a famous Greyhound breeder, the late Judy Donaldson of
Kingsmark Greyhounds. This was a woman who forgot more
16-year-old spaniel to be put down. He had owned her since
than I would ever know. She taught me about type and soundshe was a puppy, he told me. As I finished the euthanasia inness and was always full of nuggets of
jection, he looked up and quietly said,
wisdom. And one of the little sayings
“Well, that’s that.” He then paid his bill
she told me way back then was about
and walked out. Now, I don’t know if
I try to guide my
She had just mourned the
he went to his car and privately broke
clients to be generous euthanasia.
passing of one of her heart dogs, and
down or cried all the way home. But I
and kind, informed
I was trying to comfort her. She then
do know that he loved his dog at least
said, “Jerry, even after all these years,
as much as that woman had loved her
but selfless...
every time I lose one of mine, I lose a
little kitten. They just showed their
bit of my heart. But you know what?
emotions in two very different ways.
For them, it’s always better to do it one day too soon than
I also once had a very nice woman, very elegant, come in
one day too late.”
with her failing 21-year-old cat. As we were talking, she petted
But even with everything I know and have learned, with
Wizard. She told me, “You know, this cat has stayed with me
my own, I still ask myself, “Yeah, but how do you know for
through two husbands and three children leaving for college.
sure that today is the day?”
Wizard has been the only constant in my life.”
I try to guide my clients to be generous and kind, informed
Many, many years ago when I moved to the Chicago area
but selfless in all their decisions. I wish you all the same. DIR
and was just starting to do ER work, I became friends with
HEALTH, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42
In the Here and Now
46
DOGSinREVIEW.com
CREATISTA/SHUTTERSTOCK
A dog doesn’t care about when his birthday is or if he’s around for the
f holidays. He lives in the present. Enjoy the here and now with your dogs.
In my mind, dogs and cats (and animals
in general) are creatures of the moment.
They don’t really care that they’re turning
14 next week or that Christmas is only
three days away. They live in the here
and now. But they crave certainty and
habit. At a certain time in the morning,
Dad comes down the stairs and takes
me for a walk. When Helen gets home,
she lets me outside, and then offers me
a treat before giving me the same wonderful bowl of dog food that I eat every
single day. Then I rest on the sofa and am
petted and played with by Johnny and
Melanie before being taken for that nice
long evening walk. We get home just in
time for me to curl up inside my comfortably worn bed near the television. Only
to do it over and over again.
It’s The Truman Show but starring animals and with no irony. But that is the
beauty of it. We humans, who are lucky
enough to share our lives with these
amazing creatures, need to adopt this
simple but noble way of looking at life.