Our Dog Tea

Had a pretty normal day yesterday, up until I got a call late at night from my in-laws to say that their dog (formally our dog) was at the Vets, about to be put down. Was a difficult conversation, since there was a lot of tears at the other end of the phone.
Tea (Tay-ah), was originally our dog, and grew up with our first born baby girl. It was strange, since few weeks ago I happened to be looking over some old home videos of us taking our baby girl for her first swim, and there was Tea, barking and running around like a mad dog.
Since then, he kind of drifted over to my father in law, who lives not far down the road from us. It's fair to say that Tea always loved the old man, I think because he was the first to handle Tea as a pup. Anyway, over the years he became his faithful and loyal companion, literally followed him everywhere like a shadow, and even though he still loved us, I'd never seen as strong a bond between a dog and a person as these two had. They were inseperable, especially since the old man had been some years retired, and busied himself doing odd jobs and working in his shed, always with Tea nearby.
So, it came as an awful shock when I got the call to go down to the Vet. I spoke to the Vet on the phone about not waiting for me, but to go ahead and put old Tea to sleep, but when I arrived I saw the old man crying outside and Tea splayed out in the operating theatre. He looked up at me and managed a bit of a wag of the tail, I knew he recognised me - and I realised I was going to have to go through this with him.
I have to say it was tough, and I was not prepared for it. They shot the green stuff into his leg, and that slightly panicked look he gave me, someone he trusted, has stuck with me over these past few days. I just held his head and stroked him, he kind of fought it, and it was bloody tough. I cried silently.
But as tough as that was, it was harder to see the pain and loss my father-in-law was going through, and is going through. The tears come back to me as I write this actually, because he is struggling with the loss of his close mate. He is the type of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, so his pain and sorrow was expressed in such a real way - he literally couldnt bear to be in that room when Tea passed away. Anyyone who has been through this knows what I am talking about, it was tougher than I thought it would be.
We buried him that night, right next to the old man's shed, so he could continue to keep the old man company, the way he always had.
Anyway, I just wanted to share that and get it off my chest... a very sad day for everyone, but what a great dog he was - he leaves a big gap behind, especially for my father-in-law.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, Run free tea xxx

So sorry to hear of your very sad loss. They do become true soul mates and letting them go is the hardest thing we humans have to do.

You and your Father in law have my deepest sympathies.

Run free Tea  

So sorry for your loss, run free tea xx

So sorry for your sad loss run free Tea at Rainbow Bridge xxxx

so sorry to read of your loss, run free at Rainbow Bridge Tea