So last Tuesday night, my 14-year old dog began acting like it was That Time. It's been on the horizon for a while, so I was prepared. So we decided to see how she did overnight, with the idea of putting her to sleep the next day if she didn't improve. Unfortunately, the next morning she was worse than I anticipated. Andy couldn't leave work, and I couldn't get her up into the Jeep by myself. So all morning long I watched my dog die, and there was nothing I could do for her. Finally she died about noon, and I went out back and started digging. It was terrible.
I had had Sunny since I was a very young teenager. It's weird not having her around. I'm not sad, per se, since she was very old and arthritic and is now no longer hurting. It's just that there is a hole in our lives now. One dog to walk, feed, and bathe now. I miss her little jumping thing she used to do. I miss how she was always happy to eat, happy to see you, happy about everything.
Jupiter, on the other hand, has been a wreck. He has stopped looking for her, but he is jumpy and skittish, and avoiding us all. We had to leave him with Andy's parents when we went to the beach; he wouldn't have been able to handle boarding at the vet's.
And of course, Jax doesn't understand the whole thing. Watching us bury her, he said, "We don't want Sunny any more?" It was terrible. I gave it to him as best I could, but he's needing a lot of reassurance that Jupiter isn't going in the ground too, not right now anyway. Going to the beach the very next day was really helpful to us all but especially to him. Now that we're back home, though, I'm starting to miss her more.
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wakeful dreamer