A Difficult "Dog-gone" Day

It's Monday and time for an update of the happenings in our neck of the woods.

I have to share with our readers that Friday was a very difficult day. Pam made the most difficult decision to have our long time and loyal companion, Buster, put down.

Buster had diabetes for about two years, and most often dogs with this complication eventually develop other related difficulties that result in end of life.

On Wednesday Walt noticed that Buster was not his usual energetic self, in fact he appeared to be quite ill. He was sick to his stomach a number of times, his breathing was very labored and he looked in his face as if he was in pain. And so the decision was made to take him to the vet and have him checked out.

It was suspected that his blood sugar had gotten out of balance as a result of eating marionberries. He had developed quite a taste for them. He would gingerly take them off the vine and eat them, along with our fresh peas and green beans.

The vet kept him over night, put him on an IV to rehydrate him and the next day he came home. But he would not eat, continued shallow difficult breathing and was just not himself. So back to the vet and this time they did a chest xray and Pam received the call telling her that it appeared Buster had an enlarged heart, had fluid on his lungs and also a couple of spots of cancer growing in his chest cavity. The prognosis; two to four weeks and he would be gone. And so the difficult decision was made to have him put down and not make him endure a number of weeks of struggling and pain.

Buster was a wonderful dog. He had a tremendous, enthusiastic spirit, was very intelligent, and a great personality. He had his own special ways and traits that will be long in our memory, as for example, his great eagerness to play "the dirt clod game." When we were in the yard Buster would wander close to the garden or flowerbed and whine with his front feet on the grass and his back end stuck in the air, his stub of a tail just wagging as hard as he could. The game was that we would toss a dirt clod into one of the large bushes on the parameter of the yard and he would run over and smell all around under the bush until he found it and then proceed to chew it into pieces. Then it was time to repeat the process. I know it sounds funny, but that was his game. We never taught him to do so, he just developed the game and he was crazy about it, almost to the point of driving us nuts at times.
Buster loved the water. He was crazy about chasing the small breaking waves on the rivers edge or beach. He would run along the shore with his head down barking at the small waves as they broke and lapped on the edge of the beach. Crazy dog!

Walt and Buster had the "evil face" game. He knew he was not supposed to be on the furniture, but when Pam would sit on the sofa she would often invite him to her lap. He would jump up and then look at Walt knowing he was not supposed to be up there. Walt would say, in a very distinctive cadence, "Budy, WHAT are you doin'?" and Buster would snarl with what we called his "evil face". Then we would laugh and he would wag his tail and it was all in fun.

Buster was also a great "worm dog". He loved to be right at Walt's feet, right at the point of the shovel whenever Walt was digging in the yard or garden. And as soon as a shovel full of dirt was turned over he would sniff around until he found a worm and then gingerly nip it with his teeth and kill it. This often made him gag but he kept right at it, in fact he loved to do this, and as soon as I would grab the shovel he was right there tail wagging.

Buster was also Sara's dear companion. He was very tolerant of being dressed up or often "trained" by Sara. He was a great "face licker", and "crumb finder". But more than all this Buster was Pam's dog. Pam and Buster were a pair. Every day close to the coming home hour, Buster would lay with his ears cocked to the driveway listening for the sound of Pam's car rounding the corner. And then he and Sasha would go berserk barking and running in the yard until Mom walked in the gate. When Mom was home the day was wonderful and all was well.

As I said, Buster had diabetes for about two years. And as a result he had to have a special diet of dog food AND an insulin shot after each meal. You can imagine that giving a dog a shot twice daily would be pretty difficult. But not with Buster. He seemed to sense that he needed it, and so after he would eat Pam would call him over. He would grimace with his eyes and carefully, slowly walk over to her. He was patient receiving his shot, and then when it was over, wow, oh boy, it was time for his treat! And he would head to the cupboard where his treats were kept and wiggle and bark until Pam gave him his treat. This was his pattern after each meal, dependable as clockwork.

Pam and Courtney got Buster when he was just a puppy. He was there when Sara was born. As all our readers understand you develop such a close, emotional bond with them. But now he is gone. So quick, so final. The phone calls have been made, the tears have flowed, Sasha seems forlorn, his places and things have been picked up and are no more. As I said, Friday, August 1 was a very difficult, dog-gone day for all Buster's family.

Walt, for the four of us.