29 March 2013

Another Awful Day

So we had another awful day in the series of awful days. 

We had to put our dog down yesterday.  I wish that it was because she was thirteen years old or because she was sick.  Instead, we had an accident.

The dogs, Missy & Lucky, always run along side of the vehicles when we come up the driveway.  Yesterday as I was going from one house to the next in the 4runner, both dogs were running next to me.  I don't know what happened but somehow Missy got in front of my truck and I hit her.  I never saw her, she usually runs alongside the door.

I stopped and got out while she yelled at me then she laid down in the driveway.  I called Kevin and then called his dad.  While Kevin came home, his dad helped me try to figure out how badly she was hurt.  Then my sister-in-law's father also came up to sit with us. 

Missy didn't complain, she just laid down and tried to catch her breath.  I called the vet who, of course, wanted us to bring her down.  As I was talking to Kevin on the phone, Missy got up, walked over to me, and stood.  She let me pet her for quite a little while before laying back down by my feet.

Kevin got home and Missy got up to see him.  He petted her, trying to figure out what was wrong.  We backed the parents van up to her to take her to the vet and this superhero of a dog helped us put her in the van.   She couldn't jump up but she sure tried.

We drove down to the vet and on the way, Missy sat up and began to watch out the window.  Her tail would wag a little when Kevin called back to her.  I began to think that she was going to be fine.

The vet actually crawled into the back of the van with Kevin to check out Missy.  His name is Jason and he seems like a great person.  He said that Missy was having troubles breathing and he would take her for an exam and x-rays. 
Kevin and Jason wrapped Missy up and took her into the exam room. 

Missy is an alpha dog, she doesn't like other dogs - other than Lucky - but she likes people.  I think she thinks she is a people.  But at the vet, she is the most passive dog on the planet.  She actually kind of snuggled against the vet when he took her. 

It took about twenty minutes for the exam and the vet came out.  He showed us the x-ray to show us her injuries.  She had broken ribs and internal damage.  Even if she was a young dog, her prognosis was dire.

Again, Jason the vet is a wonderful person.  He just presented the facts then simply stated that it was in Missy's best interest to be put down. 

Kevin just lost it.  I was already crying and the vet had to swallow hard a few times as well.  He left us in the exam room and we left shortly thereafter.

I feel awful.  I can't believe that it happened and I can't believe that I was the one that hit the dog. On the other hand, I'm glad it was me and not Kevin.  He would never forgive himself, not that I think I ever will.


Goodbye you crazy, old dog