Dear Scout,
In your 14 years of living you have been the best kind of friend. You are loyal, you are loving, you are dependable, and you are one of the best listeners I have ever known.
You have brightened our lives with your smile, your amazing ability to catch Frisbees, your love for ice cubes, the rope trick, and your mind-boggling ability to understand English.
The little brother to our two daughters, you have herded them up the stairs before bedtime, nipped at their heels when it's time to go to the bus stop, and allowed them to tease you relentlessly without ever (really) complaining.
You've been an amazing guard dog--protecting us even from our friends--and you've patrolled our yard with meticulous skill, chasing away those pesky cats and their attitudes, various invasive gophers and their bothersome hills, and those annoying hangers-on dogs down the street.
When the agressive magpies move in each spring and squawk at you around the perimeter, thinking they own the joint, you give them the what-for.
You've had a steady diet of wasps and bees--your flying jalapenos.
Your love for chasing the garbage cans up and down the driveway twice each Thursday--a trick you learned from your mentor, Odie--remains the highlight of your existence even today. And we love that you love it so well.
Because you see, we love to love you. And it's all because we know how much you love us in return.
That's why it doesn't matter so much that you insist on eating the steer manure mixed in with the soil we used to set the patio stones so the moss would grow. That's why we don't mind too terribly that you eat small rocks, sticks, and who-knows-what-else on your nighttime rounds.
That's why we don't bother too much about the fact that you rub your snout all over the TV room couch, eat our dryer gasket--OK, I know, you were just a puppy then, and it's high time I let that one go--or eat a bunch of grass in an effort to help yourself vomit--which sometimes ends up in our house.
It is, however, exactly why we've been so distressed by your recent decline.
It breaks my heart that you can no longer hear my voice, or anyone's voice, and that your rear legs give out when you try to walk up the stairs.
I worry that you are often incontinent, that you sleep as much as you do, and that sometimes it's all you can do to get yourself up from a sitting position, let alone a lying down one.
It frightens me when I walk past you when you're sleeping and you do not stir. I often watch you, my heartbeat skipping, to see if you're still breathing, like I did today.
We give you your medicine, we massage you at night, we clean up your spills.
Because we love you, Scout, as you love us, and wish that you could stay forever.
I don't know if you'll have another birthday, buddy. We're not even sure you'll last the winter. But since you can't hear me, and because I need to say it, I want to thank you, Scout. You've been the best dog that any family could ever wish to have.
I love you, Scout. May your remaining days, weeks, months--and dare I say--years, treat you with the same kindness with which you have graced our lives.
Here, here! Happy B-day Shkrout!
Posted by: Mark | October 08, 2009 at 11:24 PM
Dear Cathy,
Have you read Marley and Me?? Or seen the movie? I have done both... You would be touched.
This post is just so close to our own dog Ernest... He will be 13... He also has some of the same ailments at Scout. He has had a tumor removed, he also has his pains, and yet he still walks my kids down the lane to the bus-stop and waits for the bus to leave - if I don't walk them:)
Such a great babysitter... even though my kids are 10 and 11. He has always been their guarding angel - my son swears Ernest saved him from the creek out in the back 40.. Oh the stories of things barked at, nipped at, etc.
My heart goes out to your family..and I am so glad you have these photos of your family member! Your writing is beautiful!
OH! One thing I can share with you is we started giving all our dogs fresh meat (heart, liver, bones) and eggs... It really peps him up... my husband has a book about the Natural Dog Diet... anyway, it makes US feel better at least!
Big hugs...
Posted by: Andi Sexton | October 08, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Oh my goodness...What a beautiful writing cath!!! I enjoyed it very much, I share the same kind of love with my dog Petey, and he is 16, and he is getting very old also. Thank you for the post. it touched my heart so deeply.
Posted by: junkobarker | October 09, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Oh dear...I can't stop the tears. So sweet....give Scout a big hug from my puppy girls!
Posted by: Charlene Austin | October 09, 2009 at 02:40 AM
Ok, you made me cry and I had to come back later to comment... Happy Birthday, Scout! I hope you have many many more wonderful moments with your family!
Hugs,
Vanessa
Posted by: Vanessa Menhorn | October 09, 2009 at 02:46 AM
The chills are running up and down my legs and arms -- what a beautiful tribute to a cherished family member! Extra hugs all around!
Posted by: Lola Goldberg | October 09, 2009 at 08:48 AM
Wow, I didn't expect to cry so early this morning, but again, this is one of the reasons I love your blog...not that you make me cry, but because you put yourself right out here with the rest of us and touch our hearts with your words. I can't imagine there is anyone that reads your beautiful tribute to a beloved friend that doesn't immediately relate. I will keep this post because it reminds me of my furred, feathered and scaled friends; those that have enriched my life beyond belief. Thanks so much for sharing such a big part of you with us!
Posted by: Pamm | October 09, 2009 at 09:53 AM
What a cute dog. And what a sweet message. It's amazing how those little four legged creatures can squeeze into your heart and little by little take the whole thing over! I am now off to give my little doggie a treat and a big hug!
Posted by: Aubrey | October 09, 2009 at 12:20 PM
What a sweet tribute to Scout. He has been a faithful family member. I felt the same way about my dog Chimi. I missed her very much after our 15 years together. It is very hard to watch them grow old.
Posted by: Marilyn Moore | October 09, 2009 at 12:42 PM
such a sweet tribute to the lovely Scout...he is truly blessed to have such a warm loving family and I bet he knows it too..we are so lucky to have our lives touched by such wonderful animals and yes it is very hard to watch them growing old....big hugs and good wishes from Kath & a hooligan golden retriever....I'm sure Scout and Buddy would have had a ball together xxxxxx
Posted by: kath | October 09, 2009 at 04:03 PM
Dear Scout,
Sorry for laughing at you when you do a face plant trying to run up the stairs in the spirit of your old self.
Love,
Beccah
Posted by: Beccah | October 09, 2009 at 04:07 PM
Birthday wishes to a very sweet friend! Hope you get to celebrate many more birthdays together! Hugs from Morocco!
Posted by: Travelingmama | October 09, 2009 at 07:47 PM
This post has brought tears to my eyes...for you and your beloved family member and for me remembering my sweet Scottie dog Jake who left us when he was 16 1/2. We went through all of the experiences that you are going through now. I always wondered if this was the day, and Jake always surprised me with renewed energy to go to the dog park or snuffle around the kitchen to see if I dropped a piece of carrot that he loved so. Pets are such treasured gifts for a family; thanks for sharing yours.
Posted by: Kathy W | October 12, 2009 at 10:52 AM