Dog......gone...

Today I found out that my BIL's dog died last night. They noticed that she wasn't hungry in the evening and by 11:00PM not responding very much. They decided to just let nature take its course and then heard her making noise like she was in pain around 2:30AM at which point they brought her into their garage and there she stayed until her last breath a few hours later. It made me so very sad that they chose not to take her to a vet hospital to end her suffering. Dogs are not people. They cannot tell us they are in agonizing pain, but it doesn't lessen the fact that they are in pain!. Sure it would have been inconvenient and cost money, but we are talking about easing the pain of a loyal pet that has shared 13 years of its life with them with unconditional love!

Folks who do not really love dogs, really should not have them in my opinion. This dog of his lived to be 13 despite being confined to living out doors. Oh she was fed, and taken to the vet for normal appointments and such. But she was not allowed in their house, ever. I am not sure about whether she was allowed in the house before their new house was built several years ago, but she was not allowed in once that was built.

Many people think there is nothing wrong with leaving a dog out doors all the time. They stick a shelter or dog house out there if the dog is lucky and that's that. Of course a dog cannot complain to them, so they think this is fine.

Domesticated dogs are not meant to live outdoors. They are meant to be loved, treated like one of the family and share lives with their owners inside their house as well as out. They get bored, lonely, even can get depressed being confined to the back yard.

When I heard the news this morning I started tearing up and said out loud "Sasha, go find Reebok, Misty and Lady. They'll love to play with you". I also wanted to ask my BIL to not get another dog, please.

Having a dog live indoors does mean being prepared to have some things chewed up that you'd rather not have chewed; risking 'accidents' that need to be cleaned up on what used to be new carpet; giving up some space on your favorite couch; and depending on the breed, finding dog hair in places you never dreamed it could end up.

But at the same time, you have that loving face looking up at you when its feeding time, playing tug the sock....oops I mean the doggy toy, barking at strangers that are near the house as your own personal security alarm, and giving doggy kisses whenever you need them. I am one of those people. A true dog lover. I have 6 of them. Yes that is a lot and at times they raise a ruckus! But you know what?...I love each and every one of them and am so happy that I have a large family! :)