Friday I made maybe the hardest decision of my life and said goodbye to one of the best friends I have ever had. Jack was a rescue on the edge of being euthanized when my wife and I found him in 2007. We were looking for a younger dog, Jack was thought to be four by the SPCA and didn't really fit the bill. After many unfruitful visits looking for a puppy or very young dog, I finally asked about this guy whose poster had been up every time I had been there for quite awhile. When a dog has a viewing appointment, they won't show that dog to anyone else as they do not want to disappoint, ie have a meet only to find out the last person that looked decided to adopt. When I asked if I could see Jack, they were falling over themselves to get him out to see me, the first dog I had been able to meet for a view as no one else was interested. Nobody wanted an unknown 4 year old rescue.
I told my wife "if we see him, you know we are adopting him", as we knew we were likely his last chance as he was going kennel crazy and was not long for this world without an adoption. Well we met him, and of course took him home. Later estimates put his age, as it turns out, closer to the two year mark than four years, news we were happy to hear. It took some time for us to all get along, but in not too long at all Jack was an essential part of our little family. He was my wife's dog, you only had to see them together for a few minutes to know that. He spent the next 13 years being the best possible companion I could ask for, and a fabulous friend. In the last few years he had slowed down a lot, but he still loved sitting on his deck admiring his domain, king of his little world and woe to the squirrel that tested that!
I have never cried so much in my life as I have the last few days, and knowing I will be doing it again for my other dog soon makes it just that much harder. But I will never regret a second of the time I had with that fantastic dog, no matter how hard it is when it comes to an end.
Give all of your guys a scratch tonight, remind them how important they are to us all.