Good-Bye My Bubba

My dog, Dylan Bob Boiko died today at 5pm.

My entire family took him into the vet where they injected him with pain medicine and then the stuff that killed him. I didn't know if I wanted to go, not because the immediate pain was too much, but rather the helplessness he would show when the medicine took over and left him to sleep forever might have been too unbearable to watch. Luckily, he died quickly and peacefully. Literally, his heart stopped beating seconds after the medicine was injected, whereas normally it takes about 10-15 minutes. I'm glad I went.

I know this entry can seem a bit dramatic, but when I think about it, I know that it's effecting me so much because I value loyalty. There is a reason why dogs are labeled as loyal animals- because it's true! Dylan was loyal to the point of no return.

Dylan loves him mommy!

Looking back to yesterday, I now can see that he even knew his time was coming to an end. He'd been having a hard time walking these last couple of days because the cancer had spread into his bones, but some how he made his way upstairs and into my bedroom, where he looked for me with his tail wagging one last time. I should have known that a day later would have been his last.

Bubba's precious face. We miss him already.

Dani is now without her "soul mate and best friend" as our vet described them. We all knew that Dani knew he was going to pass away, because she had been distancing herself from Dylan, whereas before she was his second shadow. I think the part of this process that I've been dreading the most is the coming weeks when she cries because she miss Dylan.

In a lot of ways, dogs are like people (yes, I am totally one of those)... They feel, show actions, have feelings. Now to what extent of their feelings are taught or natural I'm not going to discuss. With the understanding of animals and people being alike- the one part that sucks about animals is they cannot communicate with us! All we could do was respond to Dylan's symptoms. Again, I'm insecure on this topic because Dylan was "just" a dog, but let me break free from my fear and just say that I hope for the depths of my heart that God is working in the lives of pets and animals in ways that we humans cannot understand because I don't desire for them to hurt. Whether they have taught feelings, emotions and actions or not, Dylan was a good boy and I will forever miss my bubba.