Rosie O Dawg in Friends With the Benedicts

Well, she is gone. She went peacefully, once she stopped fighting everything like the hard headed girl she was. lol. She was extremely restless on the way up there, which, I might add, is like 5 miles away at best. I realized after leaving the house and getting not even a mile down the road that I had forgotten to take my Mom’s checkbook with me. So since I was having such a hard time with her being in the front passenger seat, (she wouldn’t sit still and was trying to just walk completely off the edge of the seat lol) I was forced to put her in the backseat to prevent her from causing me to have an accident. She still didn’t calm down, and ended up in the floorboard of the backseat many times. When I finally got her to the vet, I discovered that the towel I had brought (a huge beach towel that was a throwaway) had been peed on by her en route. So I had to just carry her in there. My back was screaming by the time I got up to the counter. They made me pay beforehand, which I guess is best because if you are all emotional, you’re not gonna want to deal with that afterward. I had to hold her in one arm and write the check with the other. Thankfully the woman helped by holding the checkbook down for me. lol. Anyway, so we finally get called back, and I told them about her peeing on the towel and that’s why she wasn’t in anything. They brought a towel out to put on the metal table, but she just would not sit still!! The doc came in and said she would give her a sedative since she was so riled up, and I was like, yes please. lol. I also wanted to see if she could have some time with me to actually be the old Rosie again, like give kisses, etc. It never did happen tho, because like a baby fighting sleep, she fought that sedative until the very end when she absolutely had to lay down. And then she was pretty well knocked out. So I didn’t really get to spend any time loving on her, but that’s OK, she stunk sooo bad, it’s prolly for the best. I already had to change my shirt when I got back to my Mom’s, it smelled so bad from just holding her. When the doc came in, after I had told them we were ready, it didn’t take long after they injected her. In fact I wouldn’t even say it took 30 secs. She did squirm a bit when they stuck the needle in, and the doc said that’s just a reflex, that no matter how out of it they may seem, they will still react when something is being done to them. But it wasn’t bad, and that part was over quickly and then the medicine was in, and the next thing I know she was listening for a heartbeat. I could tell when she was gone. It was like a huge weight had been lifted. She is no longer suffering in any way. We are pretty sure she wasn’t in any considerable amount of pain, she just wasn’t able to stand very well. There are many other ways to suffer tho, and she certainly wasn’t a happy dawgy in the end. So when she was finally gone, it was relief more than anything. I did get choked up when she was listening for her heartbeat and then announced that yes she was indeed gone. We’ve had Rosie since I was like 17, and I feel like she was my sister doggie. lol. I still remember getting up with her back then, because she stayed in our living room in a big box when she was just a puppy, and she was crying. So I got up and rocked and patted her till she went to sleep. :) Awww! But, I felt relief because Rosie hasn’t been there for a long time. I think it has been at least a couple years since she interacted with us the way she used to. It had gotten sad that she was there, but just gone at the same time. So yea, it was peaceful. They took her body in the back and wrapped her in blue surgical drape real good and put tape around her in such a way that when they were done, she looked like she could be a cute little package for someone. The girl who carried her out to the car brought a black sharpie with her, and when she put her down on the seat, drew a little heart on one of the pieces of tape. :) That was very sweet! <3 I took her back to my Mom’s and buried her, and he made a little makeshift cross out of some palm branches. Here:

Awww ain’t it cute? He did take a pic of the bundle they wrapped her in with the little heart drawn on it, but I don’t have that pic. I dunno if some of my new readers would get offended at what it represents or not. Usually I don’t really care, but ya know… OH yea…

The 21st, I realized, was my ONE YEAR anniversary writing here at PB!! I should count how many entries I have at least. I don’t think it does that for you. If not, it should! lol. It doesn’t even seem like I have been writing here for that long. I know I took a long time off to grieve for OD, I am sure a lot of you did. But I am so glad I decided to just throw caution to the wind and jump into writing here. I am so glad yall are my friends now, and I appreciate each and every one of you! I shall go catch up with everyone now and leave a few notes. Hope everyone is doing well and if not, hope it gets that way for ya!!! Love you all....

steph