“Until one has loved
an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
—Anatole France
I have sad news to share today. We lost
our little dog, Scout, last Saturday, and we are deep in sorrow. She was 16 ½ years old. I apologize to those of you I know personally if I
haven’t shared this news with you directly. It’s because I haven’t been able to
face talking about it with you—I cry every time I have to share the news.
The past six months have been difficult. Scout was deaf;
almost blind from cataracts; suffered from terrible nasal allergies that made
her sneeze, wheeze and cough; and she had “doggy dementia.” She rarely made it
through a night without getting up to relieve herself, and afterward she often
wandered through the house, getting stuck behind toilets, doors, and pieces of
furniture. She occasionally got lost in the backyard she patrolled for so many
years and had to be rescued. She required medicating several times a day and
became agitated if her routine was disturbed. At the same time, she ate well,
bounced around the house a little every day, and there was life in her eyes. We
knew her days were numbered and tried hard to make them comfortable and happy.
She deserved it.
 |
| Scout's the one licking his face |
Scout came home with us as an eight-week-old puppy after
“choosing” Nick (we’d intended to bring home a different puppy from the litter,
but she followed him around and he fell in love with her). The two of them were
best buddies from day one. Once she was house trained, she slept in his bed
with him at night. They dug holes together and swam in the pool, and she joined
in any game in which he was participating. She knew several tricks, including
sit, shake hands, roll over and play dead—dropping onto her side if you pointed
your index finger at her and said, “Bang!”—though sometimes you had to “shoot”
her several times. She caught and killed plenty of squirrels and snakes,
including more than one coral snake. (In a way, we were surprised she didn’t
meet an untimely end since she was a typical Jack Russell Terrier—a
tough little dog with a big dog’s attitude.) She received Christmas presents and birthday parties, just like the member of the family she was. The last few years of her life,
she finally slowed down and preferred snoozing in her own dog bed to sleeping
with a human, and spent more of her daylight hours sleeping than playing.
We are each coping in our own ways. The guys are able to leave
the house to go to work every day, while I struggle with looking for her and
not seeing her, with cleaning up her nose prints on the window, washing her dog
bed, and disposing of all her supplements and medications. Yesterday I thought
I heard her sneeze in the next room and realized it was just my imagination. I
know that life will eventually feel beautiful again and that Scout’s memory
won’t hurt anymore. Right now, though, thinking of her is equal parts love and
pain.
Scout was a happy dog through her whole life, and she brought countless hours of
happiness to our family. We were lucky to have each other, and we’ll never,
ever forget her.
*Queen Elizabeth II
