Sammie has been blessed with several good doggie friends through her lifetime. As mentioned in an earlier post, there's "Uncle" Max, my mom's dog. There's also Eme, my dad and his wife's dog. And, of course, Pepper. Pepper was Sammie's puppy to raise and she did a great job at it. Pepper outgrew Sammie a long time ago and has been roughly twice her size for quite some time, but until very recently, Sammie was still the alpha dog outside while Pepper had taken over that role inside. It worked for them.
Dutch was one of Samantha's best buddies during my two years in grad school in Chapel Hill. She had other great canine buddies those two years too, including Biscayne, Brady and Buddy. Our apt was dog central - we dogsat constantly for other folks in the apt complex and they kept Sammie when I went off on job interviews. During those two years, Sammie even had a birthday party complete with homemade dog biscuits and party hats (plastic cowboy hats the dogs fought hard to get off) to celebrate her second birthday! The photos are priceless - trying to line up several dogs for a photo op...
To say Sammie was my first baby would be accurate. She and I even posed together in Santa hats for a Christmas photo one year that I sent out with my Christmas cards. Sammie and I spent lots of time together those two years. They were challenging ones for me in many ways and she was my loyal, loving companion, my source of unconditional love & humor every day. It was during those two years that I learned how high Sammie could jump. We were walking one day when she just decided to jump sideways onto a wall that was about 6-7 feet tall. She liked it and did it again and again and ...
In Texas, Sammie's best friends have been George, Selena, Sadie, Alex, Rocky & Rambo. Sammie and Pepper have gotten along with pretty much every dog they've ever met, except for Ebony, but none of the dogs on the block get along with Ebony. We call our backyard Switzerland since Sam & Pepper get along with Selena on one side and Alex on the other, but those two do not get along with each other.
Anyway, several of Sammie's dear canine buddies have already gone to Doggie Heaven - Eme, Dutch, George & Sadie that I know of. My grandmother that DD Munchkin is named after is there as well. Sammie will be well-greeted when she arrives, I'm sure.
Selena came over to say hi and probably goodbye this evening. I'll try to get Alex over to do the same tomorrow. It's looking like someday this week will be Sammie's last unless she starts eating again. I'll call the vet's office tomorrow and go from there.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
How to comment/ post
So it seems there are some of you out there reading my blog and thinking you've commented or else getting frustrated at not being able to do so. Here's what you need to do if you wish to comment:
1. Become a "follower" of this blog. To do this, you just click on that button on the top left that reads "Follow."
2. Once you click on that, you'll get a few options including Google, AIM and Yahoo, I believe. You can select one of those and quickly register with them or sign in if you already belong to one. I chose to register on Google.
3. Once you have done these two simple, quick steps, you should be able to type into a comment box, choose whichever (Google, AIM...) option you selected and submit comments to the blog.
4. Andy reminds me that you cannot access a comment box to write in unless you click on the title of one of the blog posts.
I hope to hear from some of you. Thanks for the support
Jerrilyn
1. Become a "follower" of this blog. To do this, you just click on that button on the top left that reads "Follow."
2. Once you click on that, you'll get a few options including Google, AIM and Yahoo, I believe. You can select one of those and quickly register with them or sign in if you already belong to one. I chose to register on Google.
3. Once you have done these two simple, quick steps, you should be able to type into a comment box, choose whichever (Google, AIM...) option you selected and submit comments to the blog.
4. Andy reminds me that you cannot access a comment box to write in unless you click on the title of one of the blog posts.
I hope to hear from some of you. Thanks for the support
Jerrilyn
Anyone reading this? My DD seems to get it.
Thanks so much to all of you who have sent me emails or messages or posted comments on Facebook about losing your own dogs through the years. Your words of understanding, empathy and encouragement are very, very welcomed and needed. I'd love it if someone other than my wonderful husband would become a blog follower and post comments here too. I feel so lonely each time I come to blog and see no comments and no followers. Is anyone reading this?
My darling, precocious four-year-old daughter I'm going to refer to as Munchkin is showing more understanding and acceptance and even empathy for me in this situation than I would have ever expected or hoped for. Yes, I know she is a preschooler and may well become confused again about what is going on after Sammie dies. However, in the meantime, she has spontaneously comforted me more than once! I am trying extremely hard not to cry around her and certainly not to have one of my red-eyed, all out bawling spells in her presence. So far, so good. But she knows. She knows I am sad and she knows why.
When we got home and I saw that Sammie had not eaten and I tried to encourage Sammie to walk over to at least drink some water after going outside in the extreme Texas heat, Munchkin calmly said: "Mommy, Sammie's lying down here and she's got her tongue out of her mouth. I think you need to bring the water bowl to her." A little later, my DD commented softly: "I'm sorry Sammie's going to die, Mommy. Then we'll be like Rachelle (our next door neighbor who has lost one of her two dogs recently) and only have one dog."
We have discussed going to an animal shelter and rescuing another dog to keep Pepper company when Sammie dies. We'll get to that when the time comes. For now, my energies, thoughts, feelings, memories, prayers, and time are spent on and with my beloved Sammie.
My darling, precocious four-year-old daughter I'm going to refer to as Munchkin is showing more understanding and acceptance and even empathy for me in this situation than I would have ever expected or hoped for. Yes, I know she is a preschooler and may well become confused again about what is going on after Sammie dies. However, in the meantime, she has spontaneously comforted me more than once! I am trying extremely hard not to cry around her and certainly not to have one of my red-eyed, all out bawling spells in her presence. So far, so good. But she knows. She knows I am sad and she knows why.
When we got home and I saw that Sammie had not eaten and I tried to encourage Sammie to walk over to at least drink some water after going outside in the extreme Texas heat, Munchkin calmly said: "Mommy, Sammie's lying down here and she's got her tongue out of her mouth. I think you need to bring the water bowl to her." A little later, my DD commented softly: "I'm sorry Sammie's going to die, Mommy. Then we'll be like Rachelle (our next door neighbor who has lost one of her two dogs recently) and only have one dog."
We have discussed going to an animal shelter and rescuing another dog to keep Pepper company when Sammie dies. We'll get to that when the time comes. For now, my energies, thoughts, feelings, memories, prayers, and time are spent on and with my beloved Sammie.
She didn't eat the yummy canned food.
We came home from church & lunch to find out that Sammie may now have some urinary incontinence and she did not eat the yummy canned food she normally wolfs down. I'm really, really bummed about this.
Pepper was all too happy to eat all the canned food as well as the regular dry food once we freed her from the crate to do so. Pepper has no incontinence problems - she just LIKES to poop in the dining room from time to time, so she gets crated when we're gone most of the time. This also allows Sammie to eat slowly as she always has done and in peace before "Chunky Puppy" Pepper inhales the rest of the food. A typical vet visit these past 10 years with those two has included a report card saying Sammie needs to gain weight and Pepper needs to lose it!
Less than two weeks ago, I was happily telling the vet folks how Sammie was still eating well and getting around okay and seemed remarkably well given her age and the diagnosis of cancer she received back in November. She had already survived longer than we thought she might upon that diagnosis.
The only real comforts I have now are that Sammie is still able to get up and walk around slowly & tentatively & a bit unsteadily on her own and she seems to be resting comfortably. We do not see or hear any signs of distress or pain. I'm preparing myself for the fact that she may just drift away as she dozes. More likely, I realize through tears, we will have to make the painful, awful decision to "put her down." Time for another crying break. I haven't cried this much since my parents split up nearly 23 years ago. Sammie and I have been through a lot together. It's like watching a part of me fade slowly away...
Pepper was all too happy to eat all the canned food as well as the regular dry food once we freed her from the crate to do so. Pepper has no incontinence problems - she just LIKES to poop in the dining room from time to time, so she gets crated when we're gone most of the time. This also allows Sammie to eat slowly as she always has done and in peace before "Chunky Puppy" Pepper inhales the rest of the food. A typical vet visit these past 10 years with those two has included a report card saying Sammie needs to gain weight and Pepper needs to lose it!
Less than two weeks ago, I was happily telling the vet folks how Sammie was still eating well and getting around okay and seemed remarkably well given her age and the diagnosis of cancer she received back in November. She had already survived longer than we thought she might upon that diagnosis.
The only real comforts I have now are that Sammie is still able to get up and walk around slowly & tentatively & a bit unsteadily on her own and she seems to be resting comfortably. We do not see or hear any signs of distress or pain. I'm preparing myself for the fact that she may just drift away as she dozes. More likely, I realize through tears, we will have to make the painful, awful decision to "put her down." Time for another crying break. I haven't cried this much since my parents split up nearly 23 years ago. Sammie and I have been through a lot together. It's like watching a part of me fade slowly away...
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