Georgie Girl

March 6th, 2012    We said goodbye to our sweet little momma dog, Georgie Girl.

It was so hard to say goodbye. If you ever have seen her Joie de vivre you would understand. She was a little bow legged beagle who would "dance" around in excitement. She was the best momma dog I have seen. She took such good care of her pups and kept them in line even as adults. She was definitely our alpha dog, even as the smallest dog in the house, she ran the roost.  She loved her walks and would run in circles with excitement at the prospect of a walk.  When she looked at you, you could see the intelligence in her warm brown eyes.  She snuffled like a little pig and snored like a grown man.  She was so persistent if there was a chipmunk down a hole she would lie in wait for hours waiting for it to pop its head out and she would spring into action.  She did get a few small animals in our back yard. 

When we got her and Festus she was in heat and Festus took advantage.  In fact she dragged him across the garage floor in pursuit of food by his unmentionable part as the food was of more interest to her than copulation.  It is a sight that is seared into my memory.  Approximately 60 days later well the night before Thanksgiving the pups arrived.  She stayed with those pups barely getting a drink or going the bathroom to take care of them.  I felt so bad for her as she was new to our home and had to trust us to take care of her and them.  We could tell she was a little nervous of us by her babies but she came around quickly as we cared.  Back to the story, Todd and I had dinner at our house that year and she had to smell the Turkey cooking all day (she was in a dog house in the garage) and just when he was serving dinner the garage door opened and in came George letting us know she was more than ready to eat.  She got her own Turkey dinner, obviously.  It was apparent that those smells had enticed her all day and she was just glad we got around to serving it.  That litter brought us Dolly our third dog; the other pups got new homes.

Dolly is a daddy’s girl with Todd and she was a momma’s girl with Georgie.  She would clean Georgie’s face and sleep right next to her.  When we got the diagnosis for cancer (Festus also has cancer) it made her actions even sweeter with Georgie.  Dolly has been a little sad but the dogs knew death was coming.  In fact the morning I took Georgie to the vet to put her down Dolly wanted to go, yet Boo my ever present tail on the way out the door did not even try to go.  I left her home as I did not want her to know that the vet’s office was synonymous with death but just knowing she wanted to spend that time with her momma before she died was touching.

The morning of the 6^th dawned with a blue sky and sunshine, we left shortly after 7am to get there early and be in first thing.  I had Georgie on top of a folded blanket and pillow so she could look out the window.  She slept the first half of the journey but the second she looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by.  I tear up thinking about it as she always had to be able to see out the window.  In the days leading up to this one she would go and sit in the sun and look all around as if to memorize the scenery, to smell the air for her last days, and say goodbye.  She had refused food, even cat food, the last couple of days.  If you know that we call our dogs “Chow hounds” not “Beagle hounds” it gives some understanding of our knowing that the time had come.  I talked to her on the journey.  I told her what a good girl she was, how I was so proud of her momma skills, and so honored to have had her as our Georgie Girl.  I thanked her for the richness, love and laughter she had brought to our lives.  I told her I was sorry that we could not have stopped the cancer and that she was leaving us too soon.  Our vet Kathy Jo and her tech Tammy were just super preparing me for what was about to happen and talking and comforting Georgie as they injected her. 

I brought her home for burial.  Thank God it has been a mild winter and Todd was able to bury her.  I find myself looking for her and listening for her snuffle.  I really miss her and the worst is that Festus is also sick and will soon follow.  They came into our lives together and departing almost together.  We have our Dolly and Boo to comfort us and keep us from being too melancholy about the situation.  It is always hard to say goodbye to those we love and for us that includes our pets.