our beloved labrador max

JohnW · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject:

Stay positive Wendy. It's such a hard time but you must think of all the good times you have had. These dogs are so important to us but we are also important to them and staying strong is one of the ways we can make things slightly easier for them.

Regards, John

Lorri-Ann · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:22 pm Post subject:

So sorry to hear about Max.

All my sympathies and thoughts go out to you and your family.
As John has said try and stay strong for Max, i know what you are going through as i went through the same kind of thing last year with my old German Shephard who had a hip tumour.

Use everyone here for all the support and help that you may need. We will all be here for you.

elliemay · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:24 pm Post subject:

So sorry to hear about Max. I'm sure you'll know, with the help of your vet when the time comes to let him go but you have to be strong now and take each day as it comes. Like others have said, try and focus on the good times.
Praying for you all.

littlelab · Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

Wendy

At times like this, now words can comfort you or make things better, you feel so guilty, for being so impotent and you want to scream at the world, to the higher powers...why me?...why my dog?.. Be strong for him.

Enjoy the time you have left with Max, cherish every moment, every breath, take him on that special walk, treat him to his favorite food, and then when the day comes, he will let you know that you he has to make that last journey, do it together and let him know how much you truly love him, he will know, that its your ast gift of love that you give him and help him on his way to Rainbow Bridge, and when he wakes in the arms of God he will know that no dog was ever loved more that he was.

Take care xxx

littlelab · Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:20 pm Post subject:

A Living Love
by Martin Scot Kosins

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember.... The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend.

You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simple because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep when you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you--you will feel as lone as a single star in the dark night.

If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.

But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own--seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.

And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg--very very lightly.

And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay--you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart--As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.

But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when--along with the memory of your pet--and piercing through the heaviness in your heart--there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love--like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets--it is a Love we will always possess.

AlfiesMum · Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:53 pm Post subject:

i am so very sorry to hear your sad news Wendy!!!

I'm thinking of you all xxx