Heeling Us Until The End

2009 has been a different year so far to say the least. First let me see if I can get anyone reading this to a basic level of understanding. Regardless of how you, the reader may feel, The Girlfriend and I love our dogs. We do not have children; we have dog-children. Our dogs go everywhere with us and are loved more than probably many children in the world are loved. I know a lot of people don't understand this and simply look their dogs as... dogs.



She had Scout and Bandit when we first started dating. If Scout and Bandit not taken a liking to me the first time I came to her house; The Girlfriend and I would probably not continued to date. For the longest time we joked that if it came down to me or the dogs, I would be the first to go. Over the years we have adopted two more dogs to bring our pack to four. Four is the maximum number of dogs allowed by law in my hometown.

We have a much larger devotion to our animals than most; we know this.

Bandit has been sick for almost 4 months now. He can no longer walk or stand. We carry him outside and lie him on the grass to use the bathroom. We carry him from room to room as we move about the house. We bring his food to him, instead of him coming to it. He can no longer reach the water bowl on his own, so we water him with a big syringe He is on more medications than most would think to provide their pet.

Through all of Bandit's inabilities, he has continued to do what cattle dogs do best; he is making sure the herd stays close together. The last four months has been about "We."

I had several ways in which I wanted to articulate the way we had become closer. However, after plodding through several of them and deleting all of them; I have realized my ineptitude for describing how things have changed.

Bandit's illness has caused a lot of emotional highs and lows in the last few months and we have been riding that roller coaster together. Sometimes only one of us in the lead car and the other in a trailing car. Other times we are sitting side by side; holding hands and holding on tightly; sometimes laughing and sometimes screaming.

All of this because of a little dog. Our little dog.

Screw it... I re-written most of this blog post about four times now...

We are going to miss you Bandit. I'm going to miss you. Our home will soon feel very different. I worry how your mom is going handle it. She has surprised me several times in the last few months; but this will be one of the hardest things she is going to have to experience.

Thanks accepting me into your home. Thanks for giving me your approval six years ago when we first met.

I was told, "It not fair we out live our pets, when most of the time they are a better person than we are and they are the ones who deserve to live a longer life."