After just over the threshold of sixteen years, it has become apparent that our sweet little once-solid-black Chiweenie dog Yuuki be taken to the vet to be escorted over the Rainbow Bridge in just a few days. We decided to wait the weekend so we could spoil him, have a few more good days with him, and let him know that we truly appreciate him. He realizes too, that it's been a good and long life on this planet, and that it's time now, to step into his newness and the gifts that Jesus can give him.
Laura, my daughter, had just come off of her one-off tour with Ozzfest 2007 when she decided to get herself a little dog. She had just moved out of my place and was on her own (well, with her little sister) and she thought it would be great to have a little dog to spoil. We're rescuers, so buying a dog never enters our mind; however, that being said, there was a woman in our city claiming to have full-blood Chihuahuas for just $150 and though they didn't have papers, she knew who both parents were...yada yada...you know where this is going, right?
I told Laura she was about to pay her hard-earned money for a mutt, but if she wanted to do it, that was her choice. As it turns out we actually did rescue Yuuki. The conditions of the place he was in were dismal at best. Though we knew the second we looked at him that he wasn't a purebred dog, we didn't care. He needed to be out of that place, and we were on our way to the nearest law enforcement facility! The puppy mill that woman was running was nasty to say the very least.
We still have no idea what the police or the city council did for the puppy mill or its owner, but we felt pretty good about bringing at least one sweet face home with us to be loved and cared for until his last breath. That was literally 16 years ago. Since the day we brought him home with us, Yuuki has seen three or four of our other animals face the same situation he's facing now. Why animals can't outlive all of us is beyond me. They give so much, love so much, maybe that's it. Maybe they burn both sides of the candle of life trying to be the best they can be. Just sitting there and smiling is really all they have to do. They were made perfect.
Yuuki went with Laura while she sang, while she performed on stage, and while she worked he sat beside her, while she did anything, he was her dog. He held that position until right at one year ago when he began distancing himself from her and becoming less and less interested in being picked up, cuddled, or nuzzled. He wanted to be in the room maybe, but not held. Over the course of this past year, his health has really declined. He was hard of hearing about two or three years ago, but it's nearly complete now. He can still see and smell quite well, and he still likes to bark at what he perceives to be strangers.
This past month has been the hardest for him. We can tell he's not in good spirits most of the time, and he has finally begun to lose control of his bowels. He has never been this way, so we know it's something that he can't reverse. The doctor (such a very very sweet man) has told us that it's time, and we suspected it before we took him in to see him. We decided not to do it today. We decided to take him back on Monday so we could spend a little time with him at the pond, a place he truly enjoyed as a young puppy, and of course whenever we can take him. We lived in the same complex when we got him, moved out, moved back, and he remembers it.
He'll be cremated at the clinic, and the doctor told us his ashes will be scattered over the flowerbeds and tree bases outside the office; the ones that are so pretty, and so lushly wonderful. They have greeted patients and clients for years. The thought that he'll be part of that family of friends means a great deal to me, but the most important thing is that he'll not be in pain, he'll not be depressed. He'll be happy and healthy, and whole again, and he'll find our other pets (and millions of others) who will likely show him the ropes until Laura can come to Heaven to claim him all over again.
Please pray for us, but think a second or two longer in your prayers for Laura. She was only 18 when she picked him up that brisk September afternoon. Our lucky boy was literally born on 07-07-07. We brought him home on September 14, 2007. He's been both a nuisance and a miracle for us all. Aren't they all? Where we know that death is a part of the whole cycle of life, it's still chilling and hard to let it happen. We'll mourn, and we'll cry, but I'll also laugh when I walk over to OUR chair and he's not there to chase away from it. It's been a morning ritual for well over four years now. Sweet boy. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts. (If you're wondering why I have to chase him from my chair it's because he refuses to share it with me...stinker.)
Yuuki on September 14, 2007.
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