Animals live in a natural state of grace with God. They do not sin and when they die they go straight to God in heaven. He made each and every one of them and does not wish to lose them either. You will see your little buddy again. You will both be in the same spiritually beautiful house that God has created for all of his creatures, both 2 legged and 4 legged. God created your dog and loves your dog just as much as you do and He wants eternity for both of you.
I’m sorry for your loss. The grief that I felt when I lost my dog three years ago and my cat this past year was painful. People who don’t have animals may not understand this, but they truly are members of the family. I believe that animals do go to Heaven, and I believe we’ll see them again someday. I take comfort in believing that my animals are happy, healthy, and in a place much better.
If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must done,
For this last battle can’t be won.
You will be sad - I understand,
Don’t let your grief then stay your hand,
For this day, more than the rest,
Your love and friendship will stand the test.
We’ve had so many happy years,
What is to come – can have no fears,
You’d not want me to suffer so,
When the time comes, please let me go.
Take me where my needs they’ll tend,
Only stay with me until the end,
And hold me firm and speak to me,
Until my eyes no longer see.
Finally in time you too will see,
It is kindness you do to me,
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I’ve been saved.
Don’t grieve that it should be you
Who has to decide this thing to do,
We’ve been so close, we two those years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.
Losing a pet always hurts, especially after 15 years.
I am so sorry.
I’m so sorry Toespi.
Go Go just let me know that Maxwell arrived safe and sound and he is making many friends on his first day away from home. All is well and he can’t wait til you meet again.
Best wishes and condolences. My wife and I have had to say goodbye to a few aging labs over the years and it always hurts for awhile. A sure sign of the amazing quality they have brought to our lives.
Sorry.
I am grieving for losses of my own, and reading about yours brings them right up fresh all over again.
Rescuing another dog will help with the immediate pain, but will never take that special place in your heart, which will always miss and mourn the ones who have loved you, and who you have loved.
I am 70 years old, and still miss my very first dog, who was killed when I was 7 years old.
I’m so sorry.
Maxwell is in a wonderful place, under the watchful eye of a loving God.
May God bless you and your Family for now and forever.
I am so sorry for your loss. RIP Maxwell
I thank God for all of these wonderful posts from the FreeRepublic Community!
I know that there are people who think that people who get sappy about animals are crazy, but IMO, you can’t get unconditional love like that from any human other than (maybe, possibly) your own mother. Your dog was older, and probably had a better life than 99.999% of the dogs who have ever lived; this too shall pass.
I often think that my dogs are living a life of leisure resting on the laurels and hard work of their ancestors (herding dogs). Truly, well-cared for pets are at top of the food chain on this planet - not us!
Amazing how those little critters can steal your heart like that. Condolences.
Sad doggie ping.
The Power of the Dog
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passsion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair—
But ... you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ‘em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Rudyard Kipling
I lost my wonderful Brother, half Choclate Lab and half Weimaraner, about three years ago. We got each other through some really hard times over about ten years. I’ve been where you are and know how much it hurts. The only things that help some are time and adopting another wonderful friend. My new wonderful friend is a Great Dane who never suffered the abuse Brother did before he came into my life. He’s a wonderful loving dog. My prayers are with you.
Hang in there,, the parting is bitter, the reunion, bliss..
We lost our dumpster kitty of 14 years recently.. and numerous previous.
Maybe this will help.
Senator Vest’s “Tribute to the Dog”
It is strange how tenaciously popular memory clings to the bits of eloquence men have uttered, long after their deeds and most of their recorded thoughts are forgotten, or but indifferently remembered. However, whenever and as long as the name of the late Senator George Graham Vest of Missouri is mentioned it will always be associated with his love for a dog.
Many years ago, in 1869, Senator Vest represented in a lawsuit, a plaintiff whose dog “Old Drum” had been willfully and wantonly shot by a neighbor. The defendant virtually admitted the shooting, but questioned to the jury the $150 value plaintiff attributed to this mere animal. To give his closing argument, George Vest rose from his chair, scowling, mute, his eyes burning from under the slash of brow tangled as a grape vine. Then he stepped sideways, hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets, his gold watch fob hanging motionless, it was that heavy. He looked, someone remembered afterwards, taller than his actual 5 feet 6 inches, and began in a quiet voice to deliver an extemporaneous oration. It was quite brief, less than 400 words:
“Gentlemen of the jury: the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his worst enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.
The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous... is his dog.
Gentlemen of the Jury: a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.”
The jury deliberated less than two minutes then erupted in joint pathos and triumph. The record becomes quite sketchy here, but some in attendance say the plaintiff who had been asking $150, was awarded $500 by the jury. Little does that matter. The case was eventually appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, which refused to hear it.