On Monday June 28th we laid our brave little man to rest. He had fought a long hard fight, but in the end his body gave out before his spirit. As I write this today, three days later, it is still difficult to think of not seeing him again. He came to us a skinny, abused, neglected, sick and fearful Jack Russell. When we took him to the vet he told us to not get too attached to the poor old guy, he didn’t think he would be around for long… 3.5 years later! We did get weight on him although that was a tough task as his system would shut down every once in a while and tell him not to eat… boy that was a chore, going thru everything in the house that a dog can eat and trying to get his system “jump started”. We had lots of issues of getting the right pain medicines so he would not throw up all the food I finally got down him. There were many bouts with “poopy-pants”. With all his back issues he had a hard time staying up during his ‘business’ and would sometimes fall down while going… thus the “poopy-pants”, I am afraid he did not think the cleaning up process was very dignified but he let me do it. I was the only one that he would let pet or hold and even sometimes that was not the case. Forget trying to get medicine down without hiding it inhis food! And the long going love affair with our BOY black lab mix Ozzy. Poor Ozzy was literally hounded by this love sick little Jack, not to mention getting peed on frequently too! (yes, Concho was a full blown boy as the vets did not think he could survive the surgery.) Oh and all the ‘marking’ in the house when the neighbor dog, Marla would come to visit. And trying to eat the cat when Concho could still see. Yep, always under my feet, wanting in my lap, a constant battle to get him to eat, making sure he didn’t fall off the furniture, going and getting him when he got lost, washing off “poopy-pants”, carrying him everywhere when he got completely blind, holding him up so he could ‘do his business’, putting his squeaky tennis ball in his mouth because he couldn’t find it, watching him joyfully squeak away… man, I miss the little pain in the butt! Seriously, I do. This is got to be the hardest loss of a pet I have ever had. But I know in my heart it was time, he told me. On Sunday June 27th we sat on the living room floor, him in my lap, me crying uncontrollably, I just wanted to make him better, but I just couldn’t anymore. And he told me he was ready to go. He laid in my lap, rubbed his face on me, snuggled into my arms and let me know it was okay. I had done what I could and he had lived a much better life in the last 3.5 years than he probably ever had. He had many warm soft beds to sleep in, he never went without his choice of food and treats, he had more toys than most children, he was never cold and never in pain. He had given us many laughs, memories to last a lifetime and all the love he was capable of giving. He let my husband know it was time too… near the end Concho would still try to nip at John when he came close to me or if he tried to pet him. When Concho would get lost somewhere and I was busy John would pick him up and carry him to where I was, with Concho snarling and snapping the whole time. The day we drove to the vet I held Concho in my lap and John drove, when we got there John came over to my side to help me out, John asked to carry Concho in to the vets… this was John’s time to say good-bye and Concho must have known. He settled into John’s arms and did not growl, snarl or snap. He sat there quietly, as we sat waiting for the vet John was saying his goodbyes and Concho rubbed against Johns shoulder, as John kissed him on the head. It was just what they both needed.
I can see him now, running with all the other Jacks, playing with his squeaky ball and chasing a few cats all pain-free. We were blessed he came into our lives and he will be deeply missed.
Concho June 27th 2010
