I think we can all agree that we just don't deserve dogs, plain and simple. They are just too good and pure for this world. So it's only natural that leaving them behind for, say, college, is absolutely heartbreaking. And while leaving your dog is hard, leaving your elderly dog is harder.
Anyone who knows me knows that my dog, Buffett, is my best friend. He is 150 pounds of pure fluff, love and happiness. But my pup isn't quite a pup anymore. He is just about to turn eight years old, and while that may not sound like a whole lot, it is.
For big dogs, life expectancy is only 10-13 years. In human years, my Akita-Rottweiler mix is 61 years old. My canine companion is going deaf and has trouble getting up. He is getting old, just like mother nature had intended.
But that doesn't make leaving any less devastating. I, just like many my age, will be at college for the next nine months. How am I supposed to know if my pup, my best friend, will make it until I come back home? The answer is, I don't, and that terrifies me.
Many will say, "that's life", and that "everything dies at some point", or that he's "just a dog," and they're right. But the hardest thing about that is not knowing whether you'll be by your furry friend's side when the time should come. We are our dogs' entire world. They spend every single waking moment aiming to please us, wanting to be with us, and hoping to play with us. They are there for us through everything, our ups and our downs, tails wagging no matter what, and we owe it to them to return the favor.
Yet, I'm not sure if I can, and it makes me want to cry.
Tell me, if you had an elderly family member who was nearing the end of their life, you would want to do everything in your power to be there for them, to make them as comfortable as possible, and to be able to say goodbye when the time comes, correct?
Then don't tell me that he is "just a dog." He is my family and leaving him behind when he is getting so old is the hardest thing I've had to do. It is exactly why leaving your dog is hard, but leaving an elderly dog is harder.
Please, don't take your pups for granted. Give them an extra treat just because. Take them on an extra long walk. Let them play and run around a little longer than normal at the dog park. Show them you love them. Because there are many of us who aren't with our furry friends and would give anything to pet them.
