November, 2010

We had to put Pooh down last Friday, Nov 5th.

After 2 months of mostly carrying him around, of daily pain meds, of semi-incontinence, Andrea made the difficult decision. From the waist up he was still a healthy dog – well, maybe a bit deaf, but otherwise sound. From the waist down he was a wreck, hampered by serious amounts of arthritis.

We got Pooh in February 1998; less than 3 months after moving to Tahoe. Most, maybe all, of my fond memories of him date back to those first 5 years before Annika was born, when Pooh received all of our attention. Almost literally every day of the year was spent in the meadows, either on skis in Winter or bike/running in Summer. He was never “with” me at those times; always a free dog on his own agenda, he’d be off running in the woods, following the smells, crossing paths with me now and again…Cleaning the deck of snow while Pooh barked endlessly below, wanting me to push the snow onto him so that he could catch it…barking at his reflection in the window at night…the gas, the snoring…these older memories cause me to reflect how Pooh certainly “gave” me something for first few years (more than I gave him I suppose), but the last few he did start to take a bit as he needed more help, more patience, more cuddling. The cycles of life, of relationships.

Britta and Niki only mildly notice his absence; they’ve asked a few times where he is, but they move on quickly. They don’t have those first years to miss, the active dog in their memory.

Annika seems to be quietly mourning; she asks questions about him, seems to be thinking about him when we are not aware. One of those times was yesterday; while driving back from Reno, Annika was (we thought) playing with the IPhone. Instead, she was writing this (without tears, but very likely with a heavy heart):

Pooh brex in to my haret i love him so much hi was the best dog hi
was the
Coler blond. Hi was the best dog i have
Ever sin. Wen hi was a pupi hi was so
Cuetto to siy.hi was 13 yirs old wen
Hi did. I stil love him and hi stil love mi.

I love poph

A pictorial of Pooh is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVQxQaytpAc.