nrc
07-06-14, 04:45 AM
Today we said goodbye to another member of our pack. Guinness was the last of our original pack of three Manchester Terriers. He was 17 years old and we were blessed to share that past twelve of those years with him.
This was one of the hardest choices that we've had to make for one of our four legged family members. Guinness was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease several years ago. Fortunately we were able to get it diagnosed early and we've been able to manage it much more effectively than with his former pack-mates. (All three of them had it so it seems that their line was predisposed. While this was sad, we don't fault the kennel since until recently the condition was rarely diagnosed in dogs. Usually the symptoms where just considered part of the aging process).
Guinness responded well to treatment and we made it through multiple battles with some of the side affects. Sadly, his condition worsened last year as he started to lose strength and coordination. Eventually he became unable to walk for more than a few steps. We had to steady him for his bathroom trips and while he ate. The choice was hard because aside from his disabilities he did not seem to be in any serious pain. It was his quality of life that was the problem.
He had been sleeping more and more - to the point where he was really only awake and alert for a few hours a day. I think we held out hope that he might die peacefully at home if we supported him a bit longer. Finally we accepted that holding out that hope might cause him to reach the point of real suffering or that he might just as likely die alone and not at all peacefully. So we gave him the last gift that we could, which was letting him go peacefully with us there to comfort him.
Guinness was a rescue of sorts. He was originally adopted by a local family from the same kennel from which we had adopted our other two Manchesters. The family's father was allergic to dogs and they had heard that the breed's lack of an undercoat might cause him less of a problem. Initially that was true, but eventually his sensitivity grew and an encounter with a dog blanket sent him to the emergency room. They called the breeder and asked to return Guinness (as required by the breeder's contract) since they could no longer have him around with the father's condition. The breeder called us since we were local and asked if we could pick him up from the family and take care of him until she could come to town and get him.
I still have vivid memories of the sorrow of that family in giving up their beloved pet with no real idea what would happen to him. Of course it didn't take long after we got him home to start considering adopting him ourselves. We had been considering adding another member to our pack anyway. So after discussion with the breeder, Guinness joined our family and we were able to offer some small comfort to the family that he would have a good life with a loving family.
Guinness was a wonderful dog. Mostly. He was friendly, handsome, smart, fastidious, and well behaved. Mostly. In fact, we soon discovered that he had a pretty severe problem with possessiveness both with toys and food. Guinness never really played with toys that much, but when he found a toy that he liked, he would carry it everywhere. Trying to get close to either his food or his favorite toys when he was obsessing over them would bring a snap or even a bite.
Breaking him of this became a project for me. We couldn't tolerate bites or attacks on other dogs the way he would do when he was protecting an object of obsession. So I worked with him and after a few months he was over the worst of his obsessiveness. Mostly - for a few years afterward he would still have occasional flare-ups but we kept working on it.
Guinness was so fastidious that we were able to keep the blanket that his original owners sent with him in his crate most of the time for the entire twelve years we had him. Of course it had regular washings, but it was rare for it to get all that dirty. In fact, one of Guinness's nicknames was Mr. Smellsgood because he seemed to always smell fresh and clean - the only exception being his feet which earned him another nickname - Mr. Fritos.
I know that many of you have your own beloved pets and have suffered similar losses. So it helps me to share this with you. Pouring out my thoughts like this is largely a cathartic exercise for my benefit. But it's also because Guinness was a good boy and we loved him dearly and he deserves for people to know that.
Godspeed, pal.
This was one of the hardest choices that we've had to make for one of our four legged family members. Guinness was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease several years ago. Fortunately we were able to get it diagnosed early and we've been able to manage it much more effectively than with his former pack-mates. (All three of them had it so it seems that their line was predisposed. While this was sad, we don't fault the kennel since until recently the condition was rarely diagnosed in dogs. Usually the symptoms where just considered part of the aging process).
Guinness responded well to treatment and we made it through multiple battles with some of the side affects. Sadly, his condition worsened last year as he started to lose strength and coordination. Eventually he became unable to walk for more than a few steps. We had to steady him for his bathroom trips and while he ate. The choice was hard because aside from his disabilities he did not seem to be in any serious pain. It was his quality of life that was the problem.
He had been sleeping more and more - to the point where he was really only awake and alert for a few hours a day. I think we held out hope that he might die peacefully at home if we supported him a bit longer. Finally we accepted that holding out that hope might cause him to reach the point of real suffering or that he might just as likely die alone and not at all peacefully. So we gave him the last gift that we could, which was letting him go peacefully with us there to comfort him.
Guinness was a rescue of sorts. He was originally adopted by a local family from the same kennel from which we had adopted our other two Manchesters. The family's father was allergic to dogs and they had heard that the breed's lack of an undercoat might cause him less of a problem. Initially that was true, but eventually his sensitivity grew and an encounter with a dog blanket sent him to the emergency room. They called the breeder and asked to return Guinness (as required by the breeder's contract) since they could no longer have him around with the father's condition. The breeder called us since we were local and asked if we could pick him up from the family and take care of him until she could come to town and get him.
I still have vivid memories of the sorrow of that family in giving up their beloved pet with no real idea what would happen to him. Of course it didn't take long after we got him home to start considering adopting him ourselves. We had been considering adding another member to our pack anyway. So after discussion with the breeder, Guinness joined our family and we were able to offer some small comfort to the family that he would have a good life with a loving family.
Guinness was a wonderful dog. Mostly. He was friendly, handsome, smart, fastidious, and well behaved. Mostly. In fact, we soon discovered that he had a pretty severe problem with possessiveness both with toys and food. Guinness never really played with toys that much, but when he found a toy that he liked, he would carry it everywhere. Trying to get close to either his food or his favorite toys when he was obsessing over them would bring a snap or even a bite.
Breaking him of this became a project for me. We couldn't tolerate bites or attacks on other dogs the way he would do when he was protecting an object of obsession. So I worked with him and after a few months he was over the worst of his obsessiveness. Mostly - for a few years afterward he would still have occasional flare-ups but we kept working on it.
Guinness was so fastidious that we were able to keep the blanket that his original owners sent with him in his crate most of the time for the entire twelve years we had him. Of course it had regular washings, but it was rare for it to get all that dirty. In fact, one of Guinness's nicknames was Mr. Smellsgood because he seemed to always smell fresh and clean - the only exception being his feet which earned him another nickname - Mr. Fritos.
I know that many of you have your own beloved pets and have suffered similar losses. So it helps me to share this with you. Pouring out my thoughts like this is largely a cathartic exercise for my benefit. But it's also because Guinness was a good boy and we loved him dearly and he deserves for people to know that.
Godspeed, pal.