This is hard, my keyboard will be wet while I type this, but I know that this will help. This past weekend we had to put down our most wonderful dog Fleetwood. She was a beagle and we were so fortunate because she was 17 yrs old. She had a wonderful long life, there really is nothing more you can want from a dog then what we were lucky enough to share with her.
When I met my husband it was a package deal. Here was this big strong manly-man with this sweet little beagle. A perfect compliment to me an almost 5'3 girl who came with this big shepard/collie/wolf dog. That was 13 yrs ago, it was the start to our family. We were living in Colorado at the time, and there was lots of hiking, camping, traveling, and freedom for our dogs - a good life. Fleetwood was brave enough to stare down black bears, intimidate big dogs and climb a mountain. She had endless acres to do what beagles to best, and that is put her nose to the ground and sniff out rabbits.
When she was 9 yrs old she had my complete respect when she produced a liter of puppies! Not planned, but boy-oh-boy did she manage it well. At one point right after my husband and I got married and moved to a new town, we had 11 dogs - crazy. It was amazing to watch her momma instict kick in and see how wonderful she was. We found good homes for all the pups, but had to keep one. So, our family had grown to now 3 dogs.
A bit of time had past and we now had one daughter and 3 dogs, and a move to Wisconsin. Life was still great for our dogs. We lived on a 20 acre farm with lots of room to roam for dogs and kids. We had to say good-bye to my big dog in Wisconsin, he was 13 and it was his time. Shortly after that we had our 2nd daughter.
My girls are now 7 and just about 5. We are now living in New York, back where it all started for us. My husband and both grew up in New York and Fleetwood was born here as well. As each year went on in her life and with all the changes in her life, we have always been amazed at her spunk, love, and character, she was truly the dog that just kept going.
Recently we adjusted to her not really being able to hear so well. I had to put bells on her collar so that I always knew where she was at on our property. We noticed slowly that we had to hoist her up on the bed, and that the stairs seemed a bit more challenging each day. Her love and spirit were there, but it was obvious that her body was slowing down tremendously. My husband and I had agreed that at her age we would not seek invasive answers to what was going on with her. We wanted her to be comfortable and not in pain, but we knew that at 17 it was not fair to keep her going and try to eek out a few more months of the inevitable.
It was hard knowing what we were going to lose. Day in and day out we are all together. Our dogs are such a huge part of our family, and we were saying good-bye to the one who had been with us the longest. We were so happy for Fleetwood that she had such a great life, and that she could be in a happier place and not be in pain. We are sad for ourselves.
We broke the news to our daughters that Fleetwood was no longer with us. This was their first experience with death. They cried, we all cried, but my husband and I were both amazed at the strength and comfort we found in explaining it all to them. My children are my gift of strength.
So on Saturday, where her life began we said good-bye to here under an apple tree. We feel blessed that we get to keep a part of her in our dog Bernie her special puppy that we kept. We truly wear our hearts on our sleeves when it comes to our pets. They fill such a special place in our lives. I would not trade a minute of these tears for the joy of the past 17yrs of a great dogs life.
