November 7th was the worst day. Oh was it hard! That was the day I had to take Buddy to Davis County Animal Services to have him put down. It was such a difficult decision to take him in, even though we had been warned months and months in advance. We knew ever since January that he was very sick, that his health would decline. In fact, we were told that he only had a few months to live. So we felt incredibly blessed to have him for almost a year! But knowing it was coming didn't make the actual day any easier.
In the last month or so of his life, Buddy slowed down considerably. He hated going for walks (one of his favorite things to do). He would go a few steps, then turn towards home and refuse to go any farther. He went in-and-out of the house a million times per day (kidney disease, remember). He was getting thinner and thinner. His seizures began to come a little more frequently, and he started to have incontinence issues. One Sunday morning, we woke up to dog poop all over the house! He had apparently had a bad accident on the floor (perhaps a seizure that we slept through) then walked all over the house, spreading it everywhere. We had to call our friend who cleans carpets and ask for an emergency ox-in-the-mire cleaning. We were really to the point when we thought he could die any time and we felt like it was better to let him stop suffering.
This picture was taken as we were leaving for the last time. My heart hurts just looking at it. The people at Animal Services were so kind and gentle with him (and me - I was in tears). One of the hardest thing I've ever done in my life was walking out the door without my dog. I called David and just sobbed for a while.
I will say this: in spite of the pain of saying goodbye to our beloved dog, I would still get him again in a heartbeat! Buddy was the best dog! In the short time that we were able to have him in our home, we loved him with all our hearts! He brought us a lot of joy! We miss him, but treasure the memories we have!
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