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My dog was my guiding angel
by Anika Currie
I was 4 when I got Pedro, he was the scruffiest looking 'mut' at the pound and only very young. I fell in love with him and mum paid the $5 and we took him home to become part of our family. He was a cross terrier that looked something like a miniature irish wolfhound, white shaggy and with a black patch over his ear and eye, and despite a few initial antics was very well behaved and a great watch dog. I spent many years confiding in him, bringing him to school for show and tell which he loved. He didn't really have to be trained, he seemed to know.
He developed a lump on his leg when he was 13 which we had checked out but it was ok. I was so thankful. A year later we noticed the lump had grown so it was off to another vet as we'd moved. The biopsy showed cancer, so rapid that he only had a short time left. The vet said, "I'm sorry there's nothing left to do, just take him home and love him as much as possible, you'll know when the time's right". He wouldn't die in his sleep unfortunately so two months later when I went down to him to take his breakfast, he just looked at me so sadly that I knew it was time. Mum and I cried all the way to the vets and we stayed with him. The vet left us alone with him so we could say our goodbyes. It was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do but it wasn't fair on him to keep him alive. Those eyes knew and I think he realised what we were doing was right. We had him cremated and he sits in my room along with his photo and collar on the box.
The next day I sat at the computer and wrote down everything I remembered about him. I'll never stop missing him, he was so much more than a pet, he was a family member. I still get tears thinking about him, even writing this but how could a person not. They say time heals and I suppose it does a bit but it never stops us remembering those special members of our family.
They say every cloud has a silver lining and I think this 'cloud' has. When I went back to collect Pedro's ashes a week later the vet offered me an apprenticeship to train as a veterinary technician. I took up the offer as I've always loved animals and looked upon this as a way that I could help other animals too. I've now done 9 months and love it.
If it hadn't been for Pedro I don't know what my life's chosen career would have been. I'd only just graduated a few months earlier and living in a new town in a new state was in a bit of a lost state myself. I'm sure if it hadn't been for Pedro I'd have ended up elsewhere as I've been told by so many people that I was extremely lucky as jobs are so scarce in this town. Thankyou Pedro, I'm sure this was all thanks to you. I miss you so much.
Comments would be appreciated by the
author, Anika Curri
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