My Sweet Dog Research Paper

From the moment we are born we interact with many different people and things that have influence over our lives. Most people are not much different from a fallen leaf that blows down the street in front of you: they reside in your presence for only a brief snapshot in time. The encounters are without meaning or consequence. Fortunately many of us have dearly loved people and companions in our lives that are too special to let them go. My sweet dog Katie was just such a creature. In many ways she was like that fallen leaf, overlooked and stepped on by many I am sure. When I first saw her, I never imagined her as a fallen leaf. She was different. She was young seedling that had been tossed away to wither. I am so thankful that I did not overlook the opportunity to have her in my life. When I picked her up for the first time, I knew that with some tender loving care she would grow into a bountiful fruit tree giving more nourishment for my essence than I was worthy of. During our fifteen years together, Katie did grow. She blossomed and eventually provided fruit to feed my heart with plenty left over to share with others. Through her I learned a higher level of nurturing, compassion and what it really means to honor life. Katie had been on her own for months before I found her at a local animal shelter in northern California. Her beautiful root beer brown eyes pleaded with me to adopt her. Listening to her eyes made no sense, but it was one of the brightest things I have ever done. After scooping her up in an old towel, we took what would be the first of many road trips together. This trip was to the vet and the news was not good. My little bundle of fur was very sick and needed a great deal of nursing to get to perfect health. We came out of her doctor’s office with a large white paper sack full of potions, pills and tonics to cure all that ailed her. The moment we got to her new home I conveyed her straight into a soapy warm bath for a good scrubbing. She patiently endured hours of tick picking and wound cleaning. The vet said she was anemic, it was no wonder. This was the first of what would be many hours I spent carefully nurturing her back to health while doing my best Florence Nightingale impression. She laid her head gently on my forearm and licked my hand to reassure me that I was doing it correctly. Katie and I had many adventures over the years: walks, road trips, jogs to the beach, playing ball, teasing bigger dogs with her agility and once she even assisted in an off duty arrest. Over the years Katie demonstrated many times that she was keenly aware of her …show more content…
We took one last short walk around the yard before she walked over to the car on her own steam. Once again her eyes spoke to me. They had become clouded with age but I could hear them just as clearly as I could the first day I met her. It was time. She was ready. I picked her up in her favorite blanket and gently put her in the back seat. We went to the vet and she looked me in the eyes and licked my hand reassuringly. She appreciated what I was doing. I held her as she passed away. It was painful, but the only way to properly honor a family member who had always given more than she got.

My eyes have become red and wet with tears as I remember that day. It is hard to believe a small black and white dog could teach me so much and leave a hole in my heart. When I picked her up that day in her favorite blanket it was my one last opportunity to nurture her as I had done so many times before. I knew it was the compassionate thing to do and if the tables had been reversed she would not have wanted me to suffer any longer. Her legacy is one of dignity and love. Allowing her to die with grace was perhaps the best way to honor her life. That was our last road trip