How Sonoma Changed My Life

Most importantly, this book is a great tool for parents and family members to have on hand after the death of a pet to help explain what has happened, especially in the case of euthanasia. This book would not be a good story-time book for children who have healthy pets or who have not experienced the death of a pet, as it could scare them about the future of their pets. Overall, this book would be effective bibliotherapy for parents and family members, as well as a good option for librarians to recommend to families who have recently experienced the loss of their

Laying on the bed very still, my mother and I were slowly becoming aware of his fate. Pros: He had already experienced an amazing life that contained priceless memories. His old age was also taking a toll on him, as crawling out of bed each morning was exhausting. Cons: I had known him for as long as I can could remember. Every road trip, every bike ride, he had been right by my side. Just letting him go was hard. I could feel the saltiness of my tears stinging my cheeks as they cascaded down my face, but a decision was imminent. I told him he was a good boy one last time, and while the vet injected the poison, I watched my closest family members tail slowly wag for the last time.

As my boyfriend and I rushed to the vet on a cool seventy degree May night in two thousand twelve we knew the news that we were going to find out from the vet was not going to be good news. Our eyes were puffed as tears of sadness rolled down our faces. We knew this was going to be the day we had to say good bye to our fur baby Polly. She was the best dog ever and we were faced with a rough decision. Was Jimmy and I to put Polly down or were we to let her stay and go on her own.

I told my mom that night about it, and she told me yes she is going to die soon. I was very stressed in school, and the last thing I needed was her dying. I spent at least a couple hours crying about it. I decided I wanted another dog. I thought maybe she could help with coping with Snickers dying, so I started looking. My parents had many requirements. They wanted a red, female, potty trained, crate trained, young dachshund. They clearly stated no puppies. It was very hard to find all

This is not a dying dog story, rather a dying cat story. When I was about 15 my little sister adopted a little kitten named “faithful”. At the beginning, I actually kind of liked the little thing. I remember holding it and thinking how cute it was. I hoped it would stay that way forever. Unfortunately, it did not. I learned at a very early age that kittens grow up into evil cats. God bless you if you are a cat lover, but I just do not have that spiritual gift. I digress; when the cat grew up I was outside playing catch with my dog, but this particular time I was using a tennis ball and bat. I would throw it on the ground and then wait for it to bounce and then hit it with a bat. I was doing this for a solid 5 to 10 minutes when my sister’s

Ever since I was young my family has always had a dog. The first one we had was a sable German Shepherd named Steel, but he had bad hips and we gave him to one of my dads friends because he wasn't very healthy. The next dog we got was named Tiger and he was a sable German Shepherd as well. From what I remember Tiger was pretty mellow and gentle for a German Shepard. Tiger started to develop a patch of skin cancer around his eye when he was seven years old. When he was nine years old my family decide to put him down. Fritz is the next dog we got and this time we got a black German Shepherd. Fritz and I go on daily walks in my neighborhood. Right now Fritz is still a little disobedient however, that is expected because he is only two years old

Over the summer, one of my dogs died. The other dog almost died as well. He always answered when I called for him to play until he had gotten sick. His name was Oscar. He certainly qualified for the best dog ever. Although it hurt, it was for the best.

In April of 2013, my husband Randall went to Alabama to help a fellow dog trainer with her rescue/dog-training compound. About two years before this county in Alabama were hit by a tornado and they were still rebuilding the compound for training and finding homes for the stray dogs that were brought to her. Therefore, Randall drove to Alabama, with two of our German Shepherds. He was not planning to be back home for almost a year. Well, when got there to the compound, Red, the owner, had placed roughly ten dogs in his charge.

Our 9-year-old lab, Nala was diagnosed with cancer March 22, 2016; on May 16, 2016 we lost a piece of our hearts when she crossed the rainbow bridge. We did a lot of research and learned so much about how we WISH we fed, cared for, our dog. My husband and I vowed that if we ever did it again we would care differently, wholly, for our fur baby.

So it slowly weakened her until it came to the point that she laid under the deck for two days, barely living but still alive, that we had to take her to the vet and have her put down. It was devastating, having a creature that I loved so dearly be there one second, and then gone the next. I was eight years old, and I heartbroken. Dogs don’t live forever, and that is the tragic part of it. Even though they are only a small part of our world, we are all of theirs. Losing Honey gave me a new appreciation for life, but also a new perspective on death. Through that loss I was able to learn more about God, and that her soul was still alive, and I took comfort in knowing that I would see her again. Dogs are beautiful creatures that love you unconditionally and protect you fiercely, and so what a blessing not just that they get to be a part of our life, but that we get to be a part of

On Wednesday, June 18, 2003, I had finalized the decision to put my incapacitated dog to rest. It became a reality. I clearly remember the warm, breezy day that occurred two weeks ago. As I sat in the freshly cutgrass of my front yard, I paid no attention to the sounds of the birds that were singing or the leaves that were dancing on the trees. All that was on my mind was the details of the last 13 years and remembering the times we shared together. As I kept trying to convince myself that he would not have to suffer another day from his ailments, I kept thinking of the first day that he came into my life. I was 15 years old when I got Valen. It was Valentine's Day in 1990. Earlier that week my mother was near Port Jervis, New York on a business trip. She had some free time before she had to come home to Pennsylvania so she decided to stop at the local SPCA. Her intentions were to simply look at the animals and then leave. She made her way to the area that housed the dogs. There she found a shy, but friendly, golden retriever. He was a bit apprehensive at first, almost as if he was neglected and abused, but it didn't take much of my mom's gentle touch and her soft, subtle voice before this dog realized she was his savior. She decided that she would like to adopt this dog however, the policy was strict, and there was a seven-day waiting period before you could adopt an animal.

I found my dog Zoe dying yesterday morning, I couldn’t do anything but be there for her, waiting for my mom to come pick us up to take her to the emergency vet, but she passed away before my mom got here. I couldn’t leave my baby alone so I had to watch her die while I sang to her and tried my best to comfort her. The hardest thing is knowing she was in pain. I can’t- I can’t get it out of my head, seeing that. I miss her so much, I keep expecting to see her trail behind me like my little shadow but she’s not there.

The cat was my grandmas cat that she couldn’t take care of anymore, so we took her in and loved her. Although, she was an old cat and did not have much time left. One day my brother and I were home and our cat started going through the process of death, she would not eat, she was going to the bathroom right where she was lying and could not stand up. My brother and I did everything we could for her until she passed. A year after our first cat, we got two kittens. From there we both learned responsibility on a greater level because there was no machine to feed the kittens or clean their litter boxes, and we definitely did not want to experience having to watch a loved pet pass on again. I love always having a pet in the house. Being around animals has always had a calming effect on me and that inspires me to want to be around animals everyday and help them in any way I can, the best way I can. This inspires me because the smile on peoples face when they see that their pet is well and healthy again. I strive to go from walking into the barn as a child with big dreams, to walk into the clinic as an adult and do my best to help animals in need and return them back to their owners in good

Among the saddest truths about this lifetime is this: A dog’s life is significantly shorter than a human’s life. I said goodbye to my beloved Miniature Schnauzer, Samson, on March 26th, 2017. He was ten years old. It is an opinion to say that losing a pet is like losing a member of the family. The fact is, though, it is an understatement. Dogs are unique in their own ways. As it is said, “Grief is the price you pay for love.” And I paid a heavy priced that day.

After a few months of having a dog who was annoying, disobedient, and obnoxious, my mom finally snapped. The dog tore up our house leaving heads and parts of toys, torn up books, and more were left on the floor. When we got home and saw what she did, we realized we failed. We failed having the responsibility and ee failed training her. We gave her away the next day to a family who would do a better job of taking care of her. For the next few days, we looked at an empty cage wondering, what if we were responsible