Our dog’s last hunt
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:08 am
As I mentioned in the morning coffee and weather topic we lost our 11 year old Golden Retriever Friday night. He was going downhill for a while but really fast the last few weeks. As a young dog he managed to destroy his ACL’s in both rear legs and he had surgery’s installing plates and screws in them. He always walked a bit funny after but it didn’t slow him down. He walked a bit like a bull-legged old cowboy might have back in the day. However this last year he started struggling getting up and about. He loved to go camping in our trailer but really struggled getting up the stairs into it. We got a ramp for him which helped considerably. This year he couldn’t get up and down the ramp without help so my wife and I would stand on both sides of it and help him. We recently took a two week trip to South Dakota and for the first time didn’t take him with us. Upon reflection we made the right decision, it would have been a struggle in and out of the truck and/or trailer several times daily.
So last Friday (two day ago) we wanted to go grouse hunting which he absolutely loved. He would ride in the bed of our UTV and be on high alert. We have several miles of timber company land roads we can drive on to look for grouse. (Yeah I know, pretty easy hunting) So we would cruise along and when we spotted a grouse picking gravel on the road we would stop and take the shot. Them I would let Massey (the dog) out and he would retrieve the bird. He had no training to do so other than just fetch at home but he did a great job with a soft mouth and would release the bird on command. He was particularly helpful if the bird made it into the timber.
We debating on taking him as we knew he was getting close to end of life but he was in good spirits and excited Friday morning so we decided to take him figuring it would be his last hunt. It was a cold rainy day and I only shot one grouse and didn’t let him out to retrieve it as it went into the timber and I knew it would be hard on his legs to go in there. He did get out twice for a walk around and we sure noticed the difference in his energy level, much less than last year.
We got home around dinner time and he just plopped down and wouldn’t move. At bedtime we did get him outside and he managed to do his business. He really struggled durning the night and most of the night either my wife or myself were laying on the floor with him giving him love. I kept telling him that it was okay to cross the bridge if the time was right. Last either of us were with him was around 3:30 and his breathing changed from labored to even and relaxed. When I got up at 5:00 he was gone. We had made the decision to take him to the vet for euthanasia Saturday morning but being the loyal dog he was he crossed the bridge on his own and saved all three of us the misery of a visit to the sterile vet office for the last minutes of his life. We took him to a pet crematorium and plan to bury his ashes along with our first Golden Retriever’s ashes next to our cat’s grave (lost last year to an owl) in a nice area next to our backyard.
Yesterday was a miserable day for my wife and I, very fatigued both mentally and physically. We’re both up very early today and doing much better however as I type this I’m getting all choked up again. But I’m sure this is good for grieving. I’m going to attach a couple of pics, first one when he was just a year old with his first grouse and another from a hunting trip last year. I may post some more as I run across them.
Massey (Ferguson) was a loyal wonderful companion and a member of the family equal to my wife and I. RIP buddy!