A great warm gentle spirit has left this world and our hearts are broken. No dog could have been loved more than Chinook and no two people could have received more affection and devotion from a dear dog companion than Marian and I. We have truly been blessed. I want to honour this dear faithful friend with these words about her passing.
Over the past few years Chinook has been arthritic in her back legs and these past few weeks she has needed more assistance to get up and down and go outside. It was never a burden on us and we would have cared for her forever. Since January of this year we took turns sleeping in the living room with Chinook when she could no longer climb the stairs for the night. We'd take her outside whenever she awakened us with the rattle of her collar. But quality of life was becoming an issue and Chinook deserved to leave this life as she enjoyed it - with dignity and without undue pain. After 14 years, her body was worn and tired. Last Friday during the night I awakened knowing that the time had come to make the dreadful decision to help Chinook leave this life.
Marian and I have shed buckets of tears over the past few days. In between the tears we provided Chinook with meals of roasted beef, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, and anything else she wanted. Chinook was most comfortable within our home but wandered outside through the yard that she loved to sniff things for the final time on Monday, June 23.
She loved her kong and we kept it continually filled with cookies. Her eyes were bright and her appetite was as good as it has ever been. She followed me around from room to room as she has always done. On Sunday and Monday there seemed to be a real peace about Chinook and this was such a comfort to us.
We arranged for a vet to come to our home at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. As Chinook worked on her kong heavy tranquilizers were administered to her without pain as we talked to her and petted her. At 8:00 p.m. our dear dog was gone from us. She looked like she had fallen comfortably asleep after enjoying her kong and it was so hard for us to comprehend that her beautiful heart would never beat again.
We created her resting place ourselves as she watched us through the back door on Monday. We wanted her to remain near to us in a place she loved. Marian suggested we plant a blanket of green Juniper to cover her. I wanted a single solar light where she rested. Chinook's friends at Bruce House, where the three of us cooked supper every Monday, sent plants to be added. We brought home a rock from the Expermental Farm, where Chinook ran and played for so many of her healthy years, to place on top, too. On Monday night a candle burned outside where Chinook rested. Last night the sparkling solar light was visible to us from upstairs during the night.
There is such an emptiness in our home. The dog collar is silent, the kibble does not sing as it is poured into her dish, the kong no longer bounces off the floor. And in the great great loss that Marian and I experience, we honour this kind, gentle, and loyal protector who brought us so much joy for so many years. Thank you, Chinook.
