My First Blog Post

Dog's are my life.  

They certainly have been these past 15+ years as proprietor of the Bark Park, a luxury Doggie Daycare, Boarding, Grooming, pet care facility here in Stuart, FL.  My current place of residence.  So if my blogging continues I would imagine the common thread running through my posts will be about dogs.  

You see?  As far as I'm concerned there is nothing better.  In the words of the magnificent Tina Turner, Dogs are simply the best.  They love you unconditionally, they truly put you above themselves, they don't care what you look like, who you love, what you wear, your political affiliation, etc... They just love you without prejudice.  Without question. Dogs are good.  Just like God is good. 

Years ago, when I first opened my business I was in search of a tag line for my marketing stuff.  I came up with "Dog's lives aren't our whole lives, but they make our live's full"  At the time I had a partner and this one was really her choice because dog's actually ARE my whole life but I went along.  During the search though I ran across a quote that really resonated with me.  It was written by a lady named Agnes Turnbull, an American writer born in the late 1880's and who died in the late 1980's.  Just shy of 100 years old. At any rate, the resonating quote was this:

"Dog's lives are too short.  Their only fault really..."

For this is true.  Apart from this, they are nearly perfect.  After all the love they give, the joy they bring, the laughter they cause, the sloppy kisses and the cuddles they share, there comes a time when they bring the ultimate sadness and devastating grief.  

When they leave us.

Today, I had to say goodbye to my 15 year old male beautiful boy named Murphy.  He was half dachshund, half poodle.  He was a cute little guy with a ridiculous over-bite.  He had apricot curly hair like a poodle with a long dachshund body and cute little fluffy feet.  He was pliable.  If you carried him or picked him up he would kind of fold up or move however you wanted him to.  He just hung out in your arms.  I called him a Doodle.  He was not a designer breed, somebody got under the fence somewhere, but he was my heart.  

I rescued him back in 2007, the year before my father died. I remember my Dad and I talking about my Murphster one day.  Murphy was dishwasher surfing - in other words the dishwasher door was down with dirty plates and such and he was licking the food off of the plates and out of the bowls.  Daddy looked at me and said why are you letting him do that? I said he can do anything he wants cause he's so cute.  Daddy just kind of snickered and I said You see Daddy, Murphy's the kind of dog that you either just adore or you don't get it.  To which he said I don't get it.  But, he did get it. :)

I've had dogs all my life and the decision to put them down is of course, never easy, but there are times when for the sake of the dog you simply must.  For me, personally, it is paramount that they not suffer.  Not one bit.  That has always been the deciding factor for me.

Today, my sweet baby was starting to suffer.  I didn't know why but I just knew something was terribly wrong.  My vet was kind enough to fit him in this morning so we could find out what was happening.  Turns out the blood work was not good and my little guy was in stage 4 kidney failure due to his age.  After discussing the options - or lack thereof - we decided to do what was best for my precious dog.  

My adopted daughter, Vivian was working next door at the Bark Park so I called her over because I needed her with me.  Once she arrived and I had some crying time with my boy, I was ready - well you're never really ready but you know - so my vet and his amazing tech came in and administered the final meds for my Murphy.  He was gone in seconds.  Far away from pain. 

I don't know how much I'll be writing on this Blog thing.  But today I needed to tell my story about this nearly perfect dog who brought me so much love and joy.  

My little Murphy-Doodle...