Bernadette got me thinking about our pets that have left us and I wanted to tell you all about Ryker, who lives on in my avatar.
Ryker was a three year old rescue, other than his age, we didn't know his history. He came to us with some problems, nothing a vet couldn't fix and he quickly endeared himself to us and our other two Dalmatians. Occasionally, he'd get out of the house or yard and quicky shuffle down the sidewalk in an attempt to "go walk-about" his head hung low and his eyes forward. I'd run after him yelling for him to stop. I could imagine him thinking, "If I don't see him, he doesn't see me." I'd finally catch up to him and tap his butt and he'd stop with the embarassed look of, "OK, you caught me. I know I'm not supposed to be out," turn and shuffle home (occasionally he'd pass the house and try the same trick only going the other direction).
He was as devoted to us as we were to him. He'd wake from a nap and if he found himself alone in the room he'd start wailing that he'd been abandoned - without even getting up to see that we were in the next room.
He was a husky boy, a by-product of being a rescue, we think. He could polish a bowl of food in seconds. We tried to get him to relax and free-feed. He gained 25 lbs before we called that experiment a failure.
This is his last picture. He wasn't feeling well and the little boy across the street put the stuffed animal to keep him company. We took him to the vet and an ultrasound eventually disclosed the stomach cancer. He died on the operating table. He was seven years old. This was three years ago and I still miss him terribly; I'm in tears as I write this. He was his daddy's boy...
It hurts to loose a pet, I lost another one only ten days after Ryker. But that's another "tail".
Tell me about those that have touched your hearts.