Grant me a wish…
The day I dread is getting closer than I expected and I only pray that God saves me from having to make the hard decision.
I have enjoyed his peaceful company for the last 14 years. 
He came to my life as a beautiful golden retriever puppy. He was as golden as the Namib dessert is at sunset and we named him Nambi. He was always adventurous, fearless and never complained of any pain. He was gifted with a beautiful predisposition. He never sought a fight and his signature greeting was a happy noise, a wagging tail and a lick in your face. At every stage of his life we called him different names: Nambi, Golden, Tus, Pooh Pooh but the name that stuck the most was Poohbear and that is how he is known now.
For the last 3 months I have spent my mornings walking him slowly to his favorite place so he can feel the grass under his feet and soak up the sun. His once beautiful fur is now very thin, and his still beautiful face shows the signs of age. His face is not golden any more, but white like the angel in my dreams.
We knew when he was a puppy that his hips were going to fail one day. The vet told us once that he was the poster child of hip dysplasia. That never stopped him from enjoying life at the fullest. He loved the water and swam at every chance he got. He learned to bark on command and used it to his advantage each time he wanted a treat. Although annoying, it became adorable to me.
People say that the company of a dog has mood-enhancing benefits. This proved absolutely true for me. I still feel an incredible peace when I hug him, and I feel extreme happiness when his loving eyes meet mine. It is humbling to know that somebody can love you that much.
For the past year, my beautiful Golden has slowed down. 
I learned to accommodate my schedule and my pace to his. I knew one day I would loose him and so I decided to fully enjoy every second that I was blessed with his company.
Three days ago, his legs finally gave up. He stop wanting to go for his walk. He can no longer stand without help and I know the time is coming. I promised myself to be strong, to find comfort knowing that he has had the best possible life and that he never lacked love; however it does not make it any easier. I know I have to let him go for his own development, but I only hope his departure from this world will be natural since I do not believe we have the right to end life that we did not create. I want him to go to sleep and fly free in his dreams to a better place and I pray that God grants me that wish.
Thank you Nambi, my beautiful Poohbear for sharing with me your life.
These words were written on February 8, 2011 on this blog.
Grab a Kleenex first. Pooh, a golden retriever has lived 14 years. The owner is a good friend. I have doggy-sat pooh many times, and he always loved to come visit my house on his daily walks. I don’t think it was to see me, or my dogs, but mainly for some free food, that was a different brand than his. Sort of like eating out I guess.
The bond between some animals and people is sometimes stronger than one human to another. An elephant was so close to a dog that the recovery of the injured dog actually depended on his elephant friend. How can anyone say an animal doesn’t have a soul? Ask any pet owner, and they will tell you they know. And if you look into any animal’s eyes, really look, you’ll know too.
So, we didn’t think Pooh had long to live. His hips were badly arthritic, and he needed help just to get up sometimes. His owner had to go out of the country for 10 days, and we were fearful that something would happen while he was gone. Different friends took turns staying at the house during the day, just in case Pooh fell and couldn’t get up. There were three other dogs there too, but Pooh was the oldest, and we knew things could go from bad to worse at any time. The owner even had video cameras in the house, so he could keep an eye on his dogs via the internet while away.
While he was away, Pooh seemed to fade a bit more. He would hardly ever get up, and would just sleep or lay for many hours. I am not a Vet, but an MD with training in homeopathy, and as a friend I was asked to help if I could. I have known Pooh over the years, but I asked a few questions about his breathing, appetite, etc. as it was now. I don’t have a lot of remedies at home, but I do have some polycrests, and I did happen to have some Stannum from a time when I treated a friend in the last stages of cancer, with spread of it to his lungs. It helped him a lot, easing the chest symptoms and fatigue. It so happened that this remedy came up for Pooh, so I put a few pellets of 200C in a bottle of water and succussed it with instructions to shake it and give a capful 3 times a day until there was a response, or a day went by, and call me.
Needless to say, old Pooh came around. Not only did he make it until his master got home, but at the time of writing this (April 8, 2011) he is still going. Some days are better than others, and he wants to go for a short walk, and other days he stays close to home. He is still getting one capful a day of Stannum, since it seems to give him a little more energy. (I also had tried Carbo animalis, but it didn’t have any affect.)
So even if you can’t stop death from coming, you can always make the living a little easier with some homeopathy. Sometimes buying a little time is all we need to help someone enjoy some good days with an old friend before saying goodbye.
