Post by BlingDogs on Jun 3, 2014 16:48:47 GMT -5
We put Dory to sleep today. Yesterday we brought her to the vet as her pesky limp had gotten much worse over the weekend. The vet X-rayed her and found cancer in her shoulder... He told us she was in a lot of pain. She masked her pain so well over the past months I decided that we should send her to heaven when she was still happy. The vet came to our house and sent her away... She was calm and content.
When we got Dory, my parents didn’t want to care for a dog without me. At 8 years old, Dory was the perfect fit. I knew that there was a possibility she might only live a couple of years. I think it’s because of this attitude that I was able to appreciate and cherish every single wonderful memory we made.
Dory was the single most positive influence in my life. Walking together, twice a day, every day, I enjoyed so many things. People would always stop to talk to us. Kids ran up to us to pet her. Walking around the neighbourhood, we met other greyhound people, we meandered in garage sales, we got lost and got found- a lot. I can’t count the amount of magical encounters that we had with deer, coyotes, and all the other wildlife I didn’t even know thrived here. Just the act of getting outside on a routine, sometimes in ridiculous weather conditions I would never face alone, made me feel free and happy. I get home from school every day at 3 o’ clock sharp. It’s going to feel odd not heading right back out the door with Dory a few minutes later.
The car was one of her favourite places. I think it was because being in the car meant she could go anywhere.
This was us at the GRA picnic
Camping each year was a week of pure paradise for Dory. She seemed to be five times as energetic then, hiking, swimming, and sniffing everything until we packed everything up again to head back to the city.
At the Pinery
Hiking at Algonquin
Would you believe it? She learned to swim!
Walking everywhere was one of her favourite things.
The coldest winter wouldn't scare off this feisty gal. She loved all weather, except the blazing heat...
Seeing her like this always warmed my heart.
Sometimes she was just plain adorable..
This was her favourite vantage point in the house. She was the most excited to see my dad come home late each evening and would watch here for his car to pull into the driveway. I know how much he will miss her running into his arms.
Dory and Christmas means turkey for Dory, and that, she loved.
I will miss you, Dory, at the end of every meal when I have a little bit of meat left on the bones I was eating, and I won’t be able to scrape them off and put them in your bowl. In the morning, when I eat a yogurt cup, I’ll remember how you would always take it, the cup fitting right over your skinny nose, and run to your bed to lick it clean. When I get home from school, I’ll expect to see you there waiting for me. When I bring my backpack upstairs and sit down on my desk, I’ll no longer hear your gallop up the stairs, into my room, where you wouldn’t sit down before I gave you a kiss. On thunderstormy days I’ll hope that you don’t have to be scared of it, now that you are above the clouds. Every time I open the back of the van I’ll miss the way you would jump in before it was even open all the way. I’ll miss how you would stay downstairs as I went to sleep, but sometime in the night you would come up into my room, so I would see you sleeping contentedly in the morning at the foot of my bed. I’ll miss your velvety ears, the clack of your toenails, your eyebrows that said, “Walk? Car? Chicken?” with a single twitch. I’ll miss kissing you square between the eyes. In the winter, after a fresh snow, will you find a way to frolick in it again?
On Saturday, when I had to carry her outside and upstairs because she could no longer walk, I asked that if she had to die then, that she would die quickly. God answered my prayers. The day before she was put to sleep she still gobbled down a steak dinner and sat in her spot in the hallway where she could watch both the fridge and the front door. Dory never “had cancer”. She was always Dory, and in the end, she died of cancer. But it didn’t take away her life.
Somewhere a greyhound angel is sleeping....
When we got Dory, my parents didn’t want to care for a dog without me. At 8 years old, Dory was the perfect fit. I knew that there was a possibility she might only live a couple of years. I think it’s because of this attitude that I was able to appreciate and cherish every single wonderful memory we made.
Dory was the single most positive influence in my life. Walking together, twice a day, every day, I enjoyed so many things. People would always stop to talk to us. Kids ran up to us to pet her. Walking around the neighbourhood, we met other greyhound people, we meandered in garage sales, we got lost and got found- a lot. I can’t count the amount of magical encounters that we had with deer, coyotes, and all the other wildlife I didn’t even know thrived here. Just the act of getting outside on a routine, sometimes in ridiculous weather conditions I would never face alone, made me feel free and happy. I get home from school every day at 3 o’ clock sharp. It’s going to feel odd not heading right back out the door with Dory a few minutes later.
The car was one of her favourite places. I think it was because being in the car meant she could go anywhere.
This was us at the GRA picnic
Camping each year was a week of pure paradise for Dory. She seemed to be five times as energetic then, hiking, swimming, and sniffing everything until we packed everything up again to head back to the city.
At the Pinery
Hiking at Algonquin
Would you believe it? She learned to swim!
Walking everywhere was one of her favourite things.
The coldest winter wouldn't scare off this feisty gal. She loved all weather, except the blazing heat...
Seeing her like this always warmed my heart.
Sometimes she was just plain adorable..
This was her favourite vantage point in the house. She was the most excited to see my dad come home late each evening and would watch here for his car to pull into the driveway. I know how much he will miss her running into his arms.
Dory and Christmas means turkey for Dory, and that, she loved.
I will miss you, Dory, at the end of every meal when I have a little bit of meat left on the bones I was eating, and I won’t be able to scrape them off and put them in your bowl. In the morning, when I eat a yogurt cup, I’ll remember how you would always take it, the cup fitting right over your skinny nose, and run to your bed to lick it clean. When I get home from school, I’ll expect to see you there waiting for me. When I bring my backpack upstairs and sit down on my desk, I’ll no longer hear your gallop up the stairs, into my room, where you wouldn’t sit down before I gave you a kiss. On thunderstormy days I’ll hope that you don’t have to be scared of it, now that you are above the clouds. Every time I open the back of the van I’ll miss the way you would jump in before it was even open all the way. I’ll miss how you would stay downstairs as I went to sleep, but sometime in the night you would come up into my room, so I would see you sleeping contentedly in the morning at the foot of my bed. I’ll miss your velvety ears, the clack of your toenails, your eyebrows that said, “Walk? Car? Chicken?” with a single twitch. I’ll miss kissing you square between the eyes. In the winter, after a fresh snow, will you find a way to frolick in it again?
On Saturday, when I had to carry her outside and upstairs because she could no longer walk, I asked that if she had to die then, that she would die quickly. God answered my prayers. The day before she was put to sleep she still gobbled down a steak dinner and sat in her spot in the hallway where she could watch both the fridge and the front door. Dory never “had cancer”. She was always Dory, and in the end, she died of cancer. But it didn’t take away her life.
Somewhere a greyhound angel is sleeping....