Put my friend that I grew up with down today

[TylerH860]

Even though I moved out of my parents house many years ago, I managed to come by 3-4 times a week just to visit my dog, Jake. He had an incredible vocabulary, and knew exactly where we were going if you told him. He would also like to try and vocalize his excitement while opening and closing him mouth trying to speak like us. Many, many walks, loved going down slides, and was absolutely crazy about swimming. He hated cages, and managed to break out of every cage the kennel had. Eventually, they just gave up and the last 3-4 years they put him in the massive doggie day care room overnight.

We brought him home from independence Kansas in the winter of 1996 after losing our last dog to cancer. I remember when my father called us to tell the news that Maxx had been put down, and mom cranked the radio so she couldn't hear us all balling. It was "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. We were on our way to Chuckee Cheeze, a kids restaurant with a massive jungle jim, ball pits, and all kinds of games. I just sat in the ball pit and cried for 2 hours.

Flash forward to today, nearly 14 years later, and my parents are wishy washy about poor Jake. He's become incontinent, very weak on his hind legs , and 2 nights ago was excreting blood non-stop. The doctors said they could treat the issue, but would take some time to recover. With the incontinency, and the fact that Jake has way too much seperation anxiety to become an outside dog, it was time. My parents were dragging their feet, so I took it upon myself to get it over with. Given Jake's hatred of cages, and his infmities preventing hom from bieng the escape artist of his past, I knew he was suffering.

Of course, since he was of sound mind, I had to give him the best send off I could think of. For 30 minutes, I got him out of that cage he hated, and took him through McDonalds for his favorite treat: two plain hamburgers with a side of vanilla icecream, and we went to the park. He devoured the burgers in an instant, and took his time with the ice cream, just like he always did. We went for a brief walk, but since he had not been given his pain medication for a few days, I could tell he wasn't enjoying it much.

I don't know why I took pictures (like I want to remember this day), but I did. Kind of morbid to share them, but this is helping me.





Returning back was the hardest part. I forgot to put my I-pod cord in Trigger, my '82 300TD, so I was listening to the radio, an oldies station. When the song came on, I could not believe it. "Spirit in the Sky" again, the same song that was radio more than a decade ago. An amzing double take, deja vu, hair standing up on the back of my head moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG8K4kYTpG0&feature=PlayList&p=C723BE353EEFCEBB&index=6

We got back to the clinic, and the vet assistant immediately ushered us into a small, comfortable room. Less than 5 minutes later, he was gone. I'm a wreck right now, to say the least.