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Monday, May 21, 2007 Heartbreak, Part 2 By Diana Hsieh @ 4:51 PM Last week, Paul and I enjoyed a fantastically difficult five days of single and double track mountain biking around the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. (That's our second trip with Escape Adventures. Paul and I highly recommend them.) We biked over 100 miles, with almost 8000 feet of ascent total. Happily, we were in fine physical shape for the trip. We never wimped out on rides, nor suffered from sore muscles -- although with altitude of 7,000 to 9,000 feet, we were often short of breath on the bigger hills. We didn't suffer any serious injuries, but I took a rather hard spill on the first day due to too-tight clips. After that, I abandoned my clips entirely, as they were simply too difficult to manage on single track for a beginner rider like me. I do really enjoy these painfully strenuous vacations. Particularly with mountain biking, it's all-too-easy to serious injure yourself if you lose focus for just a few seconds. So these trips really force me to leave all my work behind: whatever I'm not doing doesn't prey on me, as it would if I were trying to do nothing on the beach. (I can't even pack thoughts of work in my brain! No room!) However, I did read the book How to Complete and Survive Your Doctoral Dissertation by David Sternberg while lounging about camp. That was very helpful, since I came back from vacation ready to start my dissertation prospectus. (It's already underway!) Unfortunately, our otherwise excellent trip was marred by the death of our dog Abby. On Tuesday, she suffered a massive trauma that shattered her femur. We're not sure how it happened, but she might have been trampled by my mare Tara or hit by a car coming up the driveway. She was taken to the Douglas County Animal Hospital by our housesitter Melissa right away, put on IV morphine and other drugs, and evaluated by three vets. (One of those vets was Dr. McVicker, the vet that Abby and I have been seeing every ten days or so for acupuncture for the last seven months. She's grown very attached to Abby.) The vets determined that surgery and recovery would be very difficult even if Abby were fully healthy. However, she was sure not to recover with her degenerative myelopathy. Given her rate of decline from that neurological disease, Abby probably would have been unable to walk in six months, if not sooner. So recovery from such a massive hind-end trauma was just not a realistic option, nor remotely fair to ask of her. Paul and I got the message about Abby on Wednesday morning. After a painful series of phone calls to determine the facts and make arrangements, I told Dr. McVicker that she should put Abby down that day. Sadly, it would have taken us at least 24 hours to return home. As much as I wanted to see Abby one last time, that was just not humanely possible. She was well-loved by friends at her end though. Dr. McVicker brought her outside on a stretcher for a few last good moments in the sun. Melissa, our long-time housesitter, was able to be with her, and she even brought our other dog Kate. It has been strange to be home again without her. Paul and I were so far away when she was injured and put down, but we now feel her absence from home constantly. Kate seems to be doing reasonably well, although she's a bit more stuck to me than usual. (Abby was always far more dependent on Kate than vice versa.) Despite her various doggie flaws, Abby was an excellent dog. She was attentive, loyal, and protective. She was a very happy farm dog. She was a dog of rare quality for trailing riding: even in face of alluring distractions like wiggly wildlife and barking dogs, she remained 100% devoted to quietly following Tara and me on the trail. Most of all though, she was my dog. And I miss her. Share |    E-mail Diana Hsieh     PermaLink ()    Comments (New Page)   Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader   via E-mail Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3)   via Feed Reader   via E-mail

Comments
	Monday, May 21, 2007 at 21:02:56 mst Comment ID: #1 Name: Michael Caution E-mail: mcaution(at)gmail.com URL: http://abandoncaution.blogspot.com I'm sorry for your loss. My sympathies go out to you and Paul.
	Monday, May 21, 2007 at 21:35:03 mst Comment ID: #2 Name: Allison Taylor E-mail: amusemonkey(at)yahoo.com I'm very sorry to hear about Abby. Losing a beloved pet is never easy...you always remember them, and the circumstances around their deaths are never what we expect.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 1:22:39 mst Comment ID: #3 Name: Sascha Settegast E-mail: sascha.settegast(at)gmx.de I am very sorry. :-/
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 7:11:48 mst Comment ID: #4 Name: Billy Beck E-mail: wjbiii(at)frontiernet.net URL: http://www.two--four.net/weblog.php That sounds like a very hard day, and I'm bloody sorry to hear it.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 8:19:07 mst Comment ID: #5 Name: Kyle Haight E-mail: khaight(at)alumni.ucsd.edu URL: http://www.leftist.org/haightspeech/ Bummer. I still remember the death of my childhood dog, Hugo, and it's been twenty years. You never stop missing them.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 11:19:38 mst Comment ID: #6 Name: Blair E-mail: BlairSF1(at)Gmail.com Diana & Paul, I'm so sorry to hear about Abby. I still remember my beloved pomeranian, Shadow, even though I had to put him down a year and a half ago. My thoughts are with you.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 14:03:39 mst Comment ID: #7 Name: Monica E-mail: monicabeth10(at)gmail.com URL: http://sparkasynapse.blogspot.com The loss a dog is so difficult, I think because of the variety of roles they play in our lives... they can be companions, guardians, or child-like figures that need protection. I lost my dog Moses about 1.5 years ago due to an unexpected accident, too. It was one of the lowest points of my life. Abby was a pretty dog. I'm sure she will be sorely missed for a long time. My condolences.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 14:40:27 mst Comment ID: #8 Name: Tom Rowland E-mail: atlasfan(at)earthlink.net URL: http://www.trowland.blogspot.com I still remember the three cats I've had over the years, the last--Bertrand Hussler--was given away to a good home over 10 years ago. Even if they leave without dying, the loss of a beloved pet is very difficult. My condolences.
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 16:24:12 mst Comment ID: #9 Name: Nicholas Provenzo E-mail: nprovenzo_at_capitalismcenter.org URL: http://www.capitalismcenter.org Loosing a pet is awful and my deepest sympathy goes out to you and Paul. This weekend my fiance and I suffered a similar loss of our own. Our three-year-old pug Oliver died during a routine teeth-cleaning at our vet. Oliver was the picture of fitness and health, yet somehow he stopped breathing during the procedure and his vets were unable to revive him. Kristin and I are just heartbroken, because Oliver was such an energetic and vivacious boy and a wonderful member of our pack. We have two other pugs own and are fostering a third, but now the house feels quiet and empty without Oliver's special personality. Kris works for Discovery Channel so the folks at Animal Planet were nice enough to feature Oliver's remembrance page at their "Cuddle Corner." See: <http://animal.discovery.com/features/cuddle_corner/cutest/remember_oliver2.html> We have decided to have Oliver cremated and plan to spread his ashes at a small cemetery that was a rest stop on our favorite walking trail. This is all very said for us as it was totally unexpected and I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit that more than a few tears have flowed. Oliver was a good dog and a beloved friend, and I know we are going to miss him a lot. I imagine it is much the same for you and Paul, so again, you have my heartfelt sympathies. --Nick
	Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 21:29:30 mst Comment ID: #10 Name: Jeff Montgomery E-mail: jamontgom(at)hotmail.com Sorry to hear about Abby. It sounds like she had a great life with you and was well-loved. Hopefully you were able to rack up some carefree vacation days before Wednesday's shock. Afterwards, I think I'd rather have something to take my mind off it, such as trying not to fall off a cliff. Otherwise I'd obsess. And when the day is done, the outdoors is a great place to meditate on the important things in life.
	Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 6:23:48 mst Comment ID: #11 Name: Diana Hsieh E-mail: diana(at)dianahsieh.com URL: http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog Thank you, particularly for telling me of your own beloved lost pets.
	Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 8:25:37 mst Comment ID: #12 Name: John Dailey E-mail: phyrm_1(at)hotmail.com ~ Many of us empathize from personal experience. When a beloved pet's put down, especially to end their further pain, enduring that moment-of-knowledge and putting that pain behind one is all one can do, whether one's with the pet or not at the time of death. ~ But, putting one's pain behind sure doesn't mean putting the memories of being with them there also. For you it's now Abby; for me it was Tess and Mulan. ~ Best wishes and sympathies. LLAP J:D
	Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 2:59:02 mst Comment ID: #13 Name: Anonymous Owee. Sorry to hear about her.
	Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 6:46:42 mst Comment ID: #14 Name: Dan E-mail: dbclawyer(at)yahoo.com I am sorry for your loss. As a dog (and cat) lover, I know how a pet truly becomes part of the family. When my son was three, we had a dog named Simon. Simon acted like a big brother, wrestling around (always gently--on Simon's part) and stealing toys just to get my son to chase him. When we lost Simon, we all took it kind of hard. Some five years later, my son still mentions him. Simon had a good life with us and it sounds like Abby had a good life with you. Dan
	Friday, January 2, 2009 at 6:27:12 mst Comment ID: #15 Name: Trishula E-mail: trishulasanjeev(at)gmail.com Hey, Thought you might like to have a look at this. http://stoppuppymills.org/ and if you'd like to know more, you can goolge up "puppy mills"
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