Yesterday was one of the most mixed emotional days in my life and that of my family… we put to rest our “man’s best friend” and family member “Scotty Montgomery Judd”… he was a joy in our lives and will be missed and remembered for all time… he was 11 years old, and had developed a cancerous lump on his butt that wieghed in over 10 pounds and was just making his life un-fun….
But we all knew, Scotty included, that it was time to end the pain and send him on ahead of us. So we spent his last few days when he had a good hour or so of play in him, to feed him his very own steak dinner from Applebees, play outside, let him get filthy and roll in the leaves, even help pick his “spot” and come by as we dug it out to get a rough size of the hole needed – he of course would sniff around the hole, poke his head down in it some, then look up like “needs to be bigger dad”…
When we got to the vet, he had a little pep still in him as he bounced around the office and had that panting-almost-talking-excited voice… We lifted him up to the table, and he was hurting so much, back muscles so tender… he got his shots and in seconds you could see a wave of peace come over him as he began to feel no more pain… his eyes stopped looking like “why do I hurt all the time daddy” and instead looked at us with “thank you, I feel good, you are my best friend, thank you”, his shaggy eyebrows flicking up and down, back and forth as he moved his eyes in his ever so expressive manor…. and then he slipped away into such a relaxed sleep, and he was gone… Happy and scruffy to the end…….
They wrapped him in his favorite blanket – ours too that he took over – that he used to lay in the landing window near the front door and watch the world, barking at the UPS and FedEx guys, and the ultra-evil mailman… protecting us from those that got too close to “his house” and “his peoples”… We brought him home, gently placed him in his spot, and quietly reflected on his life and passing… crying, hurting, aching deep within. I tried to say a few words to help and “be strong”, but I could not say many… we each slid in a little dirt, and I let the family and friends gathered go inside while I finished…
Before everyone got home and we took him to the vet, I snapped a couple of pix with my iPhone while we waited, check them out in the gallery link at the top of the site – this head shot you see here and a good profile of the lump… will add others we took as time and emotions permit… am a basket case now… I cried for hours after everyone left home today… am drained… I keep “seeing” him out of the corner of my eye, looking for him in his usual lazy lay down spots, going thru the old habits of checking the door to see if he wants back in from going outside yet, dropping little crumbs and such thinking “oh, Scotty will get that”, and hearing sounds like his collar/tags clinking together as he walked…
I used to poke fun of people that would remark “my dog will be in heaven”… that was when I was a “cat person” many years ago… But after living with Scotty for these 11 years, and the joy he brought to our family and the part he played, I can’t help but believe now, that God will allow us to have things that made us happy with us in Heaven…
Thank you Scotty, for being part of our lives. Thank you for the fun, for the good times and the bad (only as a puppy – wink). We love and miss you!!
