[Dailydrool] First anniversary

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

It was a year ago last night that a vet helped my basset friend Macy  
out of this life and into the next. It wasn't an easy death. I was so  
upset by it at the time that I simply couldn't write about those  
details on the Drool when I posted about Macy's death. The actual  
euthanasia process didn't go as well as it normally does and as it  
did for our late, great Jane Basset, and Macy was frightened and hurt  
by a procedure that was supposed to spare her pain and fear. I still  
find it upsetting, and I've been doing my best this weekend not to  
think about it.

It's been a quiet year without our little thundercloud snarling at  
those who would come near a treasured bone, dead bird, or human  
friend, a thundercloud who could also be so very sweet and attentive  
to those she loved. She is thought of frequently and always fondly. I  
see the scar she left on our Elsinore's nose and the notch she made  
in Elsinore's ear (both the result of tussles over smoked pig ears,  
Macy baiting Elsinore and Elsinore predictably rising to the bait)  
and perversely think warm thoughts of my irascible little friend.

Macy's human, Jennifer, and her basset brother, Owen, are doing okay,  
but tears are still close to the surface for Jennifer and sometimes  
for me, too. One of our joint friends, Kelly Jane Wilson on the  
Drool, has a little black lab/basset mix named Mary Myrtle who never  
fails to make Jennifer weepy when we see her at the dog park. Macy  
took exceptional care of Jennifer, and it's obvious that Myrtle tries  
hard to take very good care of Kelly Jane. The loving and slightly  
worried way in which Myrtle looks up at Kelly Jane is exactly the  
same way Macy used to look at Jennifer. Myrtle has Macy's eyes.

Jennifer had thought she'd spend this anniversary at the Kentucky  
Derby with her sister, a nice distraction from a difficult day. Owen  
and Chloe, Macy's basset/golden retriever successor, were going to  
stay with us. Then next weekend Jennifer and I were going to go to  
the park Macy loved, scatter Macy's ashes, and then go out to eat  
waffles in her honor. Waffles were Macy's favorite food after Frosty  
Paws, and Jennifer and I would rather eat waffles than Frosty Paws.

But it's funny how things happen.

Last week Jennifer picked up a stray beagle in the parking lot of  
Lowes. The beagle was clearly someone's well-cared-for pet and had  
recently been spayed. Jennifer posted about her on Petfinders,  
contacted animal control and the humane society, and took the dog to  
her vet to be scanned for a chip. The dog's collar had no tags on it,  
and she had no chip either. Jennifer took the beagle back home and  
started asking around at work to see if anyone wanted a young, lively  
little dog who was also beautifully housebroken and not interested in  
getting on the furniture. She didn't have any takers. She also  
decided she couldn't ask us to now dogsit three dogs for her and she  
didn't want to disrupt the beagle's settling in process by subjecting  
her to another home, even for a few days, so she skipped going to the  
derby.

All week long the beagle has played happily with Owen and finally won  
Chloe over, too. In fact, the beagle keeps those two dogs so busy and  
active that they now have the equivalent of our Charlie Weight-Loss  
Program going on over there. I expect Owen and Chloe will drop a few  
pounds in no time at all with all the playing the beagle is getting  
them to do. Owen, I'm told, is now going to bed so tired at night  
that he isn't waking Jennifer up in the wee hours of the morning  
anymore. In addition to making Owen sleep the whole night through,  
Jennifer has appreciated the beagle's excellent house manners.

She has also noted that the beagle's eyes are very much like Macy's.

A man in her vet's waiting room told Jennifer it was obvious the  
beagle had bonded to her.

Yesterday I called Jennifer to see how she was doing and she told me  
that she'd gone out and bought a new collar and an ID tag for the  
dog. The dog she'd been calling Beagle all week is now Lola, in honor  
of the store Jennifer found her outside. She says she won't actively  
seek a new home for Lola. She says Lola's eyes make her think of  
Macy, though Lola's personality is considerably more even-tempered.

I told Jennifer that there are some on the Drool who would say that  
Macy sent Lola to her, the timing of Lola's arrival being so close to  
a difficult anniversary. Jennifer says she's thought about that as  
well. Some dogs are just sent to us for a reason, even though we may  
feel as if we have enough dogs already. She will keep Lola, stagger  
everyone's annual exams so as to spread the big, predictable vet  
bills throughout the year, and pray all the dogs stay in good health,  
though Owen continues to have bouts of cellulitis, which can be a bit  
expensive at times.

I haven't met Lola yet, but I hope to take our Elsinore and young  
Charlie over there next weekend so they can meet the new member in  
their extended pack. Jennifer and I are placing bets on who will wear  
out first from non-stop playing and chasing, Lola or Charlie.

So Jennifer spent the first anniversary of Macy's death giving a home  
to a young beagle with loving eyes, and she isn't sure she wants to  
scatter Macy's ashes after all.

Elizabeth