The hardest thing about having pets is when we have to let them go. When we got Gracie as an eight-week-old puppy one of the first things I said to her was, "You're going to put me through it someday." Today is that day. But I'm doing ok. It really was time to let her go. Her last six months weren't good ones.
She was a fun dog. One of the things that impressed me the most when she was a young dog was how gung-ho she was about everything. Whatever it was, Gracie wanted to participate. She even loved fireworks. She would fetch the biggest stick you could throw and if she was near water she would swim, like, forever.
Once, when we were at the river she got into searching for the big rocks that were underwater near the shore. She would dive down, grab a rock and then carry it up to the beach. Pretty soon she had a big pile of rocks. When we were setting up camp we were looking around for a rock to weigh down a tarp. Gracie walked right up and dropped a big rock perfectly on the corner right where we needed it.
One one trip, when Audra and Tori were little, we came up with this game where the girls would be on a float and grab onto Gracie's hair. Then we'd throw a ball as far as we could out into the water. Gracie swam out to the ball taking the girls for a ride. You just got the feeling that she really enjoyed it.
Gracie even had a pretty good sense of humor. She loved to growl when she played, like she was the biggest bad-ass dog in the world. You could pretend like you were going to take her ball or her tug and she would growl and bark like she was ready to take your hand off but she knew it was all part of the game and she really enjoyed it. Even the neighborhood kids in Santa Rosa would play with her like that. They knew she would never bite them. Brian K. would come over and play rough with her. Ooh, she loooved Brian.
Making the decision to put her down was a tough one. She was Jim's buddy. Letting Gracie go was like releasing another piece of Jim. I knew it needed to happen but it was hard to know when. Today she was really struggling and her eyes looked kind of sad. It was time.
She was a good girl.
18 comments:
Sometimes, I think every time I get a dog is an attempt to find a dog like some friend's dog. Gracie was the perfect dog. When I had to put Gloria down, it was difficult. I wished I could take her out to play fetch with her hoop one more time. She really loved that, but her back had gotten so bad that she couldn't stand up and was in a lot of pain.
I'm sorry.
You put her down?
I am so sorry. I am so attached to our animals that I can barely stand the thought of them not being here.
Many thoughts to you and yours.
Lindsay- I'm sorry. I just reread what I've written so far and I can see I wasn't completely clear. Yes, I had her put down today. I know we had discussed it before but there was nothing definite. I'm sorry. I should have called you.
(Lindsay and I just talked on the phone)
Gracie was in bad shape today. She could barely walk and she shivered constantly. The way she looked at me it just seemed like she wasn't happy. I couldn't let things go on the way they were. Boz had become pretty aggressive with her even when food wasn't involved. So, yeah, it was kind of a snap decision but really it wasn't. I'd been thinking about it for a long time and I felt like I was putting off the inevitable.
But I should have called Lindsay right away.
Aww- 'bye Gracie-we enjoyed our visits with you & Boz-is Gracie the one who chased the pink bunny around the tree farm?
So hard to let a long-time pet go. I know you'll miss her a lot, especially since her connection with Jim was so strong.
Mommala
Boz is the one who chased the bunny. That's the difference between them. If Boz had caught it he would have killed it. Gracie was very mothering. She loved the rabbits. She loved kittens. When we first got Katie and her brother their heads were almost never dry because she was licking them so much.
cariesse- I don't know what it means but doesn't it sound delightfully French?
Let the atheist say the obvious: Gracie and Jim are up in heaven playing growlie ball with all our late doggies.
-dean
Hearing Jim's voice on the video was the perfect tribute. It brought tears to my eyes. When Gracie was tiny, I told my mother-in-law on the phone that we had friends with a new puppy visiting - she asked what kind of dog she was. She assured me that that type of dog was dreadful. It was ridiculous looking at this tiny ball of fur as dreadful. But it stuck for a good laugh all these years. Gracie, the dreadful dog! (And then they got Boz ...)Everyone in heaven will need earplugs, because I know Jim is happy to see his GRAAAACCCIIIEEE!
Mary
If Jim is playing growlie ball with all our late doggies he'll need his own dog park.
Heh! I forgot about Gracie being dreadful. That was pretty funny. "They herd you."
Yeah, it kind of jarred me to hear Jim's voice on that video. I guess he was messing around with the video feature on the camera, which is why it's so brief.
Oh, Doni, I'm so sorry. I know how hard that is, but there comes a time when it's just the kind thing to do. But it still hurts. It brought tears to my eyes, too, to hear Jim's voice. It's great that you have that video. Thanks for sharing it.
Heaven is one big dog park with no fleas in the grass.
-dean
I think that video or a very similar one is on Jim's blog page.
Brian sent some lovely flowers today. Thanks, Brian!
It could be that you and everybody else remembers that Jim created a Gracie's Birthday Blog. Here's the link (except I don't know how to do that techno linky stuff, so you'll have to actually type it in):
http://graciesbirthdayblog.blogspot.com/
The main charm about this is that, at the end, Jim included links to two Gracie's Birthday videos, longer than the one in Do's blog. One has Jim showing Gracie her two new tennis balls. The other has Gracie fetching them.
Wow, I had forgotten all about the birthday blog. Thanks for posting the link. I didn't have it.
My favorite moment is when Jim is waving a ball off camera, but you can see Gracie's eyes following it.
depwo: the feeling after seeing a bad Johnny Depp film.
That's actually kind of cool because she almost went blind when she was five years old. For some reason her retinas detached. Fortunately, there was a doggie optometrist in Santa Rosa. She put Gracie on antibiotics, prednisone and these steroid eyedrops. She healed right up. We never knew what caused it. I was so glad she healed because when she couldn't see she was agitated all the time. Five years old is way too young for a dog to lose its sight. I don't know what we would have done. Lived with a blind dog, I guess.
Goodbye Gracie Girl!
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