# Dirge



## Parmigiano (Nov 8, 2007)

I know that this post will look strange to many people, only those who love dogs and went trough this can understand the grief.
At 48 I am not ashamed to say that in the last 5 days I cried like I don’t remember I did before..

We rescued her from the shelter when she was 2 months old, and nicknamed her ‘Mostrino’, little monster, because she looked so ugly: big chunks of fur missing, skinny as a skeleton and dehydrated. Vet said that she was a pure Husky and that in the shelter she would not had lived another 48 hours.

In 3 months she became beautiful and earned her nickname for what she did instead of how she looked. 
A true rascal, making impredictable disasters one on top of the other, but with a grace, a cleverness and a sympathy that made impossible to scold her.
You install a new fence and the first night she dig a hole as big as a panzer trap below it to run away on the hill, you barbecue and protect the beef from her attention and before you realize what’s going on she opens the fridge, shops for a bar of butter and is already up the hill.

She used to eat half of her food and bury the rest in the garden, saving it for ‘bad times’. Of course after some time the buried food was a kind of powerful biological weapon, so she earned the alternative nickname of ‘Saddam’

She was a no-nonsense dog. One day I was lying sick on the couch with high fever. All other dogs came to see me. She entered the room, looked around and ran outside. 
After a while I was awakened by her nose pushing close to my mouth some dead lizard and a mouse: she evidently assessed that I was to ill to take care of myself and managed to bring me food.

She died in the same style she had lived: in all her disasters nobody noticed anything until it was already too late.
A blood-vase cancer (vascular angiosarcoma) at the base of the heart, impossible to detect, totally asymptomathic until the very end and always deadly. 

On Monday 29 she was breathing a bit roughly but was elsewhere ok, running and jumping as always.
Took to the clinic, she was diagnosed an early pneumonia, not unusual for Huskies living in temperate areas when the season change. Blood test was perfect, slightly above standard only for the parameters linked to the detected infection. Vet prescribed some antibiotics, the dog was perfectly in shape the whole week.

On Saturday morning she looked ok but too weak, we took her to the vet for a control, the blood tests made at 10.30 were still ok except for the symptoms of a harder infection. Everybody thought was a kind of allergy to some antibiotic, but a small nodule was found on her belly when we shaved her for the echo test.
At 11.30 she fell asleep and by 11.45 she was gone.
One hour later the analysis of the nodule provided the answer.


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## Thorlifter (Nov 8, 2007)

Brother, I'm real sorry to hear that. This is the reason that I will not own another animal. It just kills me when something happens to them. I hope ya'll heal soon.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 8, 2007)

I too love dogs and I can understand your pain.


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## GaryMcL (Nov 8, 2007)

Not strange at all, Parmigiano. Cats or dogs, the long-term attachment is the same.

My daughter and I buried a 17 year old cat several years ago that died at home while my wife was home alone. That pretty much tore everybody up. Said she'd never have another one and then did within a month.

Now we've got a 14 year old and I'm sure I can expect to deal with the same thing before too many years pass.

You won't forget her but it'll get at least a little bit easier with time. Hang in.

Gary


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## lesofprimus (Nov 8, 2007)

My condolences Parm, I know what ur feeling...


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## Gnomey (Nov 8, 2007)

Condolences Parm, unfortunately I think my dog is going to die soon as well (she is 14 years old). I hate when these things happen.


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## Downwind.Maddl-Land (Nov 11, 2007)

Nothing strange there, old man. You'd be far more strange if you didn't feel something for a sentient creature that you’d looked after for so long. Focus on the great walks and fun times you had together and that you (no one else) rescued her and gave her succour. Feel good about it.

I (and I suspect many others) do know exactly what you feel. I blubbed for days when I lost my (rescue) Malinois, Sharna, in Jan last year.


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## evangilder (Nov 11, 2007)

Condolences to you on your loss, Parm.


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## ccheese (Nov 11, 2007)

I know the feeling. When I lost "Snooper" (a beagle mix) some fifteen years
ago I cried for three days. There is nothing I can say that wil ease you pain.
I am sorry, tho.

Charles


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## Wurger (Nov 11, 2007)

I'm with all guys there.Condolences to you Parm.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 11, 2007)

It is amazing the bond you can have with a dog. When I left my favorite dog in North Carolina to return to Germany I cried so bad.


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## Parmigiano (Nov 11, 2007)

It's hard, in this things the brain understands quickly (nothing could have been done, she lived happily the 9 years she had to etc.), but man is not only brain and all the rest needs a lot of time.

Thank you all guys.


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## DOUGRD (Nov 13, 2007)

Gnomey said:


> Condolences Parm, unfortunately I think my dog is going to die soon as well (she is 14 years old). I hate when these things happen.



How ironic for this thread to appear at this particular time. As I sit here at the computer our Springer "Muggsy" is laying at my feet asleep. It's been a hard day for him, he hasn't touched his food or water all day. In the last several days he has eaten very little and has lost all the pep and energy that has driven me crazy for the last twelve years. He won't even touch the cats food which is a very bad sign indeed. The Vet said that all his symptoms point to possible cancer. You can see it in his eyes. He knows that he's going to meet up with George soon. (George was our other Springer who we had to put down at 14 about three years ago) It probably won't be much longer now. Parm, you have my sincere condolences and I'm sure those of every pet owner in this forum.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 14, 2007)

Sorry to hear that man.


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## merlin (Nov 18, 2007)

My condolences to Parm, enjoy the memories, and take pride in your achievements - the each-way bond you had and the life you gave it.

When I was between 12 26, I had a tabby cat (from a kitten) that had a stroke at 14 - 'there was a light on but no one in'. But I can still remember the things she used to get up to.
Not by intention to wait so long, but when I was 48 another kitten came into my life. Fortunately she quickly grew out of climbing the curtains, but as the years go by, you wonder - how much longer! Six months ago I began to contemplate the worst - kidney problems. However, she has pulled through (the antibiotics for her gums were a great help), the only thing that irritates us now - his her very loud miaoooows! But as she is 19 years 5 months I'm not complaining!


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## Njaco (Nov 18, 2007)

Parm, I work in a shelter and its because I love to see them get homes like yours that I do. Sorry for your loss but you saved a life and allowed her to live far more than a shelter would have be able to. Rejoice in that and remember those things like the lizard, etc.

My condolences for your loss.


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## merlin (Nov 19, 2007)

merlin said:


> Not by intention to wait so long, but when I was 48 another kitten came into my life.



Oops, my mistake it was not when I was '48' but 38!! No need to make myself seem older than I am !!


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## Torch (Nov 19, 2007)

My sympathies Parm. I had a 6 year old yellow lab I had to put down from lymph node cancer back on June 6th 2003. I am finally able to talk about him without tears coming to my eyes


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## DOUGRD (Nov 21, 2007)

Torch said:


> My sympathies Parm. I had a 6 year old yellow lab I had to put down from lymph node cancer back on June 6th 2003. I am finally able to talk about him without tears coming to my eyes



I'm sorry to here that Torch, he looks like a big lovable pooch. What was his name?


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## Torch (Nov 21, 2007)

His name was Remy (as in Remy Martin). Was a great dog, totally friendly, a natural rabbit hunting dog. If you read Marley and me (Grogan) you'll get an idea of how Remy was.. He was a total bud...If you look at the right edge of the picture you can see where he was shaved after surgery. I put him down a few days after the picture was taken.


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## Parmigiano (Nov 21, 2007)

Poor Remy, 6 years are really too short. Thanks god I was spared from the decision to put her down or try to keep her alive until possible, I think it's a horrible loss-loss situation.
It's funny, I would not be kept artificially alive myself but when it comes to someone you care of it's very difficult to be rational.

My ex partner sent me a lot of pictures, so here is Mostrino in her natural environment and caught in 'flagrante delicto' : that evening the cake remained a dream for the humans...

Doug, how is Muggsy doing?


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## DOUGRD (Nov 22, 2007)

Hi Parm, Muggsy seems to be doing OK. His eating is still on again, off again but he's still not messing with the cats food so I know he's not feeling good. The Vet gave us some Meds that seem to be easing his discomfort so for now it's still wait and see. Thanks for asking Parm. Torch, Remy sounds like he was the ideal sidekick. Poor guy. I had to laugh when I read about the natural rabbit hunter. A couple of days ago Muggsy was out in the back yard doing his "nature call" and a rabbit came out from under the deck and scared the hell out if him. The funny part was instead of turning around and chasing the rabbit Muggsy ran as fast as he could back up on the deck and barked like crazy to be let in. ( Before the Big Bad Bunny ate him)


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## DOUGRD (Dec 13, 2007)

Well Parm, it's over. Poor Muggsy was put to sleep today at 2:00 PM CST. Last night he seemed to be having a good time playing kick ball with me but this morning my wife called me at work and said he had been laying down in his room all morning and the one time he tried to come out his legs just collapsed under him. I came home at 1:00 PM and we took him to the Vet. She checked him out and said he was extremely anemic and he wouldn't make it to the Holidays like we had hoped. (Muggsy loved sniffing all the Christmas presents and sleeping under the tree) So the Vet gave us the fateful choice and we decided it was more humane to put him asleep than to see the little rascal suffer. You're very right about one thing Parm, even though he used to drive me nuts at times and bark for no apparent reason, it was very, very hard to stand there and hold him that one last time while the Vet gave him the injection. She thought it would take about a minute because he was so anemic and his heart rate was down but it was over in twenty seconds. No pain ,no mess just quietly slipped out of our lives. The last thing my wife whispered to him was "Go find George, Muggsy." (If you remember earlier on I wrote about how we had to put George down about three years ago and Muggsy took it hard) So hopefully they are together again wherever it is that good dogs go.


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## DBII (Dec 13, 2007)

I am sorry. I know how much it hurts.

DBII


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## Downwind.Maddl-Land (Dec 13, 2007)

DougRD, deepest sympathies. Mine used to love Christmas too - really sad that Muggsy didn't make it through the Christmas break. Know exactly how you must feel.


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## DOUGRD (Dec 14, 2007)

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I wish I had a scanner so I could post pictures of George Muggsy on the forum. Oh well. Before I forget and this thread slips away let me tell you a funny story about Muggsy. We bought him from a gent who was the maintenance manager at one of the beach hotels in Virginia Beach, VA., not far from where CCheese lives. So we had to fly him back to Minneapolis when we returned home. To make a long story a little shorter I'll dispense with the preboarding events. Anyway, we flew Northwest Airlines, who I worked for at the time as an aircraft mechanic, and we were flying standby up in first class. I hadn't been working for the airline very long and I was sort of nervous about being in first class and the head Flight Attendants looks weren't making me feel any better. I thought she was pissed about "Non-revs" being in "Her" first class and with a puppy no less. So after take off the younger Flight Attendant can by and said we could bring Muggsy out of his carrier and she told us about her dog which she had to put to sleep a few weeks before. A little while later as we're trying to entertaining Muggsy and keep him quiet I get a tap on my shoulder. It was the Head Flight Attendant with a smile on her face no less and she asks if she can take the puppy up into the cockpit. (this was pre 9-11) When she had been gone for about 15 minutes I turned to the wife, who was seated by the window, and said "Do you realize no one is flying this airplane? They're all crawling around the floor playing with your d*mn dog." As she was laughing at the remark I noticed the gent across the aisle from me yank on his seat belt and put a death grip on his arm rests. I reassured him I was only joking. He was not reassured.  TRUE STORY!!


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## Parmigiano (Dec 15, 2007)

Doug, I just read the new.
Unfortunately there is nothing I can say to make the situation easier, this feelings belongs to one's very private sphere.
A big hug to you, your wife and to the little bastard.


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## DOUGRD (Dec 15, 2007)

Thanks DBII, Downwind Parm, My wife and I appreciate it very much.


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## lesofprimus (Dec 16, 2007)

Really sorry to hear about ur losses guys, always a heartbreaking moment...

Theres a reason why we call them Mans Best Friends...


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## Njaco (Dec 16, 2007)

Doug, sorry I hadn't checked this thread in awhile and sorry about Muggsy. I hope your holidays are not so sad and you make it through. Being an animal person I can understand what both you and Parm are going through. Hold onto the memories.


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## Downwind.Maddl-Land (Dec 16, 2007)

Well, if we’re telling anecdotes……….

Location: RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North YORKshire. Circa 1993.

Situation: HRH The Duke of YORK (get the connection?), aka The Prince Andrew, is on a Royal Visit to York – at a weekend. Now, being a Flying Training Unit, although V busy Monday to Friday, LOO is not usually open at weekends. Therefore, the potential for ATC-related screw-ups is large (eg local GA aircraft poncing through the area getting in the way - unaware of the establishment of Purple Controlled Airspace - gliders using the runway for safe land-outs, people walking around the airfield ‘cos “those gits in ATC won’t be there and because I CAN", etc). All this can be extremely career-limiting for the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer (SATCO), so I am in the Tower overseeing the departure of the Royal Flight. The Royal Aircraft is all manned, pre-starts complete, awaiting the entourage in about 30/40 minutes.

Telephone rings: It is my Best Beloved:

Her: “Dog’s gone walkabout!”

Me: “What? Where?”

Her: “Dunno. She was out the front a minute ago, sunbathing,

(mental picture of Large Furry Hound (LFH) in a deck chair, parasol up, Pimms in paw, applying sun-screen…)​and now she’s not. I think she’s headed up towards the Airfield in search of you.”

Me: “Christ! I’ll go look…”​
I ‘handover watch’ and jump in the ATC Landrover and go back to my Quarter; no, she’s not returned in the intervening 6/7 minutes, so I start quartering the Technical Site in search of LFH.

No sign.

Then, just as I am turning down a one-way street, I see out the corner of my eye a familiar black-tipped bushy tail disappearing around the side of a Hangar onto the Manoeuvring Area! Damn – got to continue down the one-way street (180º the wrong way of course), back-track, and enter the Apron from a different point. Do so.

And there, pacing towards the Royal Aircraft, with a purposeful gait, is LFH. Her whole demeanour is: “I scent Corgis! Must investigate! And chase off intruders from Dad’s patch! It is my Role In Life.”

Visions of uncomfortable invitation to the Station Commander’s Office on Monday - complete with Hat On, no invitation to sit down and no complimentary free tea, coffee or biscuits - loom large; as does incarceration in the Tower of London ‘At Her Majesty's Pleasure'. I catch- up with LFH just as she reaches the bottom of the Airstairs and with, obviously, every intention to going aboard to see what’s what….

“Just picking up the Apron Security Dog, Captain….”​
I explain helpfully to the Aircraft Captain, who is staring down at me and LFH, from 'on-high'.

“Apron Security Dog? – never heard of that before. Still, can’t be too careful these days”​
No, I haven’t heard of one of those either, I think to myself.

As I exit stage-right, with disgruntled LFH in the passenger seat, head out of window staring in general direction of Royal Aircraft, HRH enters stage-right coming the other way and, I swear, waves at LFH, who – ears flapping in the slipstream – gives him, free-gratis, best Paddington-Bear Stare and large “Woof “ to send him on his way!

Still the aircraft got away on time and no one was the wiser. I hope!


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## DOUGRD (Dec 17, 2007)

Njaco said:


> Doug, sorry I hadn't checked this thread in awhile and sorry about Muggsy. I hope your holidays are not so sad and you make it through. Being an animal person I can understand what both you and Parm are going through. Hold onto the memories.


Thanks Chris. You won't believe what happened today. We got a small package from the Vets office. In it was a plaster cast of Muggsy's paw with an inscription on the back and a sympathy card signed by the whole staff. I never saw that before. Really, really nice of them wasn't it?


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## DOUGRD (Dec 17, 2007)

lesofprimus said:


> Really sorry to hear about ur losses guys, always a heartbreaking moment...
> 
> Theres a reason why we call them Mans Best Friends...



You're right Les, unfortunately sometimes we don't realize how much they mean to us until it's too late. This is one of those times that my wife describes so well "Life sucks!"


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## Njaco (Dec 18, 2007)

Doug, our vets over here have started doing the same thing. I think its nice for the family.


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## Torch (Dec 18, 2007)

Here's my Golden going on 14, my Sheperd is 3.5. The old one sleeps more and more every day, all sorts of allergies but a fanatastic dog.


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## Njaco (Dec 18, 2007)

Torch, that could be the brother of the shep I had about 13 yrs ago. Hip Displasia real bad. Have a Maltese mix right now I found running the streets at 5 months old. Not much for small hairy dogs but this one is the best behaved and well-mannered dog I've ever owned. Of course my vet, knowing what I do for a living, can't believe I have a foo-foo dog.


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## DOUGRD (Dec 18, 2007)

Hey downwind, great story about the Apron Security Dog. Isn't it great when you can pull off a total B.S. story like that? I've done it myself several times during my military career and I still can't believe some of the tall tales I created on the spur of the moment and got away with.


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## DOUGRD (Dec 18, 2007)

CHRIS HAS A FOO FOO DOG???? What is the world coming to?


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## Torch (Dec 19, 2007)

That Sheperd of mine she's something else. Towards the wife and I she's a total mush, what a baby, typical female constantly yapping and talking back to you. But what a guard dog. I love it when a solister rings the door bell and she does her barking and I open the door and they are standing back 10 ft from the entrance, tell her to sit,stay and she does not take her eyes of the person until they are gone...Just FYI anybody who lives at altititude like I do here in Colorado Sheperds get a disease called Panis(spelling) which if not treated with steroid eye drops they can go blind after 3 or 4 years, you can see a membrane started on the bottom of her eye but seems to not be progressing so far..


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## Downwind.Maddl-Land (Dec 19, 2007)

Thanks Doug RD! I didn't have time to smile to myself at the time (have you ANY idea of the BS that surrounds a royal visit?!) but chuckle about it regularly these days. Its even more piquant that an Air Trafficker 'gets one over' on a captain of a Royal Flight aircraft; they can get a little - shall we say - 'up themselves' with very little provocation!

Torch - Great pair of Woofers there! I always wanted to be a GSD man until I made aquaintance with its 2/3rds scale model, the BSD. Same loyalty, courage but even more intelligent - mine used to look at me when I opened the door to strangers with that look that said "Do you want me to take his leg or arm off, Dad? Which one huh? leg or arm - I don't mind, which one? Just say huh - Aw go on, let me...!"


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## Heinz (Dec 19, 2007)

Some sad stories. Just extend my sympathies to the people hear who have lost their companions.


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## Njaco (Dec 19, 2007)

Torch, my shep, "Shiloh" would do the same thing. Only she was a baby, never hurt a flea. But because people knew what I do for a living they assumed she was a police dog. I kept my mouth shut!  

Never heard of that disease. Will look it at work on Thurs. Thanks.


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