by Cindy Mangold
In 1992 my husband of 3 years were not ready for kids. We had a couple of parakeetsbut he loved to play and make the birds fly, eventually they passed. So we tried a yellow lab, a little more sturdy than a bird. There were only 2 yellow labs left, I picked the one that came to me first, we called him Gilligan (G for short). He was a very happy and playful puppy at 10 weeks. My husband being the hunter that he was wanted another lab to hunt (of all things) birds with. So we got another lab we named Mowgli. Gilligan was the "dad" to Mowgli as Gilligan was now 2 years old and Mowgli was 6 weeks old (we got Mowgli the same day I miscarried so technically he is my "baby"). Well we've had 3 children and 2 dogs.
In August of 1999, Gilligan kept having spasms so off to the doctor we go. We find out he has kidney problems and the doctor told us it would be maybe a couple of days, weeks or months, he didn't know for sure. My husband kept telling people he is the most healthiest dead dog around. BUT...In September of 2001 Gilligan all of sudden started wetting all over my floors. He couldn't last more than 2 hours. We had to make a fast decision and decided to put him to sleep that afternoon.
This is the hardest part, sorry if I sob... But when my husband brought him to the vet, he forgot his checkbook and they would not put him to sleep. They would not do it for $110 and come back later to pay for it (we WERE patients for this hospital). So my husband, being the hunter, brought Gilligan to his favorite hunting area and went hunting. I know Gilligan died a very happy dog (even though he was so sick) because I used to go hunting as well and could see him get all excited he would catch a bird. He was so fast he could run, jump and catch a bird out of the air. Unbelievable.
Anyway, he died very happy. We have his picture still on our wall with the rest of the kids, and his collar hanging on the picture. Kind of my little memorial.
My other dog, Mowgli, has become quite the whinner but more protective. Getting another dog I think would kill my 9 year old, so we will have to go through this all over again, something I could do without. Any I told my husband, next time I'll bring the checkbook.