Chester's Story by Kimberly Wilk

Chester's Story

by Kimberly Wilk

Chester was a black and tan minature dachshund. His orginal owner couldn't keep him any more due to his children's allergies. Chester went from home to home for two years until he got to ours in 1994. My little sister, Jocelyn, wanted him so bad and my parents, the dog lovers that they are gave in. Chester hated car rides at the beginning as he thought he was being moved to another home. It took a while but he finally trusted us and realized he had found his home. He had such personality! He loved squeeky toys and treats and had a bladder that was made of steel! At the time we got Chester, we had another dachshund named Heidi and a cat named Marmalade. They became best friends. Marm was a stray cat that we adopted. Chester and Marmalade had a love/hate relationship. They would bug eachother one minute and the next they would curled up sleeping together! Marmalade had to be put down when he was around sixteen as he had renal failure. Heidi had a hard life as well. When she was six her back went and we were told her chances were not good; but we found a very special vet, Dr. Abbey and he got Heidi to walk again without having to go through any surgeries. We had to put Heidi down when she was sixteen just for months after Marmalade as she had a stroke and was in a lot of pain. We all took her death hard including Chester. My parents live on a acreage and in the back of the yard we have a pet cemetary. All of our animals are buried there. After Heidi died, Chester would go to her grave every moring and sit there. Christmas of 2000 was a trying time for Chester. My mom gave Chester a ham bone to chew on and a peice of cartalige got lodged in his intestine. He had to have emergancy surgery on Christmas Eve. He made a full recovery and he now got to eat Shredded Wheats every morning as he lost six inches of his large instestine. My mom and Chester were very close as my dad worked out of town and Chester was her companion. Then the unthinkable happened. My mom was killed in a car accident in September of 2001. Chester was lost without her and he became very attached to my dad. My dad said that Chester was the one who helped him deal with the loss of my mom; Chester was his counciler. Chester adjusted well and my older sister, Nicole's dachshund, Emma moved in with my dad which gave Chester a new best friend.(My sister had to move in to town and Emma was very unhappy as she is a country dog through and through so my sister deceided to give Emma to my dad.) Everything was going so well for the last three years, we all had adjusted to life without my mom. Then on August 31, 2004, I got a phone call from Nicole. She told me my dad's neighbour's dog attacked Chester and that he was going to have to be put down. I rushed to the emergancy animal hospital and saw Chester in so much pain. The vet told us it was the worst case of skin ripping he had ever seen and he said that he wouldn't even know how to start repairing it. Chester was given pain killers and a seditive but he still cried. That's when my dad made the decision to put him down. I didn't want to see his wound so I don't know how bad it was but judging from the pain he was in I knew it had to be bad. Nicole went to get the vet and I said good-bye. I told him that I loved him and that he was a good boy. I told him mom would be waiting for him and he could chase gofers with Heidi. I gave him a kiss and left the room. Nicole and my dad stayed with him as the vet gave him the shot. The next thing we had to do was call Jocelyn and let her know. She is living up in Peace River and we didn't want her to know till after it was done. That was another hard call to make for me. (I was the one who told both my sisters about our mom's accident). We then took Chester home and buried him beside Heidi and Marmalade. We laid him in a box and wrapped him up in a sweater that was my mom's and put a rose from the bush he loved to pee on in his paws. Emma took it very hard and stared crying and shaking when he was being buried. My dog, Howard (yes another dachshund) was also very upset, when my husband and I took him out to my dad's place he kept running around the house looking for Chester. My dad's birthday is coming up and we told him that when he is ready, his gift from us three girls is a new dachshund puppy! We know that no dog will ever replace Chester but in past exprience we found a new puppy helps in the healing. Our animals are a big part of our family. They are our children. We miss Chester very much and love him dearly! As I sit here writting this I know in my heart that Chester is up in Heaven with my mom playing with all the squeeky toys and eating all the treats his little heart desires!

Comments would be appreciated by the author, Kimberly Wil