Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Goodbye Guinness

Today I buried my Guinness, my dog of almost nine years, beneath a tree bordering a field behind my parents' house. I cannot describe my sadness. He was a great dog and a member of our family. Guinness was sweet, funny, smart, loving, protective, obedient, silly, friendly, and happy. He was a black lab and golden retriever mix and had the best qualities of both breeds. Guinness was a fantastic family pet.

He went so quick. Two days ago my daughter and I took him for a long walk. Last night we played for a long time with one of his new toys from Xmas. Noon today Avril called and said he was too weak to come in from outside. She took him to the vet, and I met them there. He was bleeding internally and badly. A tumor. Even with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery his odds were bleak. We had to make a difficult choice. His head was in my lap as he drifted off. I cried while I dug his grave and covered him over. I miss him already, but I won't forget all the good times we shared.

P.S. I'll tie this post back to gaming by sharing this silly little fact. Whenever I play a game where my character has a pet wolf, I've always named it Guinn. My ranger in pnp D&D, druid in Neverwinter Nights, and hunter in WOW all had pets named Guinn.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Link, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. As a pet-mommy myself, I can only imagine the heartbreak you feel right now. You've definitely had a tough few months. I'll be sending you good vibes and sympathy.
-Natalie

Bildo said...

Sorry to hear that, Link.

I'll pet my own dogs a little extra in honor of him. :)

Stormgaard said...

Do Dogs go to Heaven?

Gamer Hudson said...

rough times man, I feel your pain. Lost my grandmother tonight, and I know some people feel that pets are not as close as humans but the thing is they are. So I am truly sorry about your loss.

Link said...

Thanks all. Tuesday was a sad night.

@pvthudson Sorry for your loss too.