just 10 more

First, thanks to everyone who expressed concern for my BetsyB.  So far no more seizures.  It’s so upsetting; brings back horrible memories of the long road to Sammydog’s  end.  I had never had a dog growing up, execpt for a beautiful malamute/husky type for about 2 days when I was very little.  My uncle who lived in NYC brought him for me when he came to visit.  This guy, who I totally adored, was known for being the ultimate black sheep of the family.  I couldn’t have been more than four and barely remember Frosty Snowball White Horn (guess I couldn’t decide which I liked best!).  Supposedly, he was stolen from our back yard—something I always wondered about since my parents were NOT dog lovers as far as owning them went and I was only allowed to have cats later on.  Right after I  married I saw a basenji in a pet store window and fell head over heels in love—had never even heard of the breed and bought him on the spot; not bright…young and dumb is my only excuse.  Didn’t know how strange basenjis are or that buying from pet stores is a no-no.  It was a long and rocky relationship until we came to an understanding about our roles.  My husband was gone a lot with his job and Samdog became my best friend.  I got pregnant when he was 10 and everyone said he would never accept a child but he was wonderful with her.  If A. was in her swing, he would be under it; when she learned to walk she would use him to push off and get up.  He was slowing down and had already started having seizures when we moved to S.C.  It was a very painful decision that the time had come to have him put down.  He was 14, almost blind, incontinent almost all the time, and having seizures more frequently.  The vet there was wonderful; I think I made appts. twice and cancelled them before I finally went in.  My husband was gone away and A. was 4 and in pre-school that morning.  The absolute hardest thing I’ve EVER done in my life (by far) was to stand there, holding Samdog in my arms while the vet injected him with the medication to end his life.  He was 14 and being there for him at the end was something I felt he deserved; I’ll never be sorry I did it, no matter how hard it was.  He died quietly, no struggle, in the arms of someone who loved him.   I was DONE with dogs—-never again, hurts too  much!!!!   Then A. started begging for one.  When she was in 2nd grade I answered an ad in the paper for a basenji—can’t imagine having any other breed now.  It was an old ad, I thought it would be gone and sure enough it was. But the first placement didn’t work out and that’s how BetsyB came into our lives.  She was already 5; owners were  divorced, wife didn’t want her and husband worked so many hours she was living in a crate.  He just wanted someone who was basenji-experienced (I told you they are a strange breed) to love her and give her a home.  So that’s how she came into our lives.  I had just brought my mom down to live with us and this dog more than earned her keep sitting with and amusing my mom for the 4 yrs. until her death; even in her dementia when she didn’t know me, she could usually come up with Betsy’s name.   B-girl is 13 now and she’s been a  fine dog so all I can do is be there for her too.

Since this is a diet blog, I suppose I should mention food–it’s been good; enjoyed every bite…..

Hug your doggies, chickadees….

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 7:51 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.