Saying Goodbye to a Friend

Posted by Gabe on August 31, 2010 under Family | 4 Comments to Read

I really never thought I would be writing this, unless it was a posthumous note about our dog Pablo. I have sent out many pictures of him, wrote a blog post about him until 3AM and all in all loved him very much. Despite the physical damage he has done to our home, the “accident” stains when he gets nervous, and the knowledge that at any time during the night it would be my turn to sleep with him in the storage room if an unexpected thunderstorm appeared, we were all resigned to the fact that we would keep him through thick and thin. That is, until two days ago. Sunday was a beautiful day and my wife Michelle was reading a magazine out on the deck with the three dogs. I was finishing up some work in my office.  Sadly I couldn’t hear what was going on until I heard MaryMargaret scream. I rushed to see what happened and apparently Charlie and Pablo, the two males, got into a big fight on the deck. We normally sequester them, but this was just one of those things. There was a noise inside the house and all three dogs converged on the door which started the row. Michelle screamed at them to stop. This normally works but did not on this occasion. Without thinking she stepped in to try and break it up and Pablo bit her in the leg.

Now we know it wasn’t his fault but we also realized that we were putting our daughter in danger by having these animals coexist with each other. What made matters worse is that yesterday morning Pablo charged Michelle (playfully) and knocked her into the wall. (He gets excited when it’s time to eat.)  This is the second time he has done this; the first time resulted in a fall halfway down the stairs.

We really felt we could deal with him but he is just too big and boisterous for us to handle, especially considering we have two other large dogs similar to (albeit better behaved than) him. I put a call into the breeder we rescued him from and she agreed she would take him back. This is devastating for us as we truly love that dog, but we know it is best for him, and for our family.  It was heart wrenching for me to see MaryMargaret crying in her bedroom last night as she held a picture of Pablo in her hands.  ”Why can’t you give him back five years from now?” she asked me.

Today I have the unenviable task of meeting his owner at a point halfway from both of our homes — three hours from here.  I know how much she loves him too so I know he will be cared for.  But that is little solace for us.  Goodbye Pablo, we will never forget you.

UPDATE: 8/31/1- 3:00 PM. I just got back from dropping Pablo off. It was tough to leave him but his former (and new) owner is going to keep him and show him as a veteran.  We might even get to cheer him on when he competes in Frederick in February.  They are also about to purchase a farm, so I’m confident that Pablo will be comfortable and well taken care of.  One of Pablo’s signature moves was to jump up on the couch then lean on you until he is almost laying on your lap.  That was the first thing Charlie did to me when I got home and he’d never done that before in his life.  Ok that’s a bit eerie but I think it’s a good kind of eerie.