by Carol McDearmon
4/18/02
Today my best friend died. My heart is broken and I am so sad. My dog Fuzz passed on. He would have been 14 years old in June. I am lucky I had him this long. He slept by my bed for 13 years. I could tell him anything and he would listen and understand. He never asks for anything except lots of attention and a good meal. He gave so much more than I did. He was always by my side and followed me everywhere, from room to room. He loved it when I was in the bathroom. That was his undivided attention. He knew when I was sad and gave me extra attention. He knew when I was happy and jumped right in. He was the smartest dog I ever had. He just knew “stuff”, anything.. One time he saw I used the last tissue and he went to the other room and brought me another box!! He amazed me always. When I brought the first G.Child home, he lay by her side and would not let any of our other dogs get close. As she got older (2, 3) she would sit on his back. He loved to play dress up. Or maybe it was me. He had his birthday party hat he would wear. Then there was the tie, sunglasses, hat and shorts. Then there was his swimming outfit with his fins, water gun and mask. One time he swam 200 yards into the lake to rescue a wounded duck. Brought it to my side and dropped it. It had a fishing hook in it’s foot and beak. Another time he jumped into the lake and brought back a hurt fish. In his last year he had to live on the front porch because he couldnot control himself all the time. His back legs went out, he could still get around alittle. We built a ramp for him to get to the yard. He was still happy. I think he enjoyed lying in the yard and being a dog. He ate good and got lots of attention, even from the cat, which he was not crazy about, but let her hang around. She would get as close to him as she could without touching. He would not go for that. His last week was not good. He started having seizures bad. I got him medication. It took 3 days to start working. It was the worst 3 days I can remember. Then we thought he might get a little better, the seizures stopped, but he never got up. I think pneumonia set in. I had a vet look at him yesterday and he said he might hang in there a little longer if we would work with him and try to get him up. I was not ready to put him down then. This morning he forced himself to eat because I wanted him to. Several hours later he had forced breathing and would not drink. I called the vet to come. I could not watch him suffer. He was out of it. But, to my surprise, several minutes before he died, he opened both eyes, wide and bright and looked right at me as if saying goodbye. The vet came shortly after and I said goodbye. I sure hope dogs go the Heaven. He has sure left an empty spot in my heart. Even looking at the place where he slept hurts. I know time heals. If tears could wash away the hurt I would be OK now, I have cried and cried. After some time, one good thing I have his grandson. He’s about 6 months old and looks and acts so much like Fuzz did. I am just thankful Fuzz belonged to me.