Crystal has been sliding downhill for the past year or so, doggedly clinging to her old food-seeking routines and spending her afternoons snoozing in the slivers of sunlight that spill into the house as the days tick by. But during the past few weeks, it became clear that she’d had enough. She’s been suffering from cancer and an assortment of heart maladies, and I knew it was time to let her go. But it wasn’t easy, and I wanted to do it as comfortably as possible. So we called our vet and arranged for them to come here to the house to put her down. She went quietly, at home, with me and Lara and Xena and Ozzy and Mully shedding tears nearby.
My mind has been drifting back, tracing the wonderful times we’ve shared during the past 15 years, to that moment a few days before Thanksgiving when I helped her mother, Brandi, give birth to a litter of yapping, yelping cockers …
To Crystal’s first walk, in an unlikely Birmingham snow, when she was so small I had to pick her up to get her over the curbs …
To that crazy trip across country, through Mississippi, Lousiania, Texas and finally to our new home in Albuquerque, that poor 1986 Ford Escort bristling with assorted possessions, a hyper cocker puppy and a demented lovebird named Gonzo …
To watching her and her best friend, PigPen, six months her junior, curled up in the New Mexico winter sunshine on our back porch …
To hot high-desert hikes when she and PigPen would run from one shady spot to the next, panting and ecstatic among the cactus and pinon …
To romps through Denver’s Washington Park, leaving contrails of dog prints in freshly fallen midnight snow …
To frenetically chasing sqeaky toys through our odd duplex-turned-single apartment in Austin, Texas, while barking PigPen egged her on, encouraging her to make another orbit of the room …
To the calmer days of old age in Tennessee when she lay her head on dying PigPen’s emaciated body, saying goodbye to her friend and partner in crime …
To all the joy she brought me for 15 years. Rest in peace, Little Chris. Rest in peace.
8 replies on “Goodbye to a loyal cocker spaniel”
Touching post, Bob.
All dogs should be lucky enough to have a life that full.
Sniff. When a dog is that loved, her death is much less of a tragedy. The emotions she gave and received leave a far bigger mark than her absence.
I’m sorry to hear about Crystal, Bob. I’ll send good thoughts to you and the rest of the pack.
what a beautiful tribute! she will surely be missed and remembered fondly.
Dear Bob,
When Aunt Annie was working as a cook for a major in D.C. their cocker spaniel had a litter of pups. She sent one to me by air. We picked up “Major” at the airport. He was coal black with a little red heart on his collar. He never reached his 1st birthday. I went to school with a tear-stained face and a classmate asked why I had been crying and when I explained she remarked “you should never love anything that can’t love you back” and this person became a nurse. Your mom knows who she is and she never cared for her either. She could not have made a very compassionate nurse.
Thanks for the note, Aunt Ginny. Mom has wistfully recalled Major on more than one occasion. I’m hearing rumors that Lynn has a pair of Newfs. She’ll have her hands full, but they’re awesome dogs. I’m crazy about mine.
Yes, Lynn has two Newf puppies (40 lbs. at this writing) and a Golden (about 8 years old). Her built-in pool serves the Golden well and I’m sure the Newfs will spend much time in it this summer.
This is a wonderfully fitting tribute to a loyal companion. It reminds me of my first dog and all of the memories that we shared growing up together. Thanks for sharing.