Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Goodbye, Roxie




I guess by now you probably figured out why I wasn’t here yesterday. I know I was supposed to show up with a report from the Urban Assault Ride, but instead I had other things to deal with. On Friday, my sweet Rottweiler took a turn for the worse. The little bit of improvement she was making disappeared, and her health started declining quickly. I put in a call to the vet on Saturday morning, and with a heavy heart I decided to make an appointment for Monday so Roxie wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.


She was no longer able to walk, and because of that she couldn’t even relieve herself. We decided to make her comfortable, and give her a few more days of love and affection until her appointment.


This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I knew it was the right thing to do, since her quality of life had diminished to the point that she couldn’t even be a dog anymore. Still though, that didn’t make it any easier. You see, I’ve had her for almost thirteen years, and since Lunchbox is fifteen he doesn’t really remember not having her around. Watching him having to say goodbye hurt me the worst.



Even though he’s man-sized now, we got her when he was just a little guy. That dog was his best buddy, and they were inseparable.

I found this photo from a long time ago:



After saying goodbye, I took him to the airport so he could spend the week with his mom in Orlando like he does every year for Spring Break. I know it was hard for him to go, but at least he did a lot to help make the last few weeks of her life better.


Little Miss Sunshine was pretty attached to her too. When she came into our lives, Roxie was already almost seven years old. Even though she was a big bad Rottweiler, she took to the little lady like she had known her forever. That’s how she was, though. She loved everyone she met.


As for me, I’ll get through this eventually. The hardest part was waking up this morning and not seeing my dog on her bed, and only having to take care of the other dog when I got up. If you are not a “pet person”, then you probably don’t understand. I had that dog almost as long as I’ve had my kid, so yeah, you could say that I was attached to her. Even though we still have four cats and another dog, the house seems empty for some reason. Things around here will never be the same.



At least she had a good life. She even enjoyed being out on the trail with us.



She was my best friend, and I’m not ashamed to say that I miss her terribly.

Goodbye, Roxie. You were the greatest dog, ever.




I’m not coming back here until Friday. I need a few days. I hope you understand.

8 comments:

Dwayne said...

Sorry to hear about Roxie, bro! That's the toughest decision to ever make...hands down. Dogs f'n rule!!

George said...

So sorry to hear man, I feel for you. It's about 4 years ago that we had to say goodbye to Dagget. I guess the fact that their time with us is so short is what makes them so special.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear of your loss Chris. We also had to let one of ours go last year.

Regards,

Advocat

rob herbert said...

So sorry to hear about the loss of a family member....

eastwood said...

I feel for you. Just take your time.

ritchie said...

Sorry for the loss. I have had a few dogs like that over the years, every time I say I aint doing this again...But we do...Once again sorry for the loss.....

TheMutt said...

Thank you all for your comments and kind words. I have lots of great memories at least.

Airtalynn said...

I am so sorry for your loss. I loved the pictures in this post and I am sure that you have many great memories as well.