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We lost one of our best friends last night. Suddenly; completely out of the blue. And we are devastated.
He was happy, as usual, to see us when we got home. Running around with his toy trying to get us to play. We did, of course; who could resist that face? ( the one on the right ) Then, before bed, A let them both out, watched them for a minute, walked into the other room and went back in about 5 minutes to let them in. Momo was the only one at the door. Odd. He looked out and saw Arthur lying in the yard. By the time he got to him and bent down to check, he knew he was dead. Then he came to get me.
There was not a scratch on him. Whatever happened, happened fast - he looked as though he simply dropped where he was standing. We do get some comfort from this fact; had he been 10, perhaps we would've felt it best he went this way. But, not now; not yet. He would've been only 7 in September.
He had looked like he was losing a little weight lately, but not so much that we were concerned. We are very familiar with the breed and the problems that are prevalent within it, but he, for the most part, seemed to have escaped most. Unfortunately, this breed's life expectancy is lower than most; 9 or 10 years is about the max.
Arthur was always the "wild one" one. Ever the puppy, even at 6. Always a bit goofy and ever the ham. He greeted you when you would return to the house - no matter whether you'd been gone 6 days or 6 minutes - in the same noisy, "I'm SO glad you're home!!! Let's play!" way. And boy, could he play.
My husband said this evening "It sure was awful quiet when I came home today."
He was a great dog and he is going to be sorely missed.
posted
Thanks for all the kind words. It is just very difficult.
Farmgirl - Mo seems okay. He was with him when he died and he was around when we were checking him out and burying him, so I'm fairly certain he is well aware of what has happened. He certainly seems to be handling it much better than all the humans in the house, at any rate. I wonder, though, how he will react the first time we all leave the house - my mom lives with us and she is there most of the time, so he is / will be mostly not alone. Separation anxiety might set in now that Arthur is gone and if we all leave for some reason. (Knowing us, it probably will not be too long before we get Mo a puppy...)
One thing I thought funny - Arthur always slept on the end of the bed. If Mo happened to be on the bed when it was bedtime, Arthur would run him off of it before lying down. Mo would not, no matter how hard I coaxed, get up on the bed after all this happened Monday night. Last night, though, he promptly made himself comfortable on it and I don't think he budged all night long!
We had another, Sadie, who died last year. She was old, a month shy of 10, and her kidneys had been failing for a long while. As she neared the end, she would cry out from time to time and this really bothered both of them. Mo would come running to find one of us to take us to her (he's very sweet this way) and Arthur went around with this extremely worried look on his face. They also would react with the same concern if it is one of the humans in the house who is sick. I think it is amazing how they seem to be completely aware. I really wish they could talk.
Posts: 142 | Registered: Jan 2005
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And they're both great looking dogs.
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