NRR: A boy and his dog

It's been a tough year in the Liebowitz house for our furbabies.  We started out with 3 dogs and 1 cat at the beginning of 2013 and sadly are down to just 2 pups as of Monday.  The fortunate thing is that both furkids had a long and full life.  Duncan the grey tabby gave us 17 years and Josie the black lab mutt gave us 16 years.



We made a really hard decision on Monday to let Josie cross over the rainbow bridge.  She had been slowing down for well over a year and neither Adam or myself wanted to be the one to make the decision to end her life.  We had gone from helping her up and down the stairs to carrying her up and down the stairs to carrying her wherever we were.  In the past 6 months she went from having occasional accidents inside (which for most of her years never happened) to it happening multiple times a day.



The past 2-3 weeks were really hard.  She couldn't stand any longer unless you were holding her back legs.  She'd try to get herself up and fall immediately after.  It was breaking our hearts and both of us were desperately trying to pretend it wasn't happening.  Like a new puppy or a baby, I was getting up 3-4 times in the night to bring her to water, take her outside (unsuccessfully), or clean the carpet.  The last night she was with us, we had her sleep downstairs because the accidents were becoming inevitable and the hardwood was easier to clean.  I try to not dwell on the fact that her last night she was all alone--it tugs desperately at my heartstrings.


But I cannot dwell on the past.  She was lucky that Adam was a poor college kid who wanted a dog all his life and went to the pound to pick out a pup.  Josie was quite possibly the perfect poster dog for "sweet and gentle rescue" who only got ornery if play-fighting between humans was involved.  Her demeanor was happily independent and she was quite content sans toys or playtime.  Every once in a while, she'd walk by your hand dangling over the sofa arm and nudge for a pet.  She put up with her Boston Terrier sisters, first when Adam and I starting dating (I had Luxy) and later when we adopted Torrance.



As I was scrolling through old photos for this post, I let the tears shed knowing that they will come and go for awhile as I grieve.  And I'm allowing myself to be sad when it washes over me because I know that it's not all-consuming.  I've laughed plenty since Monday, the sun has risen every day, and life will carry on.  Because I'm thankful that I got spend nearly 10 years with Josie and there aren't too many sweeter things in life than a boy and his dog.