Once upon a time, a young couple moved from NJ to Arkansas with their 2 year old little boy. When they got to Arkansas they purchased their first home. It was an exciting time. About 4 months after moving into their home, a dog owned by friends of their’s had puppies and the little boy picked out a puppy and adopted her.
She was a brown German Short Haired Pointer. Some call her color liver. The young family decided to call her Daisy Dog but filled out her papers as Ganseblumchen der Hund which translates to Daisy The Dog in German. Short hair pointer’s are hunting dogs. The Dad had great hopes of taking the dog on hunts and being a great bird dog. Some mistake pointers for labs as their size and coloring are very similar.
Time went on and Daisy grew and the family realized that she wasn’t really the “great bird dog” the Dad had hoped for. Oh no. She was, as some may say, in the nicest possible way, mind you, stupid. Daisy was a simple minded dog but as sweet as dogs can be. She was gentle and loving even though whenever she step foot out of the house she lost her mind and went into such excitement she would defecate almost immediately. When people came over, she again lost her mind and would run around in a tizzy unable to know who was talking to her or what they were saying. As long as she kept her routine, Daisy was a quiet dog who loved her “babies” which were random stuffed animals that she adopted and took care of. Never did she tear them up or hurt them.
Like all dogs, Daisy got into mischief over the years. She loved knocking over the trash can and eating everything in it. When she learned that the cereal was stored on a lower shelf, she would eat cereal all day. As the small boy grew, Daisy found that his room was a plethora of treats as he, like most boys do, didn’t bring his dishes or leftover food to the kitchen as timely as he should.
Daisy loved popcorn. She would hear the family rip the outer cellophane and open the microwave and come running, her nail click-clicking on the hardwood floors. She could catch popcorn mid air and would do it over and over, almost drooling she loved it so much.
Time went on and eventualy the family realized that Daisy couldn’t hear them as well as she used to. She didn’t come running when they came home anymore (click click clicking on the hardwood) and she didn’t hear the preparation of her popcorn (or anything else) anymore either. It didn’t stop her lovable nature or her taking care of her babies. The family just had to get her attention and then Daisy reacted as she always had.
About 14 years after bringing Daisy home, she was still an active dog although deaf. She still got excited when her routine was interuppted. But she was excitable as ever. Other things slowly changed: Daisy didn’t like to go outside for extended periods of time anymore. She would just go out, do her business then bark incessantly to be brought back in the house. If the family didn’t bring her in immediately it was a constant bark (the neighbors must have been so pleased.) Daisy would follow the Mom throughout the house when she was home. She couldn’t go from her bed to the bathroom (about 6 feet away) without Daisy following her.
Daisy remained sweet and lovable even when she started to have old age problems: accidents in the house, not eating as much as regularly as she always had (but popcorn and “found” items were always eaten)
One day, she was more sluggish than normal but otherwise seemed in good spirits. The family went out for a day outing on a Saturday only to come home to a house disaster. Daisy had had accidents all over the living room. This writer will spare you the details but the Mom noticed lots of blood. She knew Daisy needed to go to the veterinarian and decided to take her on Monday.
Sunday, Daisy still had the runs. The young boy, who was now almost 16, went to stay at his friends house overnight. Daisy acted very tired and thirsty. The Mom couldn’t keep her water bowl filled. By Sunday night, Daisy wanted to go out back and not come inside at all. After the house disaster the day before the Mom decided that was OK. Daisy stayed outside with a huge water bowl that the Mom kept filling up for her. She never barked at all.
Monday morning, Mom went outside to check on Daisy but couldn’t find her. After searching, she found her under a bush in the back yard. Her eyes were droopy and hurting, no longer filled with excitement at seeing her family. Daisy did stand up and follow her Mom to the house but Daisy just restlessly staggered throughout the house, her nails click clicking on the hardwood floor. She wasn’t walking good and was bumping into walls and falling down some too.
The Mom got Daisy into the car by picking her up. Daisy just laid lethargically on the front seat with her head hanging over the edge. The Mom knew something bad was wrong. This is the dog who was uncontrollable in the car and got yelled at almost non stop for every ride because her out of routine excitement took over the moment the leash was clipped on and they headed towards the car.
One the way to the vet, Daisy put her head on her Moms lap and her Mom petted her and talked to her for the short ride. By the time they pulled into the vet, Daisy was unable to walk. She got into the front door and fell down not moving at all. This from the dog who would have been ripping the leash out of her Moms hand any other visit, uncontrollable at the people and the other animals she wanted to go say HI to. This visit, the Mom didn’t even bring the leash.
The nurse helped Mom carry Daisy back to the scale where it was noted Daisy had lost a significant amount of weight. Daisy wouldn’t move at all. After an emotional conversation with the vet and some preliminary tests, the very hard decision was made to let Daisy go. The Mom held Daisys head and told her she loved her and thanked her for one car ride with no yelling today. She told Daisy to go run and be happy, that those family members who had gone on before would be there to play with her. She told Daisy to find Grandpop because he loved dogs and would take care of her and give her treats. Daisy never met Grandpop, but the Mom wasn’t worried. She knew he was waiting. The vet gave Daisy a shot and Daisy’s eyes got heavy and just like she had so many times before, she fell asleep with no pretense.
And then she was gone.
It has been almost a week since that fateful day and the family is heartbroken over the absence of Daisy in their home. There is no click clicking of nails on the hardwood…no small whines waking them up to please take her out at the crack of dawn…no one to give the leftover pizza crust to…and no one following the Mom around the house like a shadow.
The babies are still in their box by the door. One is missing which surely the family will come across one day when a piece of furniture is moved. Hopefully they will smile remembering the sweetest, stupidest dog to ever bless their lives.
3 of Daisy’s favorite babies. One is missing.
How we had to transport Daisy in the car=tethered onto the seatbelt so she didn’t run crazy through the car 🙂
Seeing things through my eyes... 