks later and exhibiting the same behavior. I left Emily there on the grass and went back inside for a laydown with Trish. A few minutes later, Trish got up to see Emily on the grass. She came back in and said, “She reminds me of the cat”. I replied, “I know”.
A few minutes later, we called the vet for advice. The vet offered to do an after hours call for Emily. However, Emily’s breathing was not laboured so we decided to keep her for one last night. We had an appointment with the vet at 10am the next morning. By the time morning came, Emily’s breathing was laboured and she could not walk at all. She really seemed to be suffering now. We felt it urgent to get her to the vet to end her misery.
When we got to the vet, I carried her directly into a room pointed out by a staff member. By this time, Emily was trembling. I laid her down on the table. She didn’t even try to get up. She just layed there shaking and panting. Trish and I cried buckets as the technician tried to get an intervenous inserted into her weak veins.
Finally, the technician was ready. The vet, Dr. Tara Huggins, asked if we would like more time with Emily. We declined. Em seemed to be suffering. We wanted her to stop trembling. It was time for Emily to go. Trish and I both were petting Emily as the technician injected the over-dose of anesthesia. About twenty seconds later, Emily stopped trembling and panting. She just laid there with her eyes open. Her suffering had stopped. The vet checked her heart with a stethiscope. “She’s gone now”, Dr. Huggins gently said.
Overall, it was as I imagined it… devistating. Yet, it was relieving to know that she was suffering no more. I am glad that Emily made it obvious to us that her time was up. We were afraid of her deterioration would go slow and we wouldn’t know when was a good time for her to go. Thankfully, she made is clear her time was up.
Life after Emily
Life is quite different with Emily gone now. We still have many habits that developed over the 12.5 years that she was with us. We are slowly adjusting to it though.
The first morning after Emily’s passing. Trish got up out of bed before me. A few minutes later, she came back to the bedroom crying. She weeped, “I filled her water dish”.
First thing I do in the morning is go to the washroom. Then I walk to the patio door to let Emily out for her morning pee. Half way there, I realize I no longer need to open the patio door.
Sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I see her laying on the floor but it turns out to be a black duffle bag. I still have many thoughts about her. Once in a while, I get an urge to pet her without thinking that she is gone. Half way through calling her over to me… I stop myself knowing she won’t come.
After being away from home for a long time, Trish and I get an urge to go home to let Emily out for a pee and such. When Emily was around, we didn’t like to leave her alone too long. Therefore, we always rushed home after work or weekend errands. The inkling to rush home is still there but we really don’t need to get home now.
Also, opening the entry door to our home is another reminder of Emily. She was always laying behind the door on the cool tile floor. She was very slow to get up, therefore, we opened the door quite slowly to allow Emily time to get out of the way. We still open the door slowly.
Never forgotten
We are very sad to Emily leave us. Dogs just don’t live long enough. The day we dreaded for twelve and a half years is now behind us. Emily gave us so much love, respect, and good times while she was with us. We are very grateful for the time we had with her. She will live in our hearts and minds forever. She was the “Best dog in the world”.
Photos of Emily can be found here.
Topics: What's New | 2 Comments »
September 25th, 2009 at 6:52 am
I just want to say that this was an incredibly beautiful tribute to Emily. We have two dogs in our lives that mean the absolute world to us. My dog Buddy is a Jack Russell Terrier and he just turned 11 on September 19. He also gets upset by the sound of my cell phone when it beeps. He shakes and pants and it’s so hard to watch. I try to remember to turn off my phone when I’m home. Our other dog Daisy is a half Golden Retriever and German Shepard. We call her Blondie for short because she is a blond colored German Shepard looking dog. She will reach that mile marker age of 5 on November 22. I really appreciated your story and while it broke my heart to know you don’t have her any longer, it also made my heart happy to know what a great life you gave her while she was on this plane. I honestly believe that dogs have souls and that’s what makes them so human more so than some humans. You’ll be reunited one day. God bless you for being such loving humans to your baby girl. And thank you for sharing your loving story.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Pam,
Thanks for the comment. I am glad you enjoyed the story of Emily. As a dog parent, you understand the love and devotion of a dog. They are more than a pet… they are family.