Life sucks today!

[Cootz]

I got a phone call yesterday on the way home from work from a worried neighbor. Mav had a VERY bloated stomach and it was hard and he was trying to drink and every time he did he puked it back up. Just thinking my neighbor was over reacting I continued to drive the speed limit home. Why should I worry to much, Mav was FINE when I left yesterday morning. In fact he's been fine his WHOLE LIFE. He's never had any medical conditions other then the three episodes of me stitching him up and all that was was a few barbed wire fences. No big deal. Well when I get home everyone is standing next to him next to my driveway and I could see IMMEDIATELY what they were talking about. I helped him in my car and started driving over the speed limit to the nearest emergency vet 55 miles away (five miles from a buddies house). The whole way there I couldn't think straight. Thank God for my buddy and his wife calling me to calm me down on the way in. About five minutes from the vet Mav lifted his head and looked at me and I told him to just hold on. When I got to the vet I rushed in to have someone help me, I was in no shape to be of assistance. Two of them came out to carry him in. I wistled to get Mav to come out and he didn't move. I figured he was hurting too much. I later learned why he didn't move. The vet sat me in a back room to talk with me. She informed me that he was no longer with us. How? HE WAS ALIVE FIVE MINUTES AGO!!! She was going on about something with his intestines, I wasn't really listening. I couldn't really hear anything. How could someone who meant EVERYTHING to me be gone? He was ok this morning. Sure he was eleven and got up slow sometimes from the couch. He deserved to with as much brush as he broke. I get up slower, I'm not going to die tonight! I'm sitting he typing this still in shock of him not being here. I've never spent one night alone in the house I own without him, NOT ONE! I've NEVER had a Saturday where he didn't jump into bed with me to wake me up! I've got all the same stories as every other lab owner with a hunting dog. He was the best dog anyone to ask for. I sure didn't deserve him but yet I got him. My friends wife last night trying to comfort me reminded me of how we were so much like that old married couple. My love for him is more then love for myself. I can't imagine this hunting season without him. I'm not sure if I'll be even able to but I'm sure I will. It just won't be the same. ENOUGH OF THIS!

So the good things, My proudest moments of him. We were hunting ducks in South Dakota, he was about 3. Me and one buddy went to a long narrow lake while everyone else went elsewhere. The three of us sat on shore for a few hours with NOTHING flying. Must have been 80 and not a lick of breeze. The lake was like glass. I got bored and decided to go for a walk to see if I could jump something. For what ever reason Mav stayed back with my buddy. I get a quarter mile away and I hear this single shot. I start walking back thinking I'd have to send Mav myself. When I get there Mav's about three hundred yards out still heading away from us. My buddy said he hit the duck and it just kept gliding and loosing oil pressure and Mav took off right after him. After another five minutes I started getting a little worried about Mav and how long he could swim so we jumped in the boat to go get him. He must have made a quarter mile retrieve. When we got to him he had the bird in his mouth and was heading back to us. I suppose he would have made it without any troubles.

I loved him dearly. He'll be remembered and missed as long as I'm around. I was proud of him. I couldn't have asked for anything different out of him. Rest in peace Mav. May there be an endless supply of tennis balls where you're at!

Thanks for listening...

[foxhunter]

sory for your loss. we lost our 5 yr old springer this spring and it sucks, but things will get better.

[theghost_03]

Cootz,

Every time I read something like this it brings back so many memories of the hard times I went through losing dogs, one in a very similar manner. It happens so fast and so unexpected sometimes it really never makes sense. But be happy you got to spend 11 quality years with your pup, those 11 years were made better because of Mav.

[Gordie]

sorry for your loss cootz I lost a valuable asset, best friend and I know what your feeling the vet told me someone had poisened her and there wasnt much I could do. again sorry for your loss hope things smooth out for you. take care

Elwood

[slabchaser]

im very sorry to hear that cootz. somtimes i think dogs are better friends then real people. I had a dog in h.s. who is still alive but im only alive because i had her. my mom passed away when i was seventeen and being rebellious i did some stupid stuff that should have killed me but when i got her i trained her every day and spent many nights crying to her over the loss of my mom and she listened. No dog will ever replace Mav. Im very sorry for your loss.

[cutter08]

So sorry for your lose. It is never easy but time will heal the pain. Just try and remember the good times.

[machohorn]

My regrets, I was in the same boat a year ago last spring. Thought I was done with dogs, 3 months later I caved in. Time heals all wounds, I still think about by lil buddy but know he is better off.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Sounds like gastric torsion aka bloat. It's horrible and liek you said, it comes out of the blue.

So sorry for your loss. I'd be devastated, as I am sure you are. Remember the good times!

[harvey lee]

Soory to hear. One can only remember the great times together and that does help.

I lost my pointer approx 9 years ago and still look at photo's and think of him.

man, dogs are a huge part of the family and it is always a tough loss.

Hears one to Mav.

[Leaddog]

Sorry to hear about Mav. Unfortunately, like everything, dogs die. As a musher I go through that regularly, it doesn't get any easier. Lost two last year, got a few showing their age. One's my old lead, he's 15 plus a few months. That's already 2 or 3 years longer than expected.

The thing about dogs: conditions that take years to manifest in people may only take weeks or months to show in dogs. The shorter lifespan means everything happens faster. AND there is not always anything you can do about it.

Keep those memories alive and reflect on them often. And, get yourself another dog. It won't be the same dog but you'll realize that it has its own endearing qualities.

My next team turned 4 weeks old last Saturday!

[LABS4ME]

Sometimes losing the time you get to prepare for the end makes the transition easier... sometimes it makes it harder.

In the end, it is one of the hardest things we as dog owners get to do.... Saying goodbye to a devoted hunting buddy. Time will take the edge of the sword you are carrying and soon a little guy will be scampering around your feet and doing his best to retrieve your boot laces!

Keep the memories alive in your heart and your mind and Mav will always be at your side.

Godspeed Mav!

Ken

[caseymcq]

Cootz -

Sorry for your loss. I can empathize with what you are experiencing. We lost our four-year-old lab, Maggie, last February. It, as you eluded to, sucks to lose a family member. She was a huge part of our lives and she is dearly missed. We were blown away when the vet told us she had Lyme's disease. She had just had a litter of pups, all healthy, and it was just a little over two weeks after the last pup went to his new home that we lost her. We see and hear about her pups from time to time and it is a bitter sweet reminder. Our other lab definitely misses his buddy. They were a couple of peas in a pod.

[CJH]

Sorry for your loss, its never easy......

[Cooter]

Sorry to hear, sounds like you had 11 wonderful years together.

[natalie]

Sorry for your loss.. just remember the good times

[vister]

sorry to hear that man. its a terrible feeling knowing you dont get to see those big brown eyes light up with joy when u step out of the house with shotgun in hand. especially tough when you remember the stuff they chewed up, and they got scolded for it.

[Ryan_V]

sorry to hear about Mav. My heart drops when I read these posts because I've also posted a similar one. They are a HUGE part of our lives and it sucks something horrible to let them go.