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stony

My dog is gone

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I had to put my dog down yesterday evening. He was getting old and was really losing his mind. Seriously losing his mind. He had a bad problem with ripping things up. Not just ripping things up in the casual sense but literraly destroying things. It’s been going on for about 9 months now. About 3 months ago, we took him into the vet for some doggy prozak and other drugs. These didn’t seem to work at all.

 

He has also been peeing on the furniture throughout the house even though we have a doggy door that he has complete access too all hours of the day and night.

 

Yesterday, my wife called me up and told me that “Radar” had destroyed our closet, shoes, the guest room, and the guest bathroom. Also he tore apart a trashcan downstairs and pulled the computer off of the table.

 

“Radar” has always been a very good dog. We got him when he was a little puppy. We actually found him as a stray. Radar was a German Shepard mix and was very docile. He didn’t bark, wasn’t a very good guard dog, didn’t protect us worth a hill of beans, but he was really good with my daughter. Very loveable and fun to be around. He was extremely obedient and knew many different commands. Almost everybody that met him fell in love with him.

 

That was the hardest part of this. He was such a good dog but since he has started going into the fits of rage, I have to take my daughter’s safety into consideration. I just don’t know if he would lose it and snap at her.

 

So, I had to make the decision to take care of what I think is right. I called my friend Erik and we decided we were going to take Radar out to the desert. I don’t want to take the dog to the vet or pound to be euthanized because it’s very impersonal and probably very nerve racking for the pets. If anybody was going to do it, it was going to be me. Nobody else. He is my dog and I’ll take the responsibility for him.

 

I gave Radar dinner and then followed up with the rest of his treats, bacon stuff and snausages. I put him into the truck and talked to him all the way over to Erik’s house. Erik came out and we drove out to the desert. I let Radar out of the truck and let him run around for a little while. Let him pee and poop and sniff out the area.

 

Then came the difficult part. I called Radar over to me. I told him to give me some kisses. He proceeded to lick my face. He was such a good dog. I told him to sit and he kind of did but started squirming around. Too many smells and too many new areas to explore. I told him to sit again and I held his snout. I held the .22 handgun about 4 inches away from his head. I said good bye buddy. Then I pulled the trigger. Saw the muzzle flash. Radar was on the ground twitching. Blood was pooling around his head. It was completely surreal.

 

I realized at that very moment, it was over. Death is so final. It’s completely done. That’s it. No changing your mind. It’s done. Looking at Radar’s lifeless body in the desert next to some sagebrush and rocks, I couldn’t believe what I had done. I knew it had to be done, it just hadn’t hit me yet.

 

I walked back to the truck to collect myself. I could see Radar just lying there under the glow of my headlights. I wanted to get in the truck and run away. I went into the truck and grabbed the shovel. Radar deserved to be at least covered. I walked back down into the wash and started covering him up.

 

I was crying as I lifted up every load of dirt and placing it on his little body. I said a prayer and Erik and I walked back to the truck and left. I dropped him off at home and I went home and had a beer. I guess I needed it to help me get to sleep.

I am crying now as I write this. I am sorry I had to be so graphic about it. I guess it’s the only way I can come to grips with what has happened.

 

I hate to see my dog go, but I have a little 5 year old girl to worry about too.

 

Rest in Peace Radar. You are still my buddy.

1997 - 2006

 

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I am extremely sorry to hear of the recent loss. What a difficult situation that is. Believe me when I say that I feel for you and understand what you are going through, as many other members of the forum will as well. It will take time, however your wounds will heal

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Thanks guys for the kind words.

 

The next difficult part is coming up. I have to head home for lunch and tell my daughter what happened to "her" dog. She thinks he is hers but she knows he was mine.

 

I guess that the best thing you can do is know that your dog had a good life. That you did the best you could for him. I know that I did. He wasn't hungry or beat or tied up. He always had a full bowl, cuddled and scratched constantly, and had full rein over the house and back yard.

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Stony, I hate to hear of your loss, and you did do the right thing, I have had to do the same thing before, my favorite dog Rufus, half basset and half beagle got poisoned, and I had to end his life for him, the vet told me that there was no help for him and they would have to put him down, so I told them I would do it my self, took him for a drive, had a beer with him, cause he liked beer, give him a Mc Donalds chicken nugget meal, and shot him with the 12 ga. it was like he knew what was gonna happen, it was the hardest thing I had to ever do!!! I still shed a tear when I look at his picture, but things will get better with time.

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Man I can feel your pain I lost a dog last fall it was tough she died on my pillow one night while My wife comforted her. That was a rough night!!! My kids still talk about here offten this was the first death of any kind in there lives. so it was a new emotion for them.

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Unconditional love, Simple pleasures and Mans best friend. Truer words never spoken. It always amazes me how we get to be guardians of these unique and individual souls for their time on this earth. Having to make that tough decision that we know is right for them is ultimately worth the price of their devoted attention. I am sorry for your pain and loss,Stony. You could show us a pic of Radar if you care to.

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I will have to dig up some pictures. It's kind of hard right now because I can't seem to shake the image of him dead out of my head.

 

I told my daughter today that Radar died last night. She knew he had a "disease" as we told her. I went home for lunch and lied down on her bed and told her that he died last night of his disease. She completely lost it. She said she was looking for him this morning but thought he was out in the garage. She started crying and wouldn't stop. Then she parked herself on Radar's spot by the front door next to the coat rack. She didn't want to move and kept asking for me to take her to see him. I said I couldn't and she kept crying.

 

I think it was just as hard if not harder to tell my 5 year old that her friend is gone. It really hurts you as a father to see your child hurt and crying. Physically hurt is one thing, but emotional hurt is completely different. There aren't many band-aids made for those types of wounds.

 

She lost one of her human friends about 6 months ago. He was about 3 years old and she took that hard. She took the loss of our dog even worse. I called her about 10 minutes ago to see how she was doing and she was still crying.

 

I know that the good Lord will not give us anything we can't handle. We will all make it through this. It's just really hard right now. I am trying to do anything and everything to distract myself.

 

Thanks again everybody.

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Stony-

What a tough situation man, however you are a stand up guy for not just telling your daughter that Radar ran away or something else happened. It too is a very difficult situation for her to handle I am sure. It is extremely tough for any of us, children especially to grasp the concept of dying and death. Some of us (all most all of us) never really are able to grasp it. However, you are right in time will heal it. Take that time though, don't rush yourself or your family through the process. Grieve when you need to, celebrate your pets life when you are ready to. You may want to try and do something a little special for your child in order to somewhat memoralize your pets death. This will often time offer a bit of confort and open up some dialogue in order to help the healing process along. Also, for yourself tough as it may be; I've found that looking through pictures and remember the good times that I've had with my pets and the unconditional love that they have offered back to me have helped to displace those final images that may be haunting you at this time.

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Stony-

What a tough situation man, however you are a stand up guy for not just telling your daughter that Radar ran away or something else happened.

I couldn't lie to her. I just didn't want her to think that he was going to come back.

 

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Well I did find some pictures of him.

 

IPB Image

 

IPB Image

 

Here he is dancing with my wife and daughter.

IPB Image

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Good lookin dog ya got there, and good lookin family too!!! If ya wanna take your mind off of it, just tie me up 50 flies, you have my addy :D All kiddin aside though, that had to be hard on you all, sorry again to hear of your loss.

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