What a week-

This past Tuesday, Mom and Dad had to finally put Echo to sleep.  I say finally because her last 6 years of her life have been a struggle.  Echo was a big dog.  Big dogs get big problems.  They aren't supposed to live as long as smaller dogs, Echo lived to be 13.  I was still in college, didn't have kids, didn't know who Brooke was,  when we got Echo.

Echo was a rescued Newf for my parents.  Her first owners gave her back to the breeder because Echo was getting too big.  No sh*t, she is a Newf.  Thats what they do.  They get big and they slobber.  I do think it was an act of God though, no one would have sacrificed for Echo like Mom and Dad did.  They should have known very early on when she threw up on Dad her entire way home from Georgia.  Thats right, I said Georgia.  Mom and Dad drove to Georgia to get her.  They later would  drive Echo 130 miles one way to see an eye doctor because she had bad eyes.  They eventually spent thousands of dollars on knee surgeries.  The surgeries didn't take, so for the last years of her life, every time she went outside, someone had to assist her walking with a sling.  EVERY. TIME.  She eventually went totally blind, never moved much, and had skin/fatty tumors all over her body.  Yet through all this, she was happier than a pig in slop.  When she was younger she tried so hard not to get into trouble.  In fact, she tried too hard.  When one of us would raise our voice and yell "MOVE!" (when she moved it was at the speed of an aircraft carrier turning) she would freeze.  Panic.  This would get her into more trouble.  She really was a great dog.  But as she got older she did less and less, until she just sat in a corner most of the day.

We really hoped she would go to bed one night and wake up in heaven.  Yes, I said heaven.  If heaven is what "they" say it is, our dogs will be waiting for us.  Despite her declining health she always remained a happy dog.  I think that is what was the hardest on my parents.  Regardless of all the problems she caused my parents,  they have said for  the past year that "you can't put a dog down because they aren't convenient."  I think that is one of the things I admired most about the situation.  Anyway, she was a happy dog, right up until the end.  Thats the things about rescued dogs, particularly Echo.  She spent her entire life thanking Mom and Dad for rescuing her.  She would have never wanted them to be put out as much as they were because of her.  I do think, deep down, she knew how lucky she had it.  She had a reason to live, and that is why she did for so long.  Eventually though, the milage caught up to her.  She began to suffocate as her lungs would fill with fluid.  Breathing became a struggle and Mom and Dad knew what they had to do.  Thankfully I wasn't there.  I can't stand that moment.  Most of the time the dogs don't know whats coming. From what I have been told, Echo fully understood.  When Mom was on the floor with her Echo began to somewhat panic.  Not because she was scared, not because she didn't want what was coming, but because she didn't know where my Dad was.  She wanted to feel him one more time.  Dad patted her on the head, talked to her, and she settled down.  She was ready to go.

Things will be a little easier around the Ayers house now.  A little more space, a little less stinky dog smell.  We can swim in the pool now and not have to worry about the big, black dog, who is nervously pacing around the pool.   Mom and Dad will be able to make the trip up to Chicago together now.  Tonight they celebrated Flaget's 11 birthday, life goes on.  Despite the fact that life goes on, dogs like Echo never leave you completely.  They always leave paw prints in your heart.  Loyalty and friendship does that.