In the midst of continuing to blog about the rest of our trip in southern China, I'm going to pause today and write about Uno. Uno has been our family dog for the past 16 years and today we had to say goodbye. Lately, Uno hasn't been able to get up on his own well and seemed to be in a lot of pain. This morning, Dad and I loaded him up in the jeep for one last car ride. Standing in the parking lot of the vet's office underneath a shady tree Dad held on to our old friend as he peacefully slipped away. I couldn't really keep it together and had to stand to the side trying not to think about anything. I knew this would be hard, but I didn't think it would affect me to the extent that it did. But, after all, Uno was a part of our family for more than half of my life and he is going to be dearly missed.


Last summer, Uno was still pretty spry and Dad and I took him to one of his favorite places - the Saugatuck Dunes State Park for the last time. He had a blast trotting on the trails, sniffing everything and wading in the lake. Every day, if Dad and Uno weren't walking in the woods behind the house they would take their daily walk around the neighborhood in the late afternoon. Around here, everyone knows Uno and people regularly came out to say hi and give him treats.


Uno was a pound puppy - we got him when he was only six months old and he turned out to be a very special dog. Other than the usual dog problems of digging up my mom's bulbs or gnawing on things he shouldn't, Uno was pretty much the perfect dog. He didn't bark, he stayed at home all day without being tied up, he walked next to Dad without a leash, and he was friendly with everyone.


One of my friends asked me this morning if there's going to be a "Dos" and I said probably not. My parents have started to travel more and it's hard to leave a dog at home. But truthfully, the real reason is that in our minds, no dog will ever be able to come close to compare to Uno and for now we're content to live with the happy memories. We'll miss you Uno!

3 comments

1. Sarah Ray on July 8, 2011 at 8:58 PM

   so sad. sometimes i think it's harder to lose pets than people.

    
2. Elizabeth on July 9, 2011 at 12:23 PM

   I still miss the dog we grew up with. It is so hard to lose a pet. So sorry!

    
3. Erica on July 12, 2011 at 2:00 AM

   Oh no!! I'm so sorry Sarah. :( I remember when Cocoa had to be put to sleep and it was way harder than I thought it was going to be as well. At least you were home to say goodbye (although that probably made it worse).