| Junior Member Newborn
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|  Remembering Fern and Abby
I just watched Marley & Me for the first time. This put me in a depressed mood. I have had a total of 4 dogs, all from a beagle rescue. Here's the general story.
Me and my mom finally moved into a house, and wanted to get a dog. This was about 3 years ago. I wanted a beagle, so we got a beagle. His name was Fonize when we got him, so we kept it that way. He was a crazy dog. Very high energy, and we thought we should get another dog to keep him company when we weren't home. So we got Fern, who was rescued wandering in a field, and they were pretty sure she was from an abusive home. They also didn't know her age, but guessed it to be around 1-1/2. So, they got along for about a week, until he started getting more aggresive. He just wanted to play all the time, non-stop, 24/7. He would steal all of her toys, and if she tried to grab one, he would snarl and snap at her. Then she would lay down, and he would be like, come on, lets play, wtf!? He also had a tendency of jumping up with his mouth wide open, and it didnt matter if it was a kid or an adult. My mom said to get rid of him, and I reluctantly agreed. So then we just had Fern. I'm telling you, she was the best beagle that ever lived. She listened to pretty much everything, we could take her outside without a leash, in an unfenced yard might I add, and she would just run around in big figure eights to her hearts desire. But she seemed anxious to have a friend. So, we said, let's get her another dog, but one thats not crazy. So we went through the same beagle resuce, and got a puppy. His name was buzzer beater, cause he was born during NCAA March Madness in 2008. This was one born out of the foster home. We brought him home, and we seemed to like Fern, although she was a little taken aback by him. He was only like a month or 2 old. Even so, they started to get along great. They loved each other. Come Septmeber of 2008, I moved out to LA. About a 2 weeks after I moved, I got a call from my mom that Fern was acting pretty weak. She said she had taken them over to my cousins house to play with their dogs. She left her in the fenced in backyard, and had to run to the front to grab her phone in the car. Well, apparently Fernie freaked, and sprinted towards the fence (a wood one that looks like this 'tttttttt') and she dove under it and frantically ran toward her. She didn't she any signs of being injured. Well, the next morning when she called and told me this, she was taking her to the vet. The vet said that she seemed to be fine, but did seem to be weak. They said to take her home and if she continued bring her back. Well, my mom got home, and she started limping with her back legs. My mom took her back, and the vet discovered that she seemed to have a spinal injury, and told her they couldn't do anything, but said she could go to place in northern Illinois where they could possibly help. But Fernie then lost control of her bladder it seemed. My mom drove 45 mins anyway, and when she got there, they said they could do surgery, but with only a very small chance that she would live even a mediocre life. The surgery was way to expensive, could not afford it, she even called the beagle rescue organization for help, and they couldnt either. My mom then drove all the way back to the first vet, Fernie slowly becoming fully paralyzed, and decided they would put her down. The vet said most likely it was a previously unknown injury that she sustained at the abusive home, and it might have just been kicked in fully by climbing under that fence. Well, my mom did a video of her last moments, while I was 2,000 miles away sitting on Santa Monica beach alone, crying for 4 hours in 98* weather. She was then cremated, and sprinkled the ashes over a pet cemetary. I was really close to her. RIP Fernie Girl.
As if that wasn't enough, a few months after Fern died, Rudy had been really lonely, howling in his crate, and he was very very sad. I was still in Cali, and my mom said she wanted to get another dog, to help his grieving. So she send me a picture of a few from the beagle rescue place, and I chose Target, later renamed Abby. She was a puppy. My mom said they were getting along great. I came home for Christmas last year, about a month after my mom got her, and didn't end up moving back. Abby was a typical puppy, chewed everything, included floor tiles. Always managed to get into something. Well, about a month ago, in late August, my mom was having brain surgery to remove an aneurysm. I was going back and forth from the hospital, and came home to find that they got out of the kitchen. Couldn't tell how long they had been there, but I had only been gone about an hour. About 3 days went by, when one night, I noticed that Abby was a lot less playful then she had been. I but she still wagged her tail. She was also hesitant to eat her dinner, but ate it within 5 minutes. Usually she scarfs it down. My mom was now staying at her boyfriends house to recover. I told her we needed to take her to the vet asap tomorrow morning. So the next morning, she came home. Abby did not eat, and she was lying down looking at me, somewhat shaking, and we called the vet and they said the doc wouldn't be in for an hour or so. So we waited. Suddenly, we heard this long drawn out howl from the kitchen. I sprinted in there, and she was sprawled out of her side, taking short breaths like every 5 secs. That overwhelming feeling came over me, as I tried giving CPR, picked her up, and ran out to the car, off to the vets. I ran in there with her in my arms, she was still taking those little gasps. With tears in my eyes, the vet said there was nothing they could really do, because they don't perform surgery or anything there. (wtf?) They said I could possibly take her to the Animal Hospital a few towns away, but it was probably too late. So that was it. She passed. We speculated as to what it could have been, and could only come up with one possible reason. Mice poison. We had some in the house. I googled it and it said it took 3-4 days to kick in, but once it did, you wouldn't really know, but by the time if fully did, it would be too late. They asked for a $400 autopsy, but she had already died, and we deemed it uneccesary, chalking it up to the poison. We had her cremated, and kept the ashes this time. Only 11 months old. Damn. RIP Abbygirl
I was a mess that day. Came home to Rudy, and seeing him wagging his tail, acting his normal self, it was heart-breaking to know what he'd go through again. So, to try and distract him, I moved his crate into my room the first couple days, then started taking him on 3 walks a day. Now, he's rarely in his crate. I let him sleep with me, free roam in my room (still chews everything, so can't let him have free roam in the house. he has now chewed 5 small holes in my down blanket). The first week, he only whined when I would leave him in his crate if I had to leave the house, and he would constantly check to see where she was. When I'd let him out back to go potty, he sit by the door, and waited for her to come. Slowly, I got him back to his normal self. If not better. He loves laying the bed, as we speak he's licking the hell out of my pillow right now. Nervous habit I think. Cause he does that in his crate a lot to. Licks the bars.
Well, sorry for the novel. I just thought I'd share the story with anyone who's willing to listen. It's been a tough year. I wrote this mainly to emphasize how much you should appreciate your dog. They are amazing creatures. Having happen twice in such a short amount of time, I now appreciate every second I have with Rudy. I treat him like he is me. (Although extremely cautious about anything that goes into his mouth, or anything he gets into. My heart dropped the 2 times he's puked since, or when seems weak at all.)
Very long story short, LOVE YOUR DOG! ALWAYS!
I love you Fernie and Abby. One day when I have a lot of money, I'm going to donate a ton of it animal shelters, rescues, and possibly set up a fund for dire need animals. If your pet becomes ill and needs an operation, the funds would pay it all. Kind of like free pet insurance.
If you read this, thanks for your time.
|
Linear Mode
