Born in 1997 in the streets of a Canadian city, the little puppy spent the first few months of his life as a stray mutt. He was captured by animal control and sent to the pound. Some months later he was transferred to the city's humane society, where he stayed for another few months, still a puppy but woefully unwanted.
In 1998 my sister won the battle in convincing my parents to get a dog. My mom, sister and I went to the humane society one day and saw a room with three dogs inside, including the stray mutt. Some days later we returned, and the puppy was the only one left in his room. We entered the room and he got up and wagged his tail enthusiastically. We wiggled our fingers between the bars and he sniffed them. My sister didn't want him, so we opened the door to leave the room. Suddenly from behind us came a heart-wrenching noise - a needy bark. We looked at each other, eyebrows raised, but left the room anyway.
We checked out the rest of the facility, and mom said she wanted to check on that puppy all alone in that room one last time. So we went back, and he became extremely excited when we came through the door again, wagging his tail so fast it was a blur. We finally agreed he was the one, and proceeded to go through the adoption process. The person attending to our adoption told us that he was supposed to be euthanized the next day because nobody wanted him.
So we took him home, and the next day we took him with us in our 1971 Winnebago to go camping. To make a long story short, this affected him to the point where saying "motorhome" will have him running to the door and sitting right beside it, ready to go. He loved the motorhome, the boat, and camping.
There were several times throughout his life where he could have died. First time was when he was in the canoe with my dad and sister, and he saw some lily pads. He jumped on them, and that's how we found out he couldn't swim - he nearly drowned. Shortly after that we got rid of the canoe, got a motor boat, and modified a baby life jacket for him to use. Other near-death experiences include choking on a piece of rib, darting into traffic on a highway more than once, and more.
In the last couple years of his life he started showing his age - cataracts, arthritis in the hips, and decaying teeth (which were removed). In the last six months he started slowing down, and the last two he started crying and required aspirin daily. In the morning of March 22, he presumably had a seizure, and that night he was taken to the vet. The x-ray and blood test revealed he had a problem with the liver, and probably the brain, and his prognosis was not good. So we decided it was time for him to go.
The veterinarian checked his pulse, and said that he passed very quickly and without trouble. He passed into the void at 8:46pm CDT.
Lucky
1997 - March 22, 2011
Rest In Peace
Love you, Baroo
EDIT: (March 24) Here is a video I made in his memory.
1997 - March 22, 2011
Rest In Peace
Love you, Baroo
EDIT: (March 24) Here is a video I made in his memory.