Goodbye my puppy

About eight months ago we had gotten a puppy from a friend. He was a Labrador and was so sweet with those fluffy ears. We named him Chino (which has different meanings to some folks but I gave him that name because chino also means curly). His ears were so soft, fluffy and curly. He was the sweetest most adorable puppy. We all fell in love with him, but mostly my daughter, he soon became her best friend.

Let me tell you about Chino. After 3 or 4 months of having Chino join our family, we discovered a lump on his back. We soon took him to the hospital. Doctor's said it was just a benign lump and they removed it. They did not know exactly why he developed that lump. After the surgery, he seemed to recover quickly. A few days later, I noticed his stitches were not healing properly. I took him back to the hospital. He had developed an infection. The doctors had to put two tubes to drain the wound. So he was walking around with an open wound. It was so disgusting. But that did not seem to affect Chino in any way whatsoever. He was his usual happy go lucky puppy. He loved going for walks and he loved going to the park. He enjoyed playing, running and the attention the children gave him at the park. Within a couple of weeks, his wound began to heal.

One day over a long weekend (this was a Saturday and Monday was a holiday), I noticed he wasn't his usual self. He was not very playful and was not eating much. I thought maybe he was too tired from running around all day with the kids. Sunday, came and he seemed to want to sleep a lot. By Monday, I knew something was really wrong as he was just laying there not wanting to do much. His eyes looked sad. Tuesday morning came and I rushed him to the hospital. They kept him there for testing and observation. After work, I went straight the hospital to see Chino. The doctor came out and told me "he does not look good, seems like your puppy has been poisoned." I could not believe what I was hearing! "What do you mean he was poisoned!" How? The doctor indicated that he would run some test but somehow Chino ate poison. He said it could have been anything from household chemicals to plants that can potentially be poisonous to some animals. My heart just sank. My poor Chinito! The doctor asked me to come by tomorrow and check up on him. They next day I rushed to the hospital right after work. The doctor came out with Chino on a leash and he said "Chino's prognosis does not look good." Apparently, the poison already invaded his liver. "Take him for a walk, it will do him some good." So I took Chino outside and walked with him. He looked up at me with such sad eyes (which still brings tears to mine as I am typing this) but I knew he appreciated the walk. We took short walks around the block since he seemed to tire easily. Finally I bent down to his eye level and said "Chino, you brought much joy to me and my family. You are a very good puppy. I know how much you love to walk. So this may be our last walk together. I love you!"

I tried to be strong and not cry but tears rolled down my cheeks. People were passing me by probably wondering what was wrong. As I wiped my tears and took a deep breath trying to compose myself, I took Chino back inside. The doctor took him back and asked that we come to see him again the next day.

Soon the next day came. My daughter and my husband went to see him earlier that morning. My husband called me at work. He sounded sad and I could hear my daughter in the background crying. I wanted to rush out of there to be with my daughter. My husband said that Chino look worse. He was not moving at all. He said to hurry home so we can go see again.

I left as soon as I could and when we got to the hospital Chino was gone. He had passed away....

My daughter cried and cried. She kept sobbing and asking "Why? Why? Why did he have to die!" I could not do anything. What could I say? What could I tell her that will make her feel better. It tore my heart out to see her in so much pain. I saw tears in my husband eyes and my son was trying to stay strong but he too had tears in his eyes.

The doctor took us into the room where they kept Chino. He said to my daughter, "Chino was waiting for you. He held on until you came to see him. After you left he passed away."

My poor baby girl. It just broke my heart to see her that way. I know how she loved Chino. She had already planned on how to dress him up for Halloween. I hugged her and cried with her. I tried to explain to her that even though Chino had a short life he had a good life with us. We gave him a chance to have a family and a home. Chino was waiting for her so he can say goodbye, he got a chance to see her one last time before he passed and he died happy knowing that he made her happy. I think she understood what I was trying to say. But I knew she needed to grieve.

As we were leaving, the doctor came with a little tiny puppy. He said "take her with you, she's the last of the bunch. It might help your kids cope with the pain. If you decide to keep great, if not, you can always bring her back."

Still today, the mentioned of Chino will bring tears to my daughter's eyes. On October 11 he would have been 9 months old. This was truly the saddest experience my kids have had.

Well, as you can guess, we walked out of there with a new puppy...but that's another story!