Pets - Oscar

I read a story today that brought tears to my eyes. A lady had a dog who was 14 and a half years old and seriously ill, so her family made the decision to lay her beloved dog to rest.

Not Oscar, but he looked exactly like this.

Growing up, I've always had pets. Our first dog, Oscar was a keeshond. I was about 4 when my family got Oscar from the pound. He had been hit by a car and someone found him under their house and took him to the pound and when we got him, he still had stitches in his leg.

Oscar was the most beautiful loving dog. He shed fur like crazy and as such, he was an outside dog. Lucky for him, we always lived in houses with substantial undercover areas because the funny boy wouldn't use his dog kennel.

He was never a very active boy, which is characteristic of Keeshond's anyway and during his last years, he aged rapidly and developed arthritis. When he sat on his hind legs he would wimper with pain and we would have to help him stand up again. Despite this, he was happy and loved all of us kids. One night when I was 14, at about 2am my Mum woke to Oscar's yelps. She rushed outside and saw Oscar laying on the desk frothing from the mouth. Mum knew there wasn't much time left and no vets nearby to help at that time, so she gave him water and sat with him all night. Unfortunately, Oscar didn't make it through the night. My poor boy at 10 years old had passed in my Mum's arms.

The next day, Mum woke me before the rest of the house and took me out to the deck and explained what happened. I was devastated that my beautiful family pet had passed away. I took the day off school and my parents and I had a little memorial for him before we burried him. I will never forget my Oscar. He might not have been active, but he loved us and we loved him. I loved to sit with him and have chats with him and he would just sit there and listen. He put up with us kids and our rabbit, Rex who used to hop around Oscar and jump on him when he was laying down. He put up with our Chicken, Bomber who would go up and peck him and run around in circles.

He was truly a beautiful addition to our family and I am forever grateful for him being in my life.