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| A Woofie with Jasper at the vet |
The other day, I noticed a post on Facebook from my
niece and nephew who were celebrating the 14th birthday of their Chocolate
Lab, Magnum. He even had a birthday cake. Mags is a very big dog and has defied the
odds with his longevity. That is cause for celebration. In the photo, he looked a little long in the tooth, with his grey muzzle and his distant gaze, but he
also looked content, in a home full of dog lovers. From
a chart I saw in the vets office the other day, I learned that the “dog years” scale
varies considerably, depending on the size of the dog. Seems as if lately I’ve
heard about a lot of friends losing their old pets. I’ve seen several Facebook
posts wherein people have mourned the loss or imminent loss of their pets, and
while this always makes me sad, I cannot imagine my life without a dog in it.
We went through a lot of dogs in the Oppenheimer
family over the years, and I can remember each one clearly. Not all our dogs
were legendary, but there were a few who were, and regardless, I loved them all. We had Standard
Poodles for a while, and I think poodles get a bad rap. Poodles are wonderful
dogs; very intelligent, and affectionate. My favorite Poodle was Taboo, or
Tabby as we called her, and whenever we took her in for her semi-annual visit
to the groomers, afterward, she’d run out into the backyard and roll in the mud
and grass to de-poodle herself. I don’t know what my mother was thinking, but she
once brought home a fox hound puppy, whom we named “Sam”. Kennel dogs do not
make good “indoor” dogs. Sam lasted about six months, and he was more destructive
than all our other dogs combined. He finally ended up on a nearby farm, and then
mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter. Soon
thereafter, my mom made the unpopular decision to buy two Yorkshire Terrier puppies,
and they were yappy little bastards. Nicky and Chipper weren’t as bad as Sam, but they were far from my favorite dogs. They did have a lot of personality.
Nicky was tolerable, but Chipper was the Eddie Haskell of dogs. One night I
came home after a long night of partying and found myself locked out of the
house. Chipper saw that I was locked out, stared at me, smiled at my dilemma,
then lifted his leg on a nearby stair and ran away. Years later, when I was in
university, I got a long, newsy letter from my dad, which I read in the school library.
At the end of the letter was a short post script, which read: “PS, Mom ran over
Chipper in the driveway by accident, but she’s ok.” That is, my mom was ok,
Chipper was toast. Karma’s a bitch.
After the Yorkies, we switched to Corgis and had five
of those over the next twenty years. Although they too were noisy dogs, Corgies
are great dogs. When I moved up to Toronto, the Taylor family had Miniature
Schnauzers, and I have grown to love them as well. They are an acquired taste.
Presently we have Jasper, a grey Miniature Schnauzer who turned 13 last May. Like
all our Schnauzers have been, Jasper is full of personality and “schtick”. Sadly,
she is getting old, and we are beginning to prepare ourselves for the day when
we will lose her. She seems to be in the beginning stages of dementia, and her
personality has changed. We have finally found a very good vet we trust, and we’ll
do what we can for her. As much as I rue the day when we will lose Jasper, and
I hope we have another year or two, I won’t allow her to suffer. I’ve never had
to do this before; my mom was always the one who took our dogs to the vets to
be euthanized. This is all very new to me, and of course, Shauna and I are emotionally
attached to Jasper. I just hope when the time comes the decision is clear.
It’s the harsh reality of pet ownership that our pet’s
lives will be a fraction of ours. Hopefully we have some more time with Jasper,
but Shauna and I will be by her side when she passes, and she could not have found parents who love her more. Shauna whispered in her
ear the other night; imploring her to come back to us in another dog when her
spirit leaves her body. I’d like to think a part of her will.
.
- Written by
Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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