I'm writing this right now with one dog eating his lunch beside me. Just one dog. Wallace, the homeless street dog from Romania that we adopted 12 years ago. He is at least 14 years old now, but we'll never know his real age. As of yesterday, he is the only dog in the house. I feel the need to document this, here in this space, on the platform that I wrote almost daily on for several years, sharing my life with the crew - my pack of dogs, cats, various other animals, and my young babe. My Corgi queen, the first dog that my husband and I got together, the Corgi that started our love of the breed which led us to adopt five more, has died at the age of 17 years, 2 months, and 15 days.
Lola.
She had lost mobility in her hind legs almost a year ago, but was still happy, strong, and healthy otherwise, so we used a towel to sling her outside. She powered around the yard with no hesitation. Since the New Year, she started slowing down and then recently was diagnosed with kidney failure. We decided it was time to put her gently to sleep before her kidneys shut down further and she started to really feel the effects.
This dog loved my husband and I so strongly; I swear that is what kept her going for so long. Even when her eyesight was failing, she would smell us - she knew as soon as he came in the front door from work, she would awake from sleeping if I tried to slip through the room at night to throw wood on the fire. Lola always wanted to be where I was, that was part of her bossy nature, having to know what was going on and keeping track of me. For the past several months, she would watch me from her thrown of fleece blankets on the floor - unable to physically follow me, but keeping track just the same. When she was young, she loved walking in the woods and around the neighborhood, patrolling the backyard for duck and chicken poop. This dog lived to eat and her last moments were spent licking raspberry ice cream until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
I loved this dog with all my heart and it was returned with the same strength. My girl is no longer here. The Corgi era has ended. I used to walk around the neighborhood with a babe on my back and four Corgis in hand - the neighborhood oddball Corgi lady. Now I have none and will be a bit lost for a while. I think about the people that do not have pets or that do, but still see them as "just pets", not true members of the family, sentient beings with their own feelings and desires. They don't have to experience the pain that is making my heart hurt, but they also don't have the joy of loving so deeply. I have one dog left and I know how bad it is going to hurt again. But I will never regret loving an animal - they ask so little and give us their heart in return. A true gift that is worth the pain, but damn, it is hard.