Do Dogs Commit Suicide?

Craven de Kere, I just ordered the book through here from amazon. The reviews were interesting. Thanks for recommending the "dogumentary."

I've written extensively of the loss of Holly. It still brings me to tears to think of how she suddenly came down and died like that. She was eleven. I don't think she could have lived a lot longer anyway, but that doesn't ease the pain.

Dear edgarblythe, Holly sounds like she was a real sweetheart. I can only imagine how happy she was with someone as warm and sensitive as you. Here is a place where you can post your writings so others can benefit from your gift of expression, when you feel up to it.

http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm

The little ones we care for are supposed to outlive us, it seems to me, not the other way around.

But, I know that my puppy's last two years were filled with love, tenderness, respect, interesting activities. The night before he died, while he was fussing, I picked him up and held him to my chest. He usually did not prefer to be held, but this time, after some initial struggling, he did put his little head on my shoulder and relax. I feel that this was our good-bye and will always remember it that way, his little body moving up and down with my breathing, his puppy smell and warmth.

Thank you all for seeing me through this first day without him.

edgarblythe, I'd love to read about Holly, if you can provide a link. Thanks.

dupre...I am so sorry! It is the hardest thing next to loosing our family members and friends...because they are our chosen family and friends. It will take time, but you shall come to a point where the warmth and companionship memories will bring bright thoughts and healthy smiles....I hope it comes soon enough.

My posts about Holly are scattered in various forums. Here is a brief biography. One evening just after dark we heard this awful yowling outside at the front porch. We discovered that the cats were terrorizing a lost puppy. One cat leaned over from the deck and swatted at her with its paw as I approached. I snatched her up and brought her inside. She was dirty and had a hide eaten with mange. I guessed her to be six to eight weeks. I did not know then that she was a mix of lab and shepherd. "I don't know what I've got, but I am going to keep her," I announced to my wife. I doctored the mange out of her and as she began to grow I discovered that she had an amazing intelligence. We played together, took walks, and the like. Next door there was a kennel. The owner trained out in the yard. Holly saw what those dogs accomplished and watching from a distance becamed trained to the same sort of activity. I could speak to her in sentences and she appeared to understand my meaning. Sometimes I attempted to fool her. I would ask in long rambling sentences if she was ready for her bath. No matter how I said it she always knew and went off to hide. Having Holly around was the equivelant of keeping a three year old child. Her energy was boundless, even in old age. At her heaviest she weighed fifty pounds. Even then we played a game of her running as hard at me as she could and then launching herself at me. I always would catch her. Sometimes I would have my back to her and she would run up and leap and I would catch her under my arm. Somehow I just knew where she would be. She had just one litter. Something that always puzzled me about Holly was the fact that her ears were always floppy, like a lab, but at three years they became pointed, like a german shepherd. One night she and the other dog ate my grandson's food off his plate. I scolded Holly for it. The next morning she went down and soon was dead.

We intend to get a new puppy soon.

edgarblythe, Wow! Holly does sound incredible. My dog was so old when I got him, I was lucky he do a sort of Happy Dance when he wanted to go outside. He did enjoying walking in the woods and would play sometimes with a peanut treat that he liked where we ran back and forth fetching the treat.

It's unfortunate that she went down after a scolding. That must be haunting. I'm told that dogs have different memory abilities than we do, that they don't have very good short term memory. I'm sure she felt your overriding, enduring love and compassion. Besides, as the alpha male, you were within your rights and Holly would understand that.

I'm interested in getting another dog, too. I just want to wait till I'm sure I can accept the new creature for who he or she is him- or herself, and not as a stand in for what I already had.

I'd like an adult, but not a senior, like I had before. I want more time and a little more activity, too.

Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me to hear of your affection for Holly.

quinn1, thank you. I am beginning to feel better, or maybe I reached a peak for the day. The response here has been most comforting. He did so many things I cherish, his little nuances. How he loved the parties at the barn on Saturday nights and the treats people would give him, the bon fires, joining us on the trailer ride into the woods at night to fetch more fire wood. He was a real trooper for being such a tiny thing. Good memories. Thanks for posting.

Dupre
I finally went to the SPCA and brought home another dog. This 4 month old puppy was tagged "lab". She seemed really sweet and I could tell right away she would be energetic and full of fun. She had been named Marilyn, but we changed it to Punky. Such energy - chewing everything and everyone insight! She grows fast and now is almost six months old. Punky was headstrong from the start, but, I ascribed this to being a high spirited puppy. Now for the sad part. I know Punky loves me, but I have to take her back. Yesterday, my wife pushed her back when the dog jumped on the easy chair she was sitting in. The dog snarled at her and bared her teeth. Several times when my wife made a move the dog came forward as if to attack. This morning she growled at my wife. The dog is not full blood, as I knew. Apparently she is a mix with an aggressive breed. It makes me sad to do this, but I have small grandchildren and I certainly can't have her acting so toward my wife.

Sorry, Dupre. I think it's likely he was disoriented. Dogs can have what they call "mini strokes". One minute they can be o.k. then the next, they are confused. They can heal naturally from the stroke and then things are back to normal for awhile, then it comes back again. It happened with one of my dogs. That's a sad story Dupre. Again, sorry.

Ay, Edgar, I am sorry for the allth of you..including of course the dog. But also to you and your wife.

My Pacco is not the mildest guy you've ever seen, and I live in a certain fear, that in his fear he will go after x or y or z, but mostly he settles down. Sigggghhhhhhhhhh. In his case, he is protecting the herd, whether or not it wants to be protected. He is ordinarily disuadeable from that original protective stance, but the instinct is there.