This is how I'd like to remember Annie Dog.
The ol' gal loved kids, and kids loved her.
We said good bye to Annie Dog yesterday.
It was not easy.
Annie's expressions could make your heart melt any time.
My last look at her was one of those.
I could not look again.
Bill took on the difficult task of taking Annie for her last ride.
He told me yesterday afternoon it was not easy for him.
Annie Dog would have been 16 in June, pretty darned old for a Yellow Lab.
Annie's heart did not give out. Her hips did.
When she could no longer get up on her own, we reluctantly decided it was time.
All the reasons in the world pointing to why "it's time" do not overshadow the difficulty of saying good bye to a beloved member of the family.
Annie came to us when she was 3. Terri Farmin Cochran, one of our "outlaws," called my mother several years ago and said she had a dog that needed a home in the country.
Mother called me. I went into town, saw Annie and brought her home.
I must be honest in saying, that at times Annie drove me nuts. Shortly after she moved in with us, she chewed all the cords to my computer.
In her later years, she uttered a continuous "demented bark" while standing on her couch facing the wall in the garage.
We never figured out what she was barking at, but she could do it for hours.
I also called her "Stalker Dog" cuz those last years I was her "person." She circled the house continuously, it seemed, looking for me.
The minute I went out the door, there was Annie.
Annie got over those two habits during the past few months.
Sadly, she had to stay in the barn at night because of her old-age incontinence.
She hated going to the barn every afternoon cuz she never wanted to miss out on anything going on with the rest of the family.
Annie Dog taught me a lot about patience and even more about old age and understanding.
She also led a good life in the cozy barn during the last couple of years.
Her friend Fuzzy Wuzzy, the old kitty, cuddled up with her every night. And, her new friend Jonas, the Siamese, came to greet her every day.
Annie loved her horses, and she was the only dog that could get away with going into the pasture.
The horses respected her, and if they got too frisky around her, she'd just let out a stern bark and they'd back off.
Most of all, Annie loved any kid that came on the place. I remember a day when my former student Angela brought her 6-year-old son. After a couple of hours, the young boy and the old dog were best of friends.
Annie Dog also loved to swim, and one of her best buddies, Annie Love, would often load her up and take her out to Trestle Creek on summer afternoons. Definitely a good memory for our daughter.
This morning when I went to the barn, Annie's dish was still there, filled with Atta Boy.
I don't know how long the Atta Boy will stay there with those other four hungry dogs, but I'll leave the dish. It will serve as a reminder of the moment each day in Annie's morning routine when she'd go outside to do her duty and then return to have her breakfast, always keeping track of me as I cleaned stalls.
Every morning she waited until I was done with my chores, and then she'd leave the barn with me for the day.
Most recently, her life involved a lot of sleeping but always a good attitude during her waking hours.
We will all truly miss Annie Dog who actually returned close to her roots when we moved out here six years ago. She was born at the Chambers ranch just a few miles away.
I have a feeling Kiwi will really miss her.
That feeling became clearer this morning when I had a helper at my side throughout chore time.
Big Sis is gone, so little Sis has stepped in to keep track of Mom Love.
~~~RIP Annie Dog~~~
11 comments:
Now she gallops with all her horse friends who passed before her.
I had to say goodbye to Hobie Cat in January. She spent 18 years with me, since the Gilbert Lake house in Kalispell. Willie spotted her first in a tree while he and his buddies were camped out in the back yard on their graduation roadtrip, and she adopted that house as her home. She died of kidney failure at her favorite spot in front of the fireplace in my living room, and I keep her ashes in a box in that spot. I still have the habit of greeting her when I come home and calling her to come and snuggle with me at bedtime. She was a good friend and got me through some pretty rough times. I'm sure she and Annie Dog are waiting for us at Rainbow Bridge...
I have taken to reading your blog most days and was so sorry for your loss of Annie Dog. I can completely understand because this past November, I was also forced to let my almost 16 year old beagle go. I had known for a while that that time was coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Saying goodbye into those soulful, chocolate-brown eyes was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. We rescued Little Bit from the WSU vet clinic in November 1996, the year of Ice Storm. She had been involved in a vitamin study so she hadn’t been subjected to any crueler treatment than sharing the first year of her life with a lot more than a handful of siblings, just a poke now and then for blood tests. When we showed up to choose a beagle, the vet tech at the front desk walked us down a long hallway, very purposely closing the big metal door tightly behind us, we stopped at another metal door with a window. Even before we looked thru the window we could tell that there was a multitude of beagles behind it from the sound of barking/howling resonating thru the door. The tech opened the door to allow the beagles into the hallway and we were nearly knocked over by the canine escapees! Some just raced past us into the hall, others jumped up on us begging attention, and then there was one who stood behind all of the others just looking woefully up at us with those poignant brown eyes, no barking, no howling, no prancing or leaping. I immediately knelt down to pet her and that little tail wagged like a metronome on steroids! She was so happy to have the attention and I knew in that moment that I had found the one beagle out of “101 Beagles” that would eventually become my best friend. We brought her home to three days without electricity; however we did have a gas water heater and a wood stove so we were all quite comfy in those first few formative days. While beagles are known for their howl, Little Bit didn’t do any of that, in fact, she didn’t even bark. We had of course taken her into our vet for her initial examination, but after a couple of weeks of no sound from this little dog, we took her in again to make sure there wasn’t something wrong with her. Our vet advised us that she was fine and would probably start the notorious howling once she had settled in more. Well, she really never even barked for more than two years, and indeed scared herself the first time the sound emitted from her throat! Shortly after that we did begin to hear that infamous howl at the back door whenever she was ready to come back in! Oh, how I miss that mournful sound now…Even more recently, my cousin suddenly lost his yellow lab too and asked me if I could write a little something in memoriam for him. I am including a link to my poem here: http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/wishes/Luke.html
Dena
Hugs to you, Marianne. You gave a gift by sharing your Annie Dog with many people through the words you wrote about her. Even though I never had the pleasure of meeting her I still felt I knew her a little bit, and I'm sad she has gone on her final journey. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Peggy L.
i am so sorry to hear about your loss of such a good friend and family member. she is at peace now and no longer constrained by her aging body. i hope your memories and her "siblings" will help you through this difficult time.
Thank you all for your beautifully written, poignant comments.
DAMN those friends of ours. They steal our hearts and then we have to learn to live without them. I will be thinking about you- so sorry for your loss.
That prior comment was from me.- Katharine the great :=)
How lucky you were to share Annie's journey on this earth. I know she will always walk in your heart. Ah, how we love our fur kids. Sending treats across the Rainbow Bridge to Annie and hugs to you. Puz
Oh, I am just catching up on blogs...this one made my heart so sad and tears run down my face. She was such a sweet girl. I remember when I would be at your place, she would sit just outside the big windows, almost pressed against them, giving me her super sad eyes trying to get me to let her in. It would always give me a chuckle. The more she thought I was ignoring her, the more she would give me sad lab eyes. She always had such a big, loving heart. I'm sorry for your loss, Love family.
I'm a few days behind in reading you -- and am so sorry to read of Annie's passing. I have tears in my eyes and a sad heart for your loss. Even though we know the time will come, it is still so hard to take.
Julie / Orlando
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