Allie dog would have wanted me to have that hoho

Posted on March 20, 2012 Updated on March 21, 2012

In case you didn’t see this post, we had to put our Allie dog to sleep yesterday. Tough, tough day.

We are so thankful for the 3+ weeks we had to spoil her rotten. And that we did. She was in the house almost 24/7. Definitely not normal. Usually the big dogs (Allie and Ed) are outside and only come in the house at night when it’s bedtime. You can imagine how Ed felt about Allie girl being in the house so much! We knew Sunday night that it was time. Not only was her stomach huge but she wouldn’t get up to do anything. As I mentioned she wouldn’t even eat bread. She had eaten only a tiny bit the past few weeks and so was pretty much just skin and bones. Her breathing had gotten pretty labored. I gently said to Pat Sunday night that it was probably time. He said, “Let’s wait and see how she is in the morning.” He’s such a sweetie. We never imagined we’d lose our Allie dog when she was only 9. Monday morning she was worse and so he called the vet. We went in about 10:30 am.

We’ve been talking to the kids about it for that 3+ weeks we knew it was upon us. So they weren’t surprised or anything and that was nice. Caleb, honestly, could care less. He’s not really a dog person. Whose child is he, anyway?  Angel, on the other hand, was pretty upset. Part of it was because I was so upset. I asked them if they wanted to come with to the doctor or go to Grama Barb’s. Caleb said Grama Barb’s! Angel went back and forth. She wasn’t sure but eventually settled on Grama Barb’s.

Pat got home about 9:30 and we spent some last family time with Allie dog.

Even Ed said goodbye. These two have been inseparable for the past 9 years.

Pat carried her to the car (que tears) and we drove to Grama’s. When we got inside Angel started crying and decided she wanted to come with. Caleb was excited about having Grama all to himself!

When we pulled up to the vet the tears really started. Ug! We were a mess. Angel was a little traumatized and I tried with all my might to keep it together for her. They brought us into a room immediately and we sat for quite awhile with our Allie dog. We said goodbye and at one point I completely lost it. I think this really scared Angel as she got so upset and starting crying really hard. Thankfully there was a funny picture of a dog on the bulletin board and we were able to distract her.

The vet came in and looked Allie over. He used to be our neighbor and so we know him well. We are so thankful to have him as our vet. He first gave Allie a shot that was just a sedative. But he said that since she was so sick that it might put her completely to sleep and not have to do the second shot. About 30 seconds after he gave the shot her eyes got droopy and she fell asleep, her head falling to the table. I knew she wasn’t gone yet but that was enough for me to take Angel and leave. I felt bad leaving Pat but I was a mess!

Angel and I went and sat in the van and also walked around outside for awhile. It took quite awhile before Pat came out, almost 30 minutes. Turns out the sedative wasn’t enough but they couldn’t find a vein for the other shot. She was too anemic. So eventually they decided to give her another sedative and that was what eventually sent her to doggy heaven. (Que more tears.)

Pat had a project due so had to go back to work for a few hours. (Que more tears.) I was scheduled to work at 4pm but my employer is so amazing and allowed me to take the day off. I called Grama Barb and we met them at KFC for lunch, along with our nephew Tony and his girlfriend Sarah. It was a nice distraction from our sadness. The kids went back to Grama’s then and I went to class. That was tough. We are learning about the nervous system and I had the worst headache. It was very hard to listen and concentrate.

After class I stopped at the store for a few groceries. And when I say a few, I mean the store’s entire supply of ice cream and hoho’s. Note to self: never go grocery shopping after losing your dog. I gave myself permission to have one day of mourning eating anything and everything I wanted.

Pat got home at 3:30pm, just after we did. The last thing I wanted to do was hang around the house all mopey and sad. I suggested a movie because that’s something we all love to do. Journey 2 was playing at 4:30 and the review was pretty good so we decided to give it a try. We spent the kid’s college saving’s on snacks and were delighted to find out we were the only ones in the theater. Perfect! The kids could be wild and crazy and I could be sad and snuggle with my hubby.

The movie was excellent. It was a little too scary at some parts but it had a great family message. It was also hilarious. Which was just what we needed. Along with the popcorn. That was therapeutic too.

My kiddos were probably the most therapeutic of all!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I have no idea how she made such a funny face!  But I’m so glad she did. It’s impossible to be sad with these two!  We usually never go to 3D movies, but on this day it was totally worth the extra price.

So, it’s a new day. A weird day without Allie dog. Ed is pretty confused about what is going on. And we still have lots of hohos and ice cream. I’m pretty sure Allie would have wanted me to have two days of mourning, don’t you think!?