A Dog’s House

I wrote the following piece 3 weeks ago on a Thursday morning on my way back home from Colorado to Florida. When I write a Jeff’s Journal it always has to be real estate related. 71% of the U.S. households have a pet with the majority being a dog so this fit the bill. The article though was a narrative I authored more for myself as I needed to sort out my thoughts as a way of therapy. I ended up shelving the account for good reason. But decided to publish it now for equally as good a reason. If you are a pet owner, read it to the end as what occurred might someday save your furry friend.

A Tail of a Dog’s House

A house doesn’t become its best home without a dog or cat. At least I think so.

Often the most important part of shopping for a home is not thinking about your needs but your dogs. Is a dog allowed? Are there weight and breed restrictions? Or a pooch park to play? Is there a doggy friendly beach nearby?

I’ve seen people move for the sole reason of wanting more yard space for their fur baby. Parts of the house matter. A primary bedroom upstairs might not be good for an older dog. I had one person move from a busy street to a cul-de-sac because their dogs (8) would bark and bark and bark at all the cars going by.

Our dog Chloe has utilized all of the house. Racing up and down the stairs. Having us chase her around the family room glass table as I would feel my age trying to catch her. Another part of the house that was key was having a long distance area to throw a ball and play fetch over and over. The funny Halloween costumes. We even use the swimming pool as she loved to race Jade from one end to the other.

Chloe has done road trips with us. She has been on hurricane escapes. Once to the Smoky Mountain National Park. Another trip all the way to Albany New York to visit our in-laws.

Chloe always has been Jade’s dog. There to sit with her doing homework and cuddle from pressures of teenage years. We took her to see Jade and stop her from feeling homesick at camp and later at FSU. A surprise visit from Chloe is the best medicine.

Chloe loved the pandemic as everyone was home. Or maybe she really thought, “don’t you guys have somewhere to go?”

This week I was on a guy’s trip in Colorado with 2 grammar school friends. On Tuesday, my wife told me she was taking Chloe to the vet as she was vomiting. On Wednesday I got the call. Chloe has blockage from a foreign object and needs emergency surgery. Problem is she is 14 and has lung cancer, a heart murmur, and lots of other things. After a long call with the surgeon exploring every option, the odds of her surviving the surgery and then living a happy and comfortable life were low. All of her other conditions and the fact that she has maybe 6 months to a year to live without addressing the other areas made the decision to euthanize her the right decision as we didn’t want her to suffer.

Next, I had to call Jade which was the hardest call of my life. I couldn’t even talk. Jade is overseas for a month on a graduation trip. We didn’t want to burden her but she is coming home on Friday. She is an adult now and not the eight year old little girl when Chloe first arrived. If we had to put her down before she arrived home, Jade needed to know to not be in shock. As of writing this the plan is for me to fly back so all of us can say our goodbyes. Having a veterinarian come to our house for hospice so she passes with family at home is a choice if she is not in pain.

I’m dreading the echos that are coming. Not hearing the pitter pater. The welcoming brigade when opening the garage door. The barking on a zoom call. The little snuggle at night. Even being woken at 3:30am when she started walking down the stairs from our bed when she needed to go to the bathroom over the last year. I’d say “F***” and then be glad to help.

I’ll miss that. A lot more than I can describe in words.

My mom has a saying about dogs. Just as you get to know them, it’s time to say goodbye.

Clo – We loved watching you grow
When we were feeling low there was our Clo
You ran to see us faster than a crow.
And even when you got slow – you went with the flow.
Losing you is going to be quite the blow.
Clo – We love your glow.

Goodbye Chloe

________________________________________________________________________________________________

I finished the above on Thursday morning at 7am waiting to take off from Colorado. I figured I would publish it with a few tweaks. So, here is the completed dog’s tail…. I arrived at Fort Lauderdale at 3:30pm and got home back home at 5:30pm. Jade was arriving at 5:30pm in Miami and would get to our house at 8pm. We hoped Chloe would make it to see us but if she couldn’t, my wife, Veronica and son, Sam would bring Chloe to the Vet. We didn’t want her to suffer. Best case, the Vet coming to the house to euthanize at our home agreed to delay her visit to 9:30pm so Jade could spend some time for her goodbyes.

I arrived on schedule and went up to Sam’s room. Chloe hadn’t had any water or food all day. We went downstairs to a cool spot to snuggle with her. After a half hour of tapping on her water bowl she had some sips. I was happy as did not want her to dehydrate and her body to go into pain and shock. Then Chloe had another sip so I brought her to my bed. We cuddled some more. Around 7pm, Chloe got up and wanted to get off the bed. I carefully brought her down and followed her. She wanted to go outside to the bathroom. I watched her paws feel the grass knowing this would be the last time she would be with the blue sky, birds chirping and nature.

My wife arrived home. While waiting and spending time with her, she thought we should put in a pizza. These thin crust Chicago pizzas from my favorite pizza joint arrived in the mail. I put one Barnaby’s in the oven. When it came out, Chloe became interested. Veronica said it’s her last meal, and gave her a little piece. She devoured it. Then Jade came home. A new burst of energy for Chloe. Tail wagging. Then wanted more pizza. The pepperoni delivered more pep in her step. All of a sudden it’s 8:30 and Chloe is running around and barking and begging and devouring the pizza. I said, “we can’t put her down”. Next call was to the Vet. “Vet – I know its 8:45pm and we have an appointment, but something is wrong”. She agreed. Chloe got a temporary reprieve. We drove Chloe to the emergency hospital and did another x-ray. The blockage was still there but it had moved. Nothing changed with the blockage but like a temporary pardon, Chloe was coming home for the night.

The next morning, Jade comes running into our room. Chloe took a poo. It was a giant glorious poo. The blockage came out. See this Sunday morning tail has a happy ending! Chloe is alive and well. She beat the grim reaper by 45 minutes. They say only cats have 9 lives but we know at Clohe has at least 2 lives! If this ever happens to you, don’t put your dog down so fast. Miracles do occur. Not sure if it was the pizza? Or just praying? We know the prayer worked as we got a Holy Shit.