Marek was my dog for the last 12 years. He was a mixed breed dog, half lab and half dalmatian. He was probably the smartest dog I have ever had. We originally got him because a lady was going to take him to the pound because she was moving to an apartment and she couldn't keep him so she had to give him away. He turned out to be the best dog I have had in my life.
Marek really loved to chew! He would chew rawhide bones down to nothing in about 10 seconds flat. When we first got him, he got out of the yard and sneaked over to the neighbor's house and actually brought home a brand-new tennis shoe and managed to chew it up before we found out he had it. We were pretty embarrassed. He also managed to chew up a cell phone too. After that, we always made sure that he had plenty of appropriate things to chew on.
As he got older, Marek really settled down and became a really good watch dog and he kept an eye on things. One time a friend came over to the house to visit and he didn't know we had a big dog. He just climbed over the front gate and started walking toward the house. Marek came running out toward him with fangs bared and our friend took off back toward the gate. I think he jumped the 5 foot fence in one leap! It was pretty funny after the fact.
One time, Marek found a dead road-kill rabbit and he took it into his dog house and was sleeping with it. We took it away from him and took it about a mile down the road and threw it away. The next day, he had it again and he was sleeping with it again! This time, we took it about 5 miles away and got rid of it for good! We also put up dog-proof fencing so he couldn't get out of the yard anymore!
I used to have a pet duck named Skeeschel. She fell in love with Marek. She decided that he was her boyfriend. She used to sleep with him in his doghouse and peck him on the cheek like she was kissing him! It was the cutest thing! He was very gentle with her and he would let her follow him around the yard. Wherever Marek was, Skeesch wasn't far behind.
When Marek got older, he got an ear infection. He was shaking his head a lot and he broke a blood vessel in his ear. He had to have surgery on his ear to repair the vessel which meant that he had to wear the dreaded elizabethan collar--also known as "the cone". He had to wear it for 3 weeks. Of course, I found it to be a great photo opportunity. Didn't he look pathetic??
Well, for a dog his size, Marek lived an extremely long life. When he was 12 years old, he was playing in the yard when he hurt his back. I noticed one day that he was having trouble walking. One of his back legs was dragging when he walked. I immediately called the vet and arranged to take him to the vet the next morning since it was after-hours. By the next morning, his back legs were completely paralyzed. I had to support his back end with a towel to get him into the office. X-rays told us that he had a bone spur on his spine that was pushing into his spinal cord and blocking the nerve signals to his hind legs. They put him on an IV for the day to try and reduce the swelling.
By that afternoon, he was well enough to walk out of the clinic. I was so relieved that I burst into tears. The vet put him on a large dose of steroids to keep inflammation down. At this point, I knew that he would never really get any better and that I better enjoy every second I had with him because it was only a matter of time now.
Marek had his good days and his bad days. Some days he would be up and trotting around and sometimes he would just sleep on the porch. He did pretty good for about 3 months. A week ago, I adopted a 3rd dog so that my other dog Aspen would have another dog to play with and he would stop harassing Marek to play. I was hoping that Marek would be able to lie around more and take the pressure off of his back. When I brought Yogi home, Aspen and Yogi were running around the yard playing and Marek wanted to join in the fun. He tried to go after them and he just collapsed on the ground. He started whimpering and crying. I don't know if he was crying because he was in pain, or because he was upset that his body was giving out. It broke my heart. At that point, I knew his time was just about up. For the next few days after that, I noticed that he was having a lot of trouble getting up to come eat his breakfast in the morning. Sometimes I actually had to pick him up to get him going. Other times, I had to just take his food bowl over to wherever he was sitting.
The next morning I got dressed for work and fed the dogs like usual. Marek was on the porch as usual. I gave him his morning medicine and went to work. I decided to call the vet and discuss Marek's condition with him. Even though he was still eating well, he was still drinking and playing with his chew toys and appeared to be in good spirits overall, the vet and I decided that because of his increasing paralysis, it was time to humanely euthanize him before he began to suffer. I was afraid that he would get to the point where he would lose control of his bowels or something worse. I made an appointment to have the vet come over to my house in two days to do it so he could die at home where he would be comfortable and at ease and in familiar surroundings.
But it wasn't to be.
When I got home that evening, Marek was still in the same place on the porch as he was that morning. Apparently, he was unable to move at all. He had spent the entire day in one place and had been unable to reach the water bowl all day. In the later part of the day, the shade of the porch is replaced with direct sunlight. He had become so hot and dehydrated that I believe he may have suffered a heat stroke. I immediately began to shower him with cold water from the tap to try and bring his temperature down. I called the vet while I continued to cool him with water. The vet was out of the area and couldn't meet me at the clinic for 3 more hours. Marek's eyes were fixed and unblinking and he was unresponsive.. He was panting so hard that I thought his heart was going to explode. I just kept cooling him with water for the next hour. Eventually, his breathing slowed and he began to come around. He starting blinking and he began to look at me. After about 2 hours, he even began to drink some water. However, he was completely paralyzed in the hind end.
Somehow, I managed to pick him up and put him into the front seat of my car. I drove to the animal clinic where the vet was meeting me. After 12 years, this is how it was going to end. It wasn't fair. I didn't want Marek to die this way. I wanted him to die peacefully in his sleep, dreaming about chewing bones and digging holes and road-kill rabbits...
As we drove toward the animal clinic, I stroked Marek's back and told him that everything was going to be ok now. I told him that soon he would be able to run again and play like he used to when he was young. I told him that soon he would see Sampson again and Sierra and they could all play together like they used to. I told him he could even see Skeeschel again. I told him that I was sorry for having to do it, but that I didn't want him to suffer being paralyzed and that I was doing it because I loved him so much. I told him how much I would miss him and what a good boy he was.
I got to the clinic before Dr Reese did. We sat in the parking lot and waited. I reclined my seat next to Marek and I just hugged him and kissed his face and listened to his shallow breathing for the next few minutes while I cried. It seemed like forever before the vet got there. Once he got there, we decided that he would just do it in my car because I was going to take Marek to the pet cemetery myself so I could have a private burial.
Dr Reese had been Marek's vet for the last 12 years so he spent a few minutes petting him and talking to him before he got ready. Then it was time.
Dr Reese came out of the animal clinic with the big syringe full of the pink liquid. He asked me if I had said my goodbyes. He told Marek that he was "the dog". He told Marek what a good boy he was while he shaved his leg with the clippers. I rubbed Marek's ears while he put the tourniquet on his leg and looked for a vein. As he put the needle in and drew back some blood, I told Marek he was a good boy and that I loved him. Dr Reese asked me if I was ready and I said yes. He started pushing the plunger down and I just hugged Marek's neck and told him I loved him over and over again because I wanted it to be the last thing he ever heard.
It only took about 10 seconds. His breathing just suddenly stopped. Dr Reese checked for a heartbeat and there was none. It was over. I just stroked his face and cried for about an hour. I don't think there is anything more difficult than making the decision to take the life of an animal you love so dearly, even if it is the best thing for the animal.
The next morning, Marek was buried at Pine Hill Pet & Horse Cemetery in Bowie, TX. He was buried in my family plot right next to Sampson, Seymour, and Sierra.
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories could build a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again....
Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
"When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There
are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food
and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are
restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember
them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had
to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright
eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green
grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally
meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your
hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from
your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together......."
(~Anonymous)
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