I am an animal lover to a fault. They all are beautiful creatures in my eyes. They say that dog's are a man's best friend. I really do not agree with that statement because dogs are my best friend.
I cannot recall a moment in my life, growing up, that I did not have a dog in my life. There was Manny, the collie. Toughest dog in my neighborhood, but would let me dress it up in clothes. Then there was Button, the miniature poodle that was a pickpocket, but loved to play tug-of-war with me. During that time, we had Lady, a mutt that was abandoned, but became the mother hen of my parent's house. She would not go to sleep until everyone was home. Then there was Morgon, the Black Lab, probably the smartest dog I ever knew. She loved to play fetch and she knew exactly which toy was which and retrieved it for you on command. I loved every one of them, but they were not "my" dog. They were all owned by family members. That was until Molly came along. She was my first for everything.
Molly was the most beautiful German Shepherd I have ever seen. She was a character; tough but sweet, smart, but clueless. She was a puppy until her dying day at the age of 11. She was destructive. No toy stood a chance, but she knew who to go to for getting it fixed.... me. My husband and I believe to this day that she was more human than dog.
Molly, had a look about her. When she was about 8 weeks old, she was in a pet store. My husband-to-be and I went in to just look. With her one ear half up, the other down and a tilt of her head, we were smitten. We must have had the word "sucker" stamped on our foreheads because she after we brought her home, she gave us the ride of a lifetime. Teething and wild, she definitely kept us on our toes. We signed her up for obedience classes and her response was to shred the training manual. There was only one page that was complete and untattered sitting in the middle of the room... It was the page about chewing. Call me nuts, but I think this dog can read!!
We changed tactics and changed trainers. She was learning and we knew it, but that darn teething was driving us nuts! One day, after feeling like a chew toy, we asked Molly, "why do you chew on us like you do?" This is where I think my husband and I lost our minds.... We heard, "I don't know". It was more like a yawn/whine tone coming out of Molly's mouth, but it definitely sounded like I don't know just come out of her mouth. That was it!! She is definitely different than any other dog on this planet. Sadly, she never spoke like that again, but I do have a witness that it happened and that I was not losing my mind.
For the first 3 years, it was just Molly, my husband and myself. Molly was like a daughter to us. She was spoiled to the core. We felt just awful about kennel training her, but it was a method that worked. She was allowed on the furniture, she had the best place in the house for her kennel, she had tons of treats, plenty of food, plenty of water, and full reign of the house. I think she even owned us.
Molly was my guardian angel, she was always at my side.
I became pregnant with my daughter. I was scared to be a mother, but Molly proved me wrong. She reminded me that I am her mom. After my daughter was born, I had a strong concern that Molly might not like having another person in her house. Especially one that has no clue how to treat a dog. When I came home with my daughter that day in January, Molly welcomed her with a kiss. Molly became my daughter's guardian angel. When people came to visit, she sat between them and her. She would give a kind nudge to our visitors when she thought that my daughter needed a rest. She would lay next to her stroller that we had in the living room for her to rest in while we went from our day-to-day things. Our daughter went everywhere I went. Molly made sure that everything was okay.
For the years following, we were just a happy family.
In July of 2008, the day started off normal, but took a scary turn. My husband left for work, my daughter was watching TV and I was doing a little cleaning. Molly looked distressed. She was retching and throwing up what looked like foam. My daughter screams for me and I come running. I see this and took Molly outside. She continued to dry heave and then laid down in the grass. I knew something was wrong. Molly drags me everywhere and today, she is not. I called the vet and they were closed. I got the phone book and called another. Thank goodness! They are open and will take her immediately. Knowing my truck is too tall to get her in by myself, I call my mom over and borrow her car. I race to the vet. I figured out what was happening to Molly before the vet could even see her. She was suffering bloat. A terrible thing for dogs. The stomach flips upon itself and traps the stomach acid and gas. This is something that can kill a dog if not treated. I just learned about this by reading Marley and Me. It was tragic for Marley and it is a tragedy to me.
Luckily, the vet was able to put a hose down her throat, released the pressure and also untwisted the stomach. Molly is going to be okay. It was suggested that she gets the surgery to suture the stomach to the side of the body so this never happens again. I talk to my husband and we agree that we should do this for Molly. After transferring her to a specialty place for animals that specialize in this kind of surgery, we wait.
We got the call later that same day. Molly made it through the surgery just fine and will get to come home in a couple of days. What a relief! Then, I get the wind knocked out of me. While in surgery, they found a large tumor on her liver and took a biopsy to see of it is cancer. The results will be available in a week. My heart just sank. We get the results and it is cancer, but a slow growing and contained form. The only way to treat is by surgery. If we do not remove the tumor, it will eventually destroy the live saving surgery she just had and her stomach will flip again and will most likely kill her immediately. We decided to let her go under the knife again. We waited for her to completely heal from the last surgery. She goes in again. We wait. We get the call that this tough pup is doing fine and will get to come home in a few days.
I think I have the toughest pup alive. Before each surgery she had, we had a little talk. I knew that surgeries are a risk and only she will know when it is her time. I would tell her, "if it is your time to go... give me those ever so famous nibbles on my chin". Her nibbles were the cutest thing. She would just scrape her teeth along my chin, it was like little kisses to me. Well, each time I asked, she refused to give me nibbles, so I took it as her way of saying..."nope, not my time, mom".
It was a few days before her check up on the last surgery that I got something that I did not expect..... Molly walked up to me and gave me nibbles. I started to cry. She knew that I understood, but I refused to see that was going to happen. I told her that she is in the clear, that all is well. She knew otherwise. Three days after I got my nibbles, Molly's heart was starting to fail. She was throwing up what looked like water and egg whites. Slimy stuff. I raced her back to the vet specialty place. They confirmed my worst fears. Her heart was failing. She had water around the heart that was suffocating it. They removed a liter and a half. I could leave them there and they can do some tests, but they did not offer really any hope. I called my husband and we decided to let her go. I was not happy about this, but it had to be done. Molly told me days ago. She was done fighting.
I insisted that I be with her to the end. I cuddled with her on the floor for a while. That was something Molly was not a fan of.... Cuddling. She liked being near you, but she really liked a little breathing room. She knew it was time to say goodbye and let me cuddle for the first and last time. The doctor came in. I was not ready. I started crying and got up to leave the room. Molly got up and started walking to the door with me. Molly was not going to let me off the hook. She knew that I was going to be with her to the end. If it was there or at home, I was going to be there. I stayed with her for that shot of stuff to put her into her final sleep. I hugged her for the last time and it just about killed me. You see, I never experienced putting an animal down. All those other dogs in my life were not mine. This was a first for me and I hated it. It rained all the way home. I think God was crying too.
Before Molly passed away, I got her paw print. The last thing I got from her in her life. She is in my heart, but I also have a reminder of her around my neck, a charm with that paw print. Even though she is gone from this world, she is always with me.
I miss you, crazy pup!!
Wow that is sad. I saw long post, and I was so tired, so I took a nap before reading. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat write up. :)