Somedays just suck

[stoneaxe]

  This has been one of them.

[Shnoover]

Think Maui!

[stoneaxe]

I tried that...by sitting here on the comp on the zone mostly. Still didn't work. I'm a sentimental old fool, still have a massive headache from crying most of the day. Had to have my best friend of 15 years, Samba, put to sleep yesterday. Then spent the afternoon burying her. Best dog I've ever had by far...a better "person" than most people I know. She provided our family, friends, and even our community with lots of fun moments and will be sorely missed. I know she was "just" a dog but she was my almost constant companion for 15 years and I feel like a piece of me is missing.

[noworrieshawaii]

Oh man... thats tough..

I struggled with trying to decide whether my old Honeygirl, blind, too fat to walk and having seizers was in pain and ready to go. Made an appointment for the next day to put her down, hand-fed her some chicken, went back into the house, came out to check on her and she was gone. I really dont know if I could have gone through with it.  Still expect to see her coming around the corner wagging her stubby little tail. And its been a few years.

[Deb]

These fuzzy friends of ours really get into our hearts, don't they? Gosh, it hurts when they go.

[stoneaxe]

Tracy...I was actually hoping that something like that would happen for us. Both my daughters came home to spend the day with me and her and both of them said the same. The hardest part was that she still wanted to be with us even though she was whining in pain. She lost the use of her rear legs and had no control and was in pain constantly. I know I did the right thing but it doesn't make it any easier.

There are SO many things that are going to remind me of her. Silly stuff, talk about conditioning, I made a sandwich today...every sandwich I've made at the home for the last 15 years she got the last bite of it....I couldn't bring myself to eat the last bite today..

Faith...I've always loved animals. My kids noticed once while looking through old family pictures that almost every picture of me when I was young I was either holding a cat or hugging a dog. On days like these I almost wish it weren't so. I just can't imagine being without a dog though. I know that once the pain has subsided a bit I'll be at the pound looking for a pup to rescue.

Bill...don't blame me if I spoil Sam a bit when I get out there...last bites of sandwiches anyway.

[Shnoover]

Stone - I am so sorry, that just sucks, no two ways about.  We had to put one of our's down some years back.  I knew it would suck, but I was hit hard by how much it affected me.  A hard decision to make, but it sounds like it was the right one and it sounds like you did right by Samba the whole time you got together.  Dogs are just plain good, they love you no matter what and bring a ton of joy to your world if you're wired right.  My main man Otis sends you a bit of hound love... Most likely a big slobbery kiss - after he sniffed every square inch of you, that is. 

[stoneaxe]

Thanks Shnoover....

A few pics of Samba.

Yours truly and Samba entertaining a couple hundred little kids and their parents after there end of year soccer games. Samba learned to play when she was just a pup when my daughter used to take her out in the yard to practice. She would head the ball, trap it out of the air with her feet and then run full speed while using her feet to dribble the ball. She would also play goal and was almost impossible to score on. She would amuse herself for hours while I worked in the yard. We had a small tree farm and she would dribble the ball all through the rows of trees. We had customers that came back year after year to buy christmas trees from us so their kids could play with the dog.


She loved kids and being the center of attention. The most gentle dog on the planet...despite getting ears pulled and eyes poked she never complained once.


She loved cats too and actually helped one of our cats raise a litter of kittens. Despite how this picture looks the cat is the aggressor here. He was a bit nuts. Almost as soon as we brought him home he started attacking and playing with the dog and the two became close friends. They would play for hours on end beating the crap out of each other and would take turns chasing each other out in the yard. The cat is actually biting the inside of Samba's mouth in this picture.


Samba was semi-famous for her soccer skills when she was young. I had put a couple of videos of her on our tree farm website and a guy in the UK that started the Soccer Dog Coat Co. asked if he could get a picture and some video of her wearing one of his coats. My daughter was/is a Newcastle fan so he sent over a toon coat. She was his 1st "spokesmodel" and is still on his website I think. Then we had a request to use one of the videos from a Japanese TV show...so Samba had her 15 mins in Japan...


She was the kind of dog that makes even people that don't like dogs like her. My next door neighbor has never liked dogs. She doesn't trust them, thinks they're dirty, etc.. Because of that her kids were afraid of dogs. I'm friends with her husband and we hit golf balls in our yards, my daughter was using part of his yard for her soccer practices because its flatter and his son started going out there too (he was just a little kid at the time). He started to play with the dog. To make a long story short, Samba ended up having two families for all intents and purposes. Even the wife came to love her and would save her table scraps. Samba would be over there whenever there was a party playing ball with the kids.

I've been fortunate to have a number of good dogs in my life and known many more but none came close to being the animal she was. I was very lucky to have her in my life.

[hhscsup]

STX
Sorry man...Lost my Lab 6 months ago (he was 15). I was devastated for a while thinking he was gone forever. Now I realize he will never leave me, his spirit is with me, I dream about him often and find myself talking to him as If he is. He is closer to me now than when he lived on earth for he lives inside me.
Long live Samba...

[Shnoover]

Stone - Wow, she was a special dog.  I hope you get some more good nose leather therapy soon.  (that's what my dad calls time with the hounds).

[stoneaxe]

Sorry to hear that Jamie. I know I'll think of her often. The happiness that she brought every where she went is easy to remember.

Shnoover...i will no doubt eventually find another pup..or the pup will find me...

[PonoBill]

That sucks Bob. You were lucky to have such a special dog for so long, but you pay for all that love at the end. Still very much worth it though.

You're welcome to spoil Sam all you like, won't have much affect.  Diane has got him pretty much full up of spoiling. I made the mistake of reading your posts to her, and now she's going around trying to hug the dog all the time.

Someday you might want to read "The Art Of Racing In The Rain"--not now, too sad, but someday. Written from the viewpoint of a dog who believes (correctly, as the story turns out) that dogs are reincarnated as people and their experiences as dogs helps guide them as humans. If so, somewhere an amazing soccer player was just born.

[steamroller]

sorry to hear this...thats a nice looking dog... 

[capobeachboy]

Sorry for your loss Stoneaxe.  That's a cool dog.