[Dailydrool] Two months and One day...

[Kathy Collins]

Two months and one day after loosing Freckles, 
I have not only a broken heart, now I have one that's shattered. 
We had to put Jasper down last night.
He had a routine vet visit in the afternoon and just
wasn't right since. At first we thought he was having a
reaction to the vaccinations. We took him back to our vet and he
was worked on to reverse the reaction and to treat the shock. He
seemed to perk up so we took him home. Our vet called us a little
over an hour later to check how he was doing. Since his gums were
still white, he recommended we take him to the emergency clinic.

He wasn't reacting to any vaccination. It was just
coincidental (although the stress could have brought on the
inevitable). Jasper had a tumor on his spleen that had ruptured.
At just about 12 years old, with calcified lungs and a heart
murmur, surgery really wasn't an option.

Jasper was our foster failure, our problem child. He was one of
the last, if not the last of the dog to come into BRoWNY. A
friend had told me of another friend who was trying to find a
home for their basset puppy. We picked him up with all the
intentions of keeping him "just a few days". A few
days turned into almost 12 years. He was a mess-too skinny
and crushed rib cage from either too much crating or poor
nutrition-probably both. Jasper was a handful. I kept
counting the birthdays saying "this will be the year he
settles down". I quit saying that about the 8th birthday!
Jasper absolutely hated other dogs outside of his own pack. I
believe, had he run into the wrong one, he would have fought to
the end. But to us he was just the sweetest boy. He let you play
with his ears and kiss him and love on him whenever you wanted
(opposite of Freckles).

I used to laugh that he was dumb as a box of rocks, but he taught
himself to ring the sleigh bells to let us know he wanted out (I
had them up as a Christmas decoration-never even attempted
to train any of them to ring bells). He got really good at it.
He'd ring the bells when the cat wanted in or out too. And
if you didn't move fast enough, he rang them until he
nudged them right off the door.

The used to steal the spaghetti box out of the grocery bag and run to the
Living room with it to open and pour out...all while we unknowingly
Unpacked groceries in the other room. He counter surfed our recycles, just to
Be certainly they were thoroughly cleaned out. The day he grabbed the full pizza box 
Off the stove and ran to the living room was an absolute hoot. He kept
Hitting the doorway and just couldn't figure out how to get that pizza
Out of the kitchen!

Jasper taught me patience. They all teach us unconditional love.
He taught me that some dogs just never get 100% trustworthy of
housetraining. And some will pee or poo out of spite because they
didn't get to go for a car ride this time.

Jasper was just the goofiest, happy-go-lucky boy there was.

This really sucks because not only are we houndless, this is the
first time in our home we've been dogless too. That
won't last for long, I'm sure.

So, take a moment to give your hound a hug-especially the
problem child who won't slow down. Appreciate them while
we have them and turn to each other when we don't.

Kathy, Freckles ATB, Jasper ATB





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