Man's Best Friend

            I don’t know when it happened, but she was huffing and puffing.  She could barely get up.  Because she was fourteen years old I thought that she was suffering from the hot weather, after all, it was starting to become spring and the heat wave had been horrible for the past few days.  Being a pug, she had too much fur around her. 

            I don’t remember what I was doing before I was picked up from the after school.  I was about to turn six and my birthday party was in about two weeks.  I remembered because the clown almost tripped over my dog’s bone on the porch.  Mom walked into the room and gave me a kiss and a big hug.  She told me that she had a surprise for me at home and that was why she was picking up earlier then usual.  I will never forget what I saw when I walked through our front door.  I open it and saw a cage in the kitchen and inside the cage was a cute puppy!  I opened the cage and the puppy ran towards me and started licking my face and running around her new surroundings. 

“She needs a name,” my mother told me. 

“Daisy,” I said because it was my favorite flower. 

            I told my mom I was taking Daisy to the vet.  My mother saw her condition and thought it was a good idea.  I wrapped her in a towel and my mother and I got into my car.  My mom drove and sat in the back, petting her.  But even though I was petting her, she seemed to not notice that I was there.  The ride was about fifteen minuets to the vet.  I was afraid she was having a heat stroke.  Mom could not find a parking spot so she dropped me off at the front.  I picked up Daisy and stood at the front door.  I could not open it, but luckily a nurse opened the door and grabbed a cart that I could place Daisy in.  The front desk called “the code” and took her away from me.  When my mom came in, I told her that they took Daisy into the back room and the front desk told us to wait in the waiting room.  I did not know what to expect, but I thought it was just a simple heating stroke.

            I was playing in the backyard when the accident happened.  I did not see two-year-old Daisy behind me and I swung the club behind me to hit the ball off the tee.  I accidentally hit her in the head!  She started to have a seizure and was foaming at the mouth.  My mom grabbed her and took her in the car.  I had to go too since I was too young to stay home alone.  The nurse carried her into the back room and my mom and I waited in the waiting room.  We were told that Daisy’s brain swelled and she was taken into surgery immediately however her chances of surviving her very slim.  I cried in my mom’s arm and we prayed to God, Jesus, Mary, and St. Francis, the saint of animals.  We sang songs and my mom told me stories.  Eventually we had to go home.  The next day we got a call that the surgery went well and that in a few days we would be able to take Daisy home.  She was a very tough girl!

            They called Daisy’s name and my mom and I were taken to one of the rooms.  The vet walked in with a folder with our dog’s name on it.  She told us that Daisy was in critical conditions and they put her in ICU.  She was dehydrated and had low blood pressure.  The vet said they were giving her fluids and sugar and that she would be watched twenty-four seven.  She was also upset that Daisy was not responding to any human interaction such as when a person pet her.  She told us what they could do but that if it got worse, then there was nothing else they could do.  My mom looked at me when the vet was done talking.  We asked the vet to leave us in private.

“Treatment.  We need to give her treatment,” I told my mom.

“We don’t have that much money, we can only go so far, sweet heart,” she told me.

“Let her stay tonight and we will see what happens tomorrow,” I told her.  My mother agreed.  She told the vet and gave her our phone number in case anything changed. 

            Before leaving, the vet took us into ICU to say good-bye to Daisy for the night.  She was in an oxygen tank so she could breathe and she was breathing perfectly.  She was sleeping too and looked all right and the vet opened the door so we could pet her.  I petted Daisy but she did not acknowledge that I was there.  Before leaving for the night, my tears started to come out.  Not because Daisy was in ICU or because she was not responding to me, but because the vet gave us her collar.  On her collar one of the tags was a tag I got for her for Christmas from a pet store.  The tag was in the shape of a small heart and it said her name, our address, and phone number.  Another tag was so that people knew she was up to date on her shots and the last and final tag got to me because it was a tag I got for her for her fourteenth birthday.  On one side was St. Francis with a dog and on the back was a short prayer for him to protect my dog.  That was what really made me cry. 

            For a surprise small vacation, my mom took me to the hotel that was three towns over.  They also allowed pets so we took Daisy too.  Our window in the hotel over looked the pool and as any little kid I wanted to go swimming, especially since it was an indoor pool and it was winter.  The next morning, right before breakfast, my mom and I went downstairs to go swimming and we looked up at our room and at the window we saw Daisy, staring down at us.  We waved to her and yelled her name. 

            After swimming for a while my mom and I returned to our room but there was no Daisy!  We thought she went under the bed or was stuck in the bathroom but she was not there.  Then we noticed that our beds were made and guessed that Daisy got out when room service came to clean.  We called the front desk and they told us where to find her.  She was in a room on a different floor.  We were amazed to find her in a room with two hotel workers and the room she was in was a suite!  She was being treated as a princess!  We thank them for everything and took Daisy back with us. 

            I held on to the collar during the ride home.  I cried and cried because I was worried about Daisy.  Once we got home, I could not keep my mind off Daisy and worrying about her.  To get my mind off about worrying about her my mom took me out.  At first we went shopping for stuff that my grandmother needed and afterwards we went out to dinner and then to a movie.  By the time we got home, it was almost one in the morning.  Then my mom’s cell phone rang and she answered it.  I was hoping for good news but at one in the morning, it could only be bad news.  When my mom was done she hung up and looked at me.

“What happened?” I asked, knowing that I was going to hear bad news.

“Daisy had a seizure and is not responding to the treatment.  We will go there tomorrow morning when they open, she’s not going to come home,” 

            I got scared when I watched Daisy walk into walls.  I did not understand why she was walking so funny.  My mom and I watched her and I told her that we had to take her to the vet.  Mom said she wasn’t sure if they were open during the holidays but I told her that they had to be for emergencies.  Daisy was now eleven, an old lady, and I was sixteen.  My mom had to drive us to the vet because I did not have a driver’s license, yet. The vet picked her up and examined her and then wanted to put her on the ground to see her walk.  Once Daisy’s paws it the ground, she ran towards us!  She did not like the vet or nurses.  She never did, not even as a puppy.  The vet could only conclude that Daisy had a stroke in the middle of the night and can now only move half her body.  After the visit we took Daisy home.  Although Daisy was now partly blind (due to her puppy accident when I hit her), partly deaf, and could only move half her body she could still walk, run (if she was up to it), and go up and down stairs.  Although she struggled but she always tried and could still do whatever she wanted if she put her mind to it.  She was a very tough dog, she never gave up. 

            My mom and I woke up at six and planned to be at the vet around six thirty.  During the ride I was preparing myself for our final decision.  I left her collar at home because I knew we were not going to need it.  When we arrived my mom and I were afraid to get out of our cars but we had to. 

            The nurse took us to a special room.  The room had two comfortable chairs, pamphlets, and wide open space.  The vet came in and asked us our final decision.  We told him and he said that it was for the best, especially since her body was now failing.  The vet left and then came back in with Daisy on a cart.  He said he gave Daisy a medication so she could at least lift her head.  Daisy lifted her head and looked at us with her big eyes.  I petted her and this time she responded, although I thought it was a miracle, I knew it was only the medication.  Mom signed a paper that said we approved the doctor tested the IV to make sure it was working and that nothing would go wrong.  Then he injected the special medicine into the IV. 

“I love you,” I told Daisy before her eyes started to close.  Once she closed her eyes my tears started to go down my cheek.  The clock said 6:45 in the morning.  In less than one minute I knew that she was gone.  The doctor checked and said one thing. 

“I’m sorry for your loss,”

            For a very long time I was afraid of the dark as a kid.  From when I was little until my final years in middle school.  Although mom did not like it, I allowed Daisy onto my bed so that something that was living could be next to me.  Sometimes I went into mom’s bed and slept with her, but when I was older I replaced her with Daisy.  Daisy snored a lot but I became so used to it as a little kid that it put me right to sleep although mom complained.  When I was a bit older, I kept Daisy on my bed not just because a living thing was near me but because I believe that animals have sixth sense, so I thought that if Daisy started to bark at a wall or shadow then I would know that something was wrong.  Although it never happen, but I knew that she was there and that I was safe.  She protected me.  Once I got into high school, Daisy started to have difficulty jumping onto my bed, so I got her dog bed that I placed next to my bed.  She no longer had to sleep in my bed to protect me and it still made me feel better since I could hear her snoring.  Then when I got into college, Daisy started to sleep in my mom’s room and she did not mind.  On vacations she slept back in my room.  Since I could remember she always comforted me when I was scared.  When I cried she came towards me as if telling me, “I’m here, don’t be afraid.  Don’t be sad.  I will always be here,”

            A week later we received her ashes and we put them on a shelf next to her collar.  No one would probably notice as ashes next to all the antiques and stuff that my mom had inheritated from dead relatives.  But I was very upset and sad.  I wanted my protector and friend back.  I wanted to know that she was okay, where ever she is.  I wanted to know if she knew that I really loved her and miss her terribly. 

            One night when mom was asleep, shortly after I came home for good from college after my first year I picked up Daisy’s ashes and held them as I sat on the couch.  I cried and my tears fell on her container.  I petted the container as if Daisy was on my lap.  I missed her fur and her shape, being a pug, she was really round.  I missed her round face looking at me and then laying it down on my lap.  I wish I could hold her and pet her body one last time, but instead I had a container, but it was good enough for me.  As long as her ashes were in there. 

            I started to talk to her and not just her, but to God too.  I told her that I missed her and that I hope she was okay and happy.  I told her we would be together again just not as soon.  I asked God, Jesus, Mary, and any saints I could think of to watch over her and give her love in heaven.  After talking to the air, I put the container back on the shelf and went to bed. 

            I had a dream that night that I could never forget.  I was sitting on my couch and Daisy was there.  I picked her up and put her on my lap and petted her.  I was so happy!  I did not believe it was a dream.  After petting her I put her down on the floor.  She looked at me as if telling me this was good-bye but that she was happy.  She started to walk away into the distance and she was gone.  And all I could do was yell at her one thing.

“I love you!” 

“You’ll be in my heart,

yes you’ll be in my heart,

from this day on, now and forever more,”

            - Phil Collins “You’ll Be in My Heart”

Dedicated to Pugsley: Feburary 28^th 1998 – April 22^nd 2012

- The best pug in the world who only wanted to make everyone happy.  I will miss you and God bless you.