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Not a moments regret

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  nolefan 
#1 ·
I saw this on Facebook this evening, I don't know the poster and never met them or the dog, but it struck a chord with me. I have not a moments regret for any of the dogs that have been in my life and left me. I would have them again in a heartbeat even knowing the unavoidable end.


Big Fluffy Dog Rescue

And now your late night post...
In the winter of 2010, I got a call about a "5-year-old Great Pyrenees Newfoundland mix" at a shelter in West Tennessee. The shelter sent me a picture of the dog who would become known as Riley, standing next to what I was told was an adult Anatolian Shepherd. I fully expected to receive a lumbering behemoth of a dog, and so I was somewhat shocked and vastly amused to see Riley amble up to greet me weighing in at about 55 pounds and slightly over knee high. The Anatolian shepherd adult came with him and turned out to be a 14-week-old German Shepherd mix puppy. Some times, the best things in life are those that you don't expect.

I did not know on that day that I was going to get one of the great loves of my life. Riley turned out to actually be a spaniel border collie mix and he was one of the happiest dogs I have ever known. Riley was a magic dog and he possessed a light that brought happiness everywhere he went and there was not a person who met him who did not fall a little in love. Riley was heartworm positive on arrival and he was older than they had said. He was, in all likelihood, more on the order of eight or nine years old on arrival and not five. Riley was treated for heartworms in early 2011 and shortly thereafter, we discovered Riley had kidney issues. As the result of his diagnosis, we decided that Riley would live out his life as a Harrison dog. It was a decision I never regretted.

This morning, after a sudden and rapid decline last week, we let Riley go. His kidneys were failing and his heart was weak and he was dying. After a particularly harrowing night last night, it was apparent that Riley's time with us was at an end and only selfishness would put him through another hospitalization to try to buy more time.

Every living creature has a hidden hourglass through which grains of sand are silently but surely flowing and no one can know how much time we have with those we love and not for love or money can you buy more. And so I am left with the loss and the silence and I find it bitter to swallow, but this day was set in stone on the very day I opened my heart to a happy, feisty white and black speckled ball of fluff. Even so, in the depths of grief, I would do it all again, just to have him back if only for a day.

All of our dogs are on loan to us for a short time and there will be a day when that loan is called and we must return the gift we have been given.
So I raise a glass to the sweet gentle soul of Riley. He would not want anyone to mourn his passing, and he would ask that you honor him by opening your heart to an animal in need or by loving those you already have. Au revoir, Riley. You were most definitely the best boy ever."
 
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#3 ·
He was not mine, I just copied the story off Facebook. Harrison is his owner's last name.
 
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#4 ·
Mylissyk



Mylissyk

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story from Facebook!!
His owners were blessed with Riley and Riley rescued them as much as they saved him. I agree with you that even knowing the inevitable grief of losing a dog, I would adopt them all over again in a heartbeat. They GIVE US so much more, than we can ever give them!! In memory of Riley, Ken and I will always open our hearts to another dog in need!!
 
#5 ·
Thank you for sharing such a beautifully expressed view. I agree 100%. I cannot hear the Garth Brooks song, 'The Dance' without tears for the same reasons.... "I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the dance." Here's to our dogs who are worth it.
 
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