This is about a month late, but in true Autumn fashion it should come to no surprise to any of you. This little sweet face below was the love of my life, my best friend, my kid, and the thing that loved me no matter what. We went through some tough times together he and I and just as our life settled as a real family, he left. I guess he was just there to make sure I go what I really deserved in life and when that was final he was safe to go.
My nephew took these pictures of him his very first Christmas. I bought him for my ex-boyfriends kids but somehow my brother Josh knew he would eventually be mine. He told me yeah right we all know whos dog he really is. The poor boy was deserted by his first mom when she followed her boyfriend to vegas and took his sisters with him. He was left in my care and eventually his first dad was kicked out of his life. (Brodie never really like his first dad, funny thing is no one really did, I guess dogs really can judge character).
Brodie loved ropes even as a baby. However give him a rope with anything on it and he would chew it off until it was just a rope.
Brodie started getting sick at the beginning of December, vomiting and diarhea was an everyday occurance. I eventually called the vet when it continued on for several days. Thinking he had some virus, and with a little magic pill it would clear up, unfortunately that was not the case. The night before I was petting him underneath his chin and felt some lumps on each side. The next day at the doctor I pointed them out to the doctor and he felt around some more and found six more lumps. Telling me what no pet lover ever expects to hear when their dog is only four. He had lymphatic cancer which is a form of leukemia. They could do Chemo however they consider six months a success. I couldn't bear to put my dog through that. I left there sad but thinking I had a couple of weeks. So I asked my nephew to take some pictures of our family ( I know its cheesy to say family, but I treated like my kid).
I decided I would take a picture of him everyday of his life after that, not knowing that would be one week and a day.
He was such a funny dog about his food. He wanted it in its correct spot. Sometimes he would put himself on the starvation diet and not eat for a few days. He was so funny. This reminds me of when he was a puppy when their ears are so big they dangle in the water.
He always had to be next to me. If I was cooking in the kitchen there he was laying in the room. Even when he was so sick.
One of my favorite things about Brodie was when he would lay at my feet when I was sewing. He didn't like anything else to have my attention sometimes he would lay right on the pedal. I was busy working on his Uncle Josh's blanket while he was sick but at least he got to have me around all the time.
One of my other favorite things was our routines. I would wake up in the morning and he would be there waiting and then walk to the door to be let out. Then he would walk to the cupboard where his food was and sit patiently waiting for his food. The other routine was the bathroom. Anytime I went pee or showered he wanted to be involved. He would always lay on my clothes while I showered.
Man oh man did my brodie love the snow. Its one of the things that is the hardest to see. Everytime there is fresh snow I will think of him. He would always get so excited, it is a schmorgeshborg to him. He loved eating snow and ice. Anytime you would get out ice from the freezer he would come running to get ice, but he would never eat it in the kitchen he always took it back to a specific spot in the living room.
This was Brodies favorite spot to sleep right on the couch. It was the perfect place to lay his head in his mind.
This is my favorite. He would always come to the edge of the couch when he needed something. Food, treats water, or to be let out. He would rest his head, look up and you and shake his tail. Or if you were busy doing something and he felt he needed attention. It became Jason's (Mitchs little brother) favorite thing about Brodie. This picture was a little forced so it doesn't have the sweet begging tenderness to it.
Just another sweet picture of Brodie.
Brodie loved riding in the car. He never layed down he always sat just like a person most of the time he would sit in the middle so he could look out the windshield.
I loved loved his little (or big) paws. They have always smelled like Corn chips, gross I know but they were his paws and a love petting the hair between his toes and foot pad.
His ears are one of my very favorite things. They were soft almost like velvet. When I would cry and he would come to console me like always I would grab his hears and pet them over and over again. Mitch loved his ears as well, he wanted to keep them. Ha ha.
Just another picture of my sweet boy!
Loved this picture he had a little life in him this day. Most days he just layed around like the picture above.
This was his favorite spot in the car. I swear you could have seat belted him in.
Sometimes he would lay down. When he was a puppy he always layed his head down on my hand. You can tell he doesn't feel good, he needed some love from his mom.
Another favorite thing was his scar. It was sad, but it was what made him Brodie. Before I had him he was with his first Grandma and she was carrying a pot of boiled potatoes and she tripped over him at her feet. The water spilled on his head and body. Well his first mom didn't take him to the vet for over a week until I threatened to take him in myself. Poor guy had to go everyday to get his burn treated. They were surprised actually at how well it healed, but it would have healed better had he been taken in earlier. Everytime we went out to dog parks, or anywhere in public people would always ask. I got tired of it so I just started saying he was a rescue dog.
This was the last day of his life. He was no longer eating anything (the cancer was all over inside his body). All he would eat was the snow. I walked outside to Mitch digging into the hard snow (crying), to give it to Brodie. It was so sad.
I had been telling Brodie all week that I didn't want to make the decision when to put him down. I didn't want to give up his fight for him. Well on sunday he came in to our room and told me he was done. We called and made an appointment for the next day. We took him with us in the car, we had some errands and family pictures. I didn't want to leave him alone when he was so sick.
We had to go say goodbye to Aunt Shyla and his best friend and girlfriend Tacoma. He loved these two and they were his babysitters when we were out of town. He was always so excited at the mention of either or their names. Tacoma knew something was wrong and she didn't like it, so she avoided him.
He fell into the car as we left Shyla's house and when we got home he wouldn't get out of the car. I carried him into the house and layed him on the couch. Eventually he climbed off and layed on the floor. A few minutes after that my sewing machine just stopped working. I laid by him but he wouldn't look at me. I grabbed his face in my hands and realized he was having a hard time leaving me. That he would miss me, so I told him it was okay to go. He started breathing really heavy, but waited for Mitch his dad to say goodbye. Then he slowly passed away at home, like his mom asked him to do. The days that followed were so hard, you forget they are gone. I would wake up and expect to see him peer around the corner only to be reminded again he was gone. Or coming home from work expecting to be greeted by a happy dog, again reminded. Its like waking up and having water taken away. He was something constant in my life and suddenly he was gone. I still miss him, and even writing this makes my cry. I had him for exactly four years. I got him the week before Christmas and he died at midnight the monday before Christmas. He was an amazing dog who won over the hearts of many non dog lovers. I hope to see him again if we get our dogs back in heaven.
