Dog Stories, Prose And Poetry

Old dogs, war dogs, puppies or strays,

Poetry has power to brighten our days.

We all know about saying Goodbye to a beloved dog when they grow old and infirm. The pain of holding them as they slip away but think about this…

THE MANY GOODBYES OF DOGS

by Sherry Shively,

Journalist Award Winner

Did you know there are many other types of goodbyes? How many of these have you experienced? The NetPlacesNetwork put this on their facebook page for your comments. ^{{Ref #1}}

There is the bittersweet parting of a breeder handing over a puppy to a new family, knowing that the puppy is at the mercy of strangers. We hope it will be loved, cared for and cherished as much as it has been since birth. That “letting go” is hard but there is worse…

There is the Goodbye of rehoming a Champion. We cannot keep all our beloved dogs. We only hope they settle in with their new family and live a long and happy life.

Sometimes we sell a puppy or adult dog to foreign countries, never to be seen again. That is the hardest of all goodbyes. We cannot hop on a plane to visit our babies so we rely on buyers to stay in contact with photos, videos and calls.

This past year I rehomed a Champion to a wonderful family who needed a support dog for a young man who was in a horrible accident. It broke my heart to send my boy away- but I just had too many dogs, and this young man needed what my dog would bring to him. They immediately clicked, becoming inseparable.

Then months later they noticed he was limping. A trip to the Vet showed he had a very aggressive form of cancer. In a month our beautiful boy was gone. We are all grieving- he was a one in a million dog.

Not long after, we drove to California and back to Colorado in 3 days to rescue one of our pups. We had tried to get a rabies titer unsuccessfully on this pup’s older brother for a year. We rebred, all tests were passed, and the country opened up for him to fly in.

Then, I heard from someone in that area who told me the buyer was in jail for moving and distributing drugs. They knew where the dog was being boarding so we immediately told the boarding company we were coming, arranged our flight and headed to California to get the pup.

When we picked him up, he was so traumatized from the trip and being in a strange kennel we decided he was never leaving us again. Sometimes no amount of money is enough to protect your babies. You see, there are many Goodbyes, sometimes more than one. Sometimes there are Hellos and Forevers.

The important thing is to always protect your dogs. Stay in touch with buyers. Be sure they are all doing well. Remind them that you care and to let you know if there is ever a problem. If you sense that something is wrong, act, don’t let your pups suffer.

If you have excellent owners, treat them like Family. Once they have chosen one of your dogs (your “kids”) they ARE family. Stay in touch. Send cards, toys and thank you notes.

Then, when the time comes that you and that grieving family must say Goodbye, say it together.

Reference Information: {1} Make your comments on our Facebook page

TheDogPlace.org EST 1998 © Mar 2023 https://www.thedogplace.org/Prose-and-Poetry/the-many-goodbyes-of-dogs-sh23SH034.asp

SSI

SSI

Advertising ~ Disclaimer ~ Mission ~ Privacy