Last weekend the English Bulldog in my neighborhood passed away. His name was Tiberious.I saw his owner was about to open the front door of his car. And there was a big stuff covered with the white sheet lying on the ground by his feet. At the moment I saw them, I thought "oh no, he couldn't make it." I just heard that Tiberious was fighting through the difficult physical condition, in the evening right before he passed away. His owner was very worried about him especially he had to leave him alone at home while he went to work. So I was going to offer the owner that I was pleased to watch Tiberious during daytime.
Having walked up to the owner, I noticed his eyes were bloodshot and still holding tears. "I couldn't sleep all night..." He just said. "Are you ok? Do you want me to come with you?" Couldn't I say something more different? Something I could make him better or relaxed? No, there was no such things that moment. I helped him to put Tiberious into the car. I still felt his templeature through the white sheet. His body felt so soft and if I gave him some massage now, his heart would be able to beat again. That's what I was thinking.
"Make sure to have a safe drive." "I will..." Having left our last conversation, he started engine and drove away. It was so ironic that I just came back from walking my dogs. But my mind completely went to Tiberious and his owner that time. Then I started to think; how I would be, when I had to say good-bye to my dogs. I adopted two dogs at the same time, right before Thanksgiving 2009 - Chihuahua mix twin sisters. I don't think they will leave me at one time. That means I will have to go through this last moment twice...
This is the crutial moment for anyone who owns not only dogs but any animals as their family. We can never avoid it and we have to be responsible with the last moment. The average life of dogs is about 10~12 years (**see note). "Dogs live in such short life with showing infinite royalty and love to their owners. How could we return it to them while they are still around." Somone told me that and I always think about it and never forget it.
After a couple of days after Tiberious passed away, I just happened to talked to one of my neighbors who adores my dogs and also owns a pug, Lilian. She'll be 16 years old this July 3rd. We were talking about Tiberious and he showed me the big scalf with the beautiful floral prints all over. "I will cover up Lilian with this when the moment comes." I was shocked by what he told me. "No, you should think about how we'll celebrate Lilian's 16th Birthday now." In the meantime I thought, "how I would treat my dogs' bodies when they had to go." They are still 5 or 6 years old so hopefully they are strong enough to survive ten more years as Lilian does. However the moment will definitely come.
Probably my tears would drop all over their small bodies and I wouldn't help myself...
"Dear Tiberious,
You gave your person your infinite love and filled his life with lots of joys. Your soul lives in him forever and he never forgets how much you loved him and keep loving him."
** note: Nearly 40% of small breed dos live longer than 10 years, but only 13% of giant breed dogs live that long. The average 50lbs dog will live 10~12 years. But giant breeds such as great Danes or Deerhounds are elderly at 6 to 8 years.
