It was 12 years ago we adopted you from Brother Wolf. They said you were 2 years old. We thought only 1 since you still had a puppy face. You were dumped with your 11 six week old puppies. You were starved and abused and unsuitable for hunting. Since you were afraid of loud noises. We met Denise in the hospital parking lot. You were skinny, shivering, afraid of your own shadow.
It was 6 weeks before we could let you off a leash without fear of you taking off. From that day on you had the life most dogs only dream of. You had the run of 2 acres of woods. You ran through the woods in pitch black, howling at nothing. You’d tree possums and raccoons and sit there howling for hours.
I remember you running down our road. Those Coonhound ears flopping up and down. You were still acting like a puppy, even though you were 10 years old. You’d go flying though our yard at breakneck speed. You loved roughhousing with Trouble. You helped keep her young. She’s now 15 years old, still running, and it’s you I’m having to say goodbye to. You are 13, but it seems like yesterday we took you in.
Your life of running has ruined your hips. We had to give you medication just so you could get up without yelping. But now the medication is no longer working. You wander around, confused, lost. It breaks our hearts watching you trying to get up. When you stand in the corner, staring at the wall. When you wandered into the woods and I had to help you because you didn’t know where you were. And your legs wouldn’t get you up the hill.
But our hearts are breaking knowing we’ll never hear you howl again. At Christmas you made everyone laugh when you sang with the Hallmark Jingle Bells decoration. Or when you howled when the phone rang. When we were outside, we couldn’t hear the phone. But we heard you howl. We’ll miss seeing you in front of the fireplace. We’ll miss seeing you sun yourself on the deck in the summer. We’ll miss taking you on hikes and camping. We’ll miss you licking our faces the most.
I promise that I will be with you to the end. My face will be the last thing you see before you cross the Rainbow Bridge. Your pain will be gone and you can run again with our beloved Pooh Bear. Your last breath will be taken on your bed. In front of the fireplace you love so much. I hope you know how much you are loved. How much you’re going to be missed by everyone that met you. RIP my sweet, adorable Ginger