Our dog likely is dying, but we had a good time today

Life is difficult. Sometimes really difficult. Like when someone you love likely is going to die soon. Our dog, ZuZu, is in the late stage of chronic liver disease.

Her vet has told my wife and I that ZuZu probably has weeks or months left to live, not years.

So the WillaMutt Strut event ZuZu and I went to today was poignant for me. (It's put on every year by the Willamette Humane Society, where my wife is a volunteer dog walker.)

Here's photos of what likely was ZuZu's last time at the event. She enjoyed herself, as did I.

I'm grateful for every moment I can spend with ZuZu. I'm also grateful for the fact that while we humans can grasp the concept of impending death, dogs can't.

Comments

[Mike England]

Dear Brian
Very touching.
I have known people cry when their dogs die.
Thank you for sharing.

[Spence Tepper]

What can a human teach a dog about love? Nothing.
What can a dog teach a human about love? Everything.
If dogs are children we should all aspire to be children.

My heart goes out to ZuZu, you and Laurel, Brian Ji.

[s*]

Dear Brian,
Beautiful picture of you and your Zuzu..

<3

[La madrugada]

Dear Brian,

Having a dog will bless you with many of the happiest days of your life and one of the worst.

Wish you lots of courage

[Jen]

Its good to make every day special with our loved ones as we grow older, especially pets with their shorter life spans. I love dogs. ZuZu has a calm and friendly face. Really enjoyed the photos of ZuZu with all her dog friends and neighbours.

[Dungeness]

Reminds of my sadness hearing my toy pomeranian-poodle
mix (5 lb fighting weight) had congestive heart failure. Just
lasted a few weeks and passed at the age of six....

I can only wish her well on her journey whatever it is and
where ever it takes her. I thank [bleep] for the time with
her. (hey, I'm trying to keep religion out of it).
Tears still come though.

[Tim Rimmer]

Hi Brian

Interesting post. Best wishes to ZuZu - she has often been mentioned on this blog over the years - the Zen of ZuZu.
I’ve been thinking about what you wrote re her future passing, how she will have/has no concept of it.
Humans have our anthropomorphic take on what awareness/sentience/consciousness is and how it manifests. If ZuZu is taken to the vet and they assist her to go, then things will end quickly with lesser ‘suffering’ but I would like to share another take on this.
A year or so ago our cat ‘Jasper’ started to check out at the ripe old age of 22. What amazed my wife and I was the process this ‘cat’ went through as she slowly wound down, until we witnessed her last breath on her favourite mat. It (her dying) lasted for a couple of weeks and as she moved through it she continued to interact, make eye contact, purr a lot and stagger outside to take the air/hear the birds, in what we perceived as a very appreciative and tuned-in manner. It is our view Jasper died a conscious death and surrendered to the process step by step - what an awesome experience of living and dying. ‘All our relations’.
Regards to all