Golden Retriever Dog Forums banner

Hunter, My Heart Dog

809 views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  3 goldens 
#1 ·
Had to believe but it was 13 years ago today, Oct. 16, 2003 that I lost my soul mate of dogs, He was 4 years and 2 months old. We had gotten Hunter and Kaycee in Oct. 1999 and at 8 weeks I started working on them with leash and collar. He never once tried to fight it. When I started taking them for short walks a couple of weeks later, little scaredy cat KayCee stayed close to my feet, but Hunter was at the end of the leash investigating everything he could. They slept in a mesh play pen on my side of our king size bed until they got to large and then they were in bed with me--and hubby when he was home from the road ( cross country trucker).

Hunter had more patience than any dog or human should have. His sister would torment him to no end, and he did nothing. When we adopted Honey in Dec. 2002, she loved to run behind him and grab a back leg and pull him down. Shen she grabbed his leg, he would just sit down and wait for her to go find something else to do. He as more than willing to share his toes with them and with the grandkids. He would bring his toys and put them on the blanket with the baby and then lay down and watch the little one.

He had a couple fo games he loved to play with me. At night I would say "night night babies" and all the dogs would run down the hall, him leading the way. Buck, our oldest and largest golden slept in a front bedroom I felt safer with him in there as he would let him know if anything was amiss in our front yard. But Hunter, KayCee and Honey slept in our bed. He would get on my pillow and lay there tail wagging and for all the world looking like he was smiling at me. I would put my hands on my hips and say 'Petey, move" and he would move.

He woke me every morning likcing the back of my neck, and my ears, getting it full of slobber. Also slobber in my hair. He always wanted to lick face, arms, neck, etc. He had a wide wet tongue and he slung it around like a wet lasagna noodle. KayCee had a narrow almost dry tongue and she preferred feet and legs. She would even pick at my sox to get me to take them off so she could lick my feet. Her licks were so and deliberate. Honey--she licked whatever area she could get to and her tongue as perfectly dry.;

I could go on and one with stories about him, but that is enough about the things he did. Well, he was never a chow hound and he didn't bother picking up any human food that dropped to the floor--unlike the others. He would eat a little kibble, then go play, come back and eat more, go play. I had to work to keep the other dogs out of his food. He was long and lean at 79 pounds and I called him the Long Lean Playing Machine.

Well, because of the way he ate, or didn't eat, I worried that he might somehow not eat his heart worm prevention pill, so I decided to go with ProHeart 6 for him. He got his injectio0n and then I was standing at the front desk talking to the receptionist and 2 of the techs--with 4 dogs, I knew them all pretty well. One of them said "look at him, he adores he and is listening to every word she says." I looked down and there he sat watching me. Little did I know I had just signed his death warrant, tho I didn't know it at the time.

In short order he was in ICU with autoimmune hemolytic anemia and dying liver. He was there for 8 days fighting so hard. I got to visit with him all I wanted and I went 3 times a day taking him fresh boiled chicken and I could take him outside to do his business and sit and love on him. He had transfusions, all kinds of drugs that are needed to try to sto the AIHA, ultrasounds, blood work every day, etc, etc. But he couldn't beat both and I lost that wonder boy--oh, he and I were going to start Therapy Dog classes in a couple of months--my vet's idea becaue he saw and knew what a gentle soul Hunter was.

Well, I went to the library her in our little town and was shown how to use a computer and I found story after story after story of ones who had lost 1 or 2 dogs to ProHeart6. Thru the stories I found my first dog forum called I-dog and it was huge. And so many stories on there about Proheart6 deaths and bad reactions. IK told Hunter's story and was asked to come to other forums to tell it. My first golden forum was Chat Goldens, and eventually someone there that also belonged to this one asked me to come here and I did in Sept. 2005. At one time I was on 6 golden groups, but now this is the only one left due to FaceBook taking everyone's time.

I love Hunter no more than I loved the other dogs, but there was a bond between us that everyone saw and commented on. All deaths crush me, but I took his even harder becaue I felt I had killed him. That is another story and I will tell it in a follow up post.

Pictures of Hunter and KayCee as puppies. She use to chew on him all the time and he took. He loved the grandkids--that is our grandson who is 3 weeks older than Hunter, and the on the blanket is our oldest granddaughter. One of Hunter on the sofa with our son, and then just a couple of Hunter and KayCee as adults.
 

Attachments

See less See more
9
#2 ·
At night Hunter slept up on my pillow and KayCee slept more at the foot of the bed. Hunter always wanted to be on the the side of me where he could see my face and if I turned over, he would cross over to get on that side of me. There were times I woke with the felling of being watched and by the light of my large clock could see Hunter sitting on the floor watching me--no room on the bed for him on that side. I would move over and he would get up there.

I told how he woke me every morning--slobber all in my ear and the hair on the back of my neck. Well, one morning he woke me up and I half opened my eyes and saw it was dark and thought 'Gee, Hunter must really need to go to get up before daylight", then I got fully away and realized that Hunter had been gone for 8 months. And it was his litter mate sister doing the licking, filling my ear with slobber, the back of my neck and hair full of slobber. And suddenly I knew without a doubt that it was Hunter using his sister's body to let me know he was fine, he loved me as much as ever, he knew I loved him as much as ever and that he didn't blame me for his death, it was not my fault.

See, I had blamed myself so much that I had actually lost 40 pounds during that 6 months since his death. I had put the weight on when I quit smoking a few months before we got him and KayCee. As described above, she gave slow, deliberate almost dry lickdks, his were wide, hap-hazard, sopping wet. That is how I knew it was not really KayCee licking my neck and ear that night.

When I told my family at first they thought I was nuts, but soon decided something had happened. I was no longer so down in the dumps all the time and could talk of Hunter with smiles and laughs rather than tears. I SO MUCH wanted another visit from him, but it never happened. Just that one time that took away my guilty feelings. I have lost many, many dogs in my 71 years, the first in '56, but this is the one and only time I have ever been visited by one I had never blamed myself for the death of any other as I did with Unter and that may be while this happened. Even today I would welcome another visit from Hunter, my heart dog. or any of my dogs at the Rainbow Bridge.
 
#3 ·
Some touch our hearts in ways we can't explain, true heart dogs. And I believe he was there for you. I had a cat that was more like a dog. She was always beside me, touching if I was sitting down, slept in my arms like a baby. She was obedience trained in Spanish and English. Yes, a Siamese mix who would do a sit or down stay from 20 feet away. She would let me know it was bedtime by getting up and sitting six feet in front of me, her back to me, facing the bedroom. Oh the stories I could tell about Sierra.






I came home from a dog show to a note on the front door from my husband telling me to call him before I went into the house. The phone was by the front door. I called and he was in a meeting. I ignored what he said and went immediately to my bedroom to check on Sierra. She greeted me with a meow and then turned her back on me and went around the bed and under as she always did to me when I didn't take her with me. Once I knew she was all right I went back and called again. He told me she had died. I said, no, I'd just seen her. We argued. I told him did he think I would be on the phone with him if I hadn't seen her? I'd have been frantically searching our bedroom. He told me he had buried her along the pasture fence line and that was why I was supposed to call him before going in. I went back to the bedroom and couldn't find her. I found the fresh grave. She was, had been, 16. She gave me a final good bye. It would have been much harder if she hadn't. Yes, Hunter was there for you, just like Sierra was for me.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm not sure why I read these stories. Every time I do, my heart breaks, the same as the person writing the tale. I just can't keep away. These beautiful souls, these things we call Goldens, are such special dogs. My heart is sad now for Hunter and Axl and all the others I have read about. I appreciate them and the meaning each dog had. I have been blessed with TWO heart dogs, my half-Golden Lupo and my full Golden, Fenris. I had both for over ten years and I miss them both very much. Sadly and joyfully, I'm falling for my precious puppy Bagheera too. I suspect that this time, when Bagheera dies, there won't be any way to recover. He is so sweet. He's not Lupo nor is he Fenris, he's who he is. And I love him already.

Hunter was a wonderful dog. Thank you for sharing his life with us.

Some say there is a beyond. Some say it's wishful thinking. All I know, and feel to be true, is Will Rogers' famous quote:

"If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went"
 
#7 ·
A really lovely tribute to Hunter. He was such a beautiful dog. I understand how a special dog can hold a piece of our hearts even years after they have left us. They hold our hearts tightly in life and death. It is only right that they be called our heart dogs. I, too, lost a dog (a sheltie) to ProHeart 6. I was trying to do what was best for him by keeping him free of heartworm, just as you were. Little did any of us know it would take our dog's lives. Although it has been many years since you lost Hunter, I am sorry for your loss.
 
#9 ·
G-bear. one in Florida, Stacy, lost her pom, Precious, and almost lost her sheltie, Jamie Lyn to PH6. One in Colorado, Jean took all 3 of hers in and within 2 months her "skipper key" (don't know how to spell it) was dead from dying liver, and 454 pound cotton ball mix was dead of AIHa, and her 2 year old shepherd/lab mix was on meds the rest of his life for the autoimmune damage he got. Jean, like me, blamed herself. One in P{hilly lost two cockers. One in Canada lost her seeing eye golden. So many of us were in heavy contact for a few years, and some of us still are. More dogs died from PH6 in 4 years than died of all others combined and some had been out 25 years. That is why the FDA had them pull it in Sept. 2004, just 11 months after Hunters death. They had a big hearing in Jan. 2005 to get it back and several went to testify, including two of those mentioned above. We were told head of time and we sent in our stories. The panel of 15 read our stories, and then at the hearing heard from those that were there. After the decision came done, Connie from Florida called me to tell me the FDA said no return until it was reformulated and that took almost 4 years.

Connie and then later a couple of others called me, and they said there were something like 10 that were there to tell the stories, but each panel member had been given copies of our letters, vet bills (some vets admitted it was PH6, etc . Fort Dodge showed up with lawyers, some vets, and banfield vets who said they had never had a reaction. BUT there were several who had reported to the FDA and then to this panel their dogs were given PH6 by Banfield, and Banfiled had been notified.

On a side note, one in Wisconsin lost her border collie, bandit the same day I lost Hunter. Sue had a horror story. Bandit went into seizures about an hour after the injection. Her vet was gone for the day so took him to emergency. They ahd to totally knock him out to stop the seizure, and as soon as he came around it started up again. Was to much and he died a few hours after getting there. The ER vet said they would have to test for rabies. Sue told them he was up to date on rabies vax, and was an indoor dog. vet said it didn't make any difference, it needed to be check. Poor Sue had no idea what that involved and that horrible vet startee cutting Bandits head off while she was in the room. She had night mares for a long, long.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top