We said a last good-bye to our elderly beagle, Sam, today. He’d gone blind and mostly deaf, and was failing in other ways. So we took him to the vet to release him from his body. I believe it was the right thing to do, but it’s so hard. Sam had been with us for about eight years. We guessed he was six or seven when we took him in from a family that couldn’t keep him, but they had taken him in as a stray, so nobody knew his real age or his past.
He was a big-hearted little guy, though he was also the most trying dog to live with we’ve ever owned—obsessed with food and prone to accidents in the house. But we loved him anyway. We still remember how he sprang to our cat’s defense when a visiting husky went after her: Sam jumped right into the breach and raised holy hell until we got there to intervene. And when Moonlight (the cat) and Hermione (our boxer) got into a tiff over a fallen piece of cold broccoli on the floor, it was Sam who swooped in and gulped it down before either of them could react. And when our kids were first learning piano, Sam and Hermione formed a wonderful Ahhh-ooohhh! chorus.
Sam’s on the rainbow bridge now, but here he is with his buddies during easier times.
VictoriaB
I’m so sorry, Jeff. I’m sure Big Sam and Mattie will keep him good company. Thanks for posting the picture; it will be good to have it, to remember him. Because I never had to clean up after him or deal with his quirks I only remember him as a sweet, darling little dog. Rest in peace, Little Sam.
Victoria
Anonymous
I knew this was coming, and I am still so sorry to hear this. I have helped clean up after SamSam, and he was capable of making quite a mess. He was a lovable little guy with a ton of personality. He’ll be missed.
Sam couldn’t have found a better, more patient home to spend his adulthood and waning years. He’s out there somewhere, sniffing stuff.
Geir
Jeffrey A. Carver
Thanks, everyone who responded (privately or publicly). We do miss the little guy, but also feel that it was the right decision.
It’s hard to tell what the other four-legged guys think. Sometimes it seems to us that Hermione is a little subdued or depressed, and we wonder if she’s missing him, too.
Erika
When one of our cats died the other one was subdued and off his food for days,until we got a new kitten to pester him. That seemed to perk him up.