Losing A Pet

“People are here on this planet to learn to love. Dogs already know how to love so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Yesterday would have been my dog, Oscar’s (aka Google) 12th birthday but sadly just before Christmas we had to put him to rest after a short fight with cancer. The purpose of this article is not to make you feel sad or for you to feel sorry for me but rather it’s a way for me to say goodbye to him and to share some of our achievements together. Losing a pet is so difficult. They make up a huge part of your life, they give so much and in return all they seek is your company.

I wanted to write this for a while now but I needed time to reflect and the timing of his birthday seemed like a perfect way to say goodbye.

Oscar was a great friend with an amazing temperament. He was patient and allowed you to do pretty much anything to him without getting  frustrated. When we brought Oscar home as a pup I set a goal to train him to the highest level of obedience achievable. I wanted to see if the two of us were capable of reaching such lofty heights.  In the years that followed he won many obedience trials, filling up the trophy cabinet and making his Dad super proud.

First day home.

He ended up achieving a very high level of obedience however no matter how good he was the innate love of food was always a challenge to overcome. I remember one competition in Ballarat when this drive for food left me red faced and embarrassed. We were doing a long distance recall and he was meant to run over to me and sit square in front of me and wait for his next command. Instead Oscar decided to run straight pass me, not even bothering to give me a second glance, leave the competition ring and then dashed straight for our picnic rug where we were eating earlier in the day, looking for food.  When he finally came to his senses he finished the exercise perfectly like nothing had happened. We were of course disqualified and missed out on first place as he aced everything else. I couldn’t blame him as I should’ve known better than to set up ‘camp’ so close to the judging area. It was funny and a day I will never forget.

First Place.

He also made the front page of the local Leader with this image of him jumping over an obstacle to retrieve a dumbell during training.

Front page of local Leader newspaper.

We never ended up reaching the highest level of obedience achievable in Australia which is Utility Dog Excellent. This was not because of his lack of ability but rather me not having the time anymore to commit to the intense training required (at this level dogs are assessed on their scent detection ability, which requires a lot of training).

The enjoyment I got out of training him was one reason why I decided to get my qualifications as a dog trainer and eventually as a canine behaviourist. This video was taken of Oscar for one of my assessment during the course. I trained him to open the fridge and bring me a can of Coke, similar to what an Assistance Dog would do. Yes, I know in hindsight it would have been better to train him to bring beer.

We have a FREE Dog Training/Behaviour course. Ideal if your dog needs some basic obedience training. Enter your details and watch below.

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For an eleven year old dog it appeared from the outside that Oscar’s health was just fine. At the park or dog beach in Brighton he would run and chase other dogs, steal the tennis balls other dog owners would throw and basically occupy himself for any length of time.

It was during last year’s Melbourne Cup long weekend when things starting going bad and I never would have imagined that in 6 weeks time Oscar would be gone. We had a BBQ in the park on a beautiful warm Spring day (if you remember last Spring the weather in Melbourne was atrocious, so this day was unique). Jesse, my son was playing cricket and Oscar was running around having a ball. I remember thinking to myself that this day just couldn’t get any better.

About 36 hours later Oscar pulled up lame. He just couldn’t get up very freely. When we took him to the specialist they told us it was likely to be an anterior cruciate ligament. However they were also concerned about a lump on his gum and took a sample just to be sure. It came back as positive for oral cancer. I was then faced with the decision of two major operations: tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery for his rear leg as well as major facial surgery to remove the tumour (half of his right jaw would needed to be removed). Given that by this stage Oscar could not walk anymore, for his quality of life, I chose to go with the TPLO surgery and wait the 2-3 months recovery time before considering the oral surgery.

Oscar had the surgery and by all accounts it went well but his recovery was poor. Ideally he was meant to be putting weight on his leg after a few days. Two weeks passed and there was no improvement. The Vets were concerned and when they X-rayed the operated leg they found a large grey mass in his femur which was not there two weeks prior. It was bone cancer. The Vet was astonished at how rapidly it spread.  Again I was confronted with two major decision: put him to sleep or amputate his leg. At best amputation was only going to extend his life for a further 6 months. Oscar was not in pain nor was there signs of tumours in his lung so I chose the selfish option of amputation. You see I just couldn’t say goodbye to him yet.

After he couldn’t walk we used a towel to support his movements.

Apparently amputation is easy and dogs recover within days of the surgery. After the surgery Oscar looked good and was relatively comfortable hopping around on three legs. This didn’t last long. After about a week his other rear leg started to become weak and he was clearly in pain. At this point I had to support him for everything  he needed to do. The Vets gave him a range of stronger pain killers but nothing helped. This time there was no plan B.

Only a few weeks before Oscar became ill my brothers dog, Jerry Lee, was also given only a short time to live by the Vets. He was the same age as Oscar. My brother called me and asked me to do a final photo session with his family and Jerry Lee. He showed me a website to a photographer in the United States who specialised in these sort of sessions for people who were losing a pet. I cried and I told him I didn’t think I could do it as I would be too emotional. Thankfully the Vet in Jerry Lee’s case was premature in his prognosis and Jerry Lee began to recover on a different set of medications. In the end I would have taken the photos for my brother, because off all people, I know the importance of photography and the impact it has on creating lasting memories.

When I was told to put Oscar to rest I was in a similar position to my brother. I didn’t have any good photos of Oscar and myself together. I also needed memories of Oscar captured with everyone who loved him before he passed away. I contacted my friend Luanne who is also a photographer and loves dogs and asked her the same question my brother asked me only a month earlier. She was more than happy to help out and went out of her way to find time between her schedule and my roller coaster ride with the Vet giving me  daily prognoses. Thank you so much Luanne.

We went to Karkarook Park which is not far from us and spent a few hours taking photos. We received a lot of strange looks as it is not often you see a dog being pushed around in a wheel barrow.  I think people realised what was going on when they eventually saw me carrying Oscar in and out of the barrow. The photos below were taken during that session. A few hours later Oscar was at peace.

When I had to make the decision of whether to put Oscar to sleep or amputate his leg to allow him to live for only another 6 months I was really torn apart at the prospect of losing my pet. Some people may say I did the wrong thing but in retrospect I am glad I chose to give him extra time on this planet. He only lived for a week longer but that time with him, although stressful, was well worth it as everyone who loved him had a chance to say goodbye. Jesse and I also had time to prepare and of course we had our last photo shoot together which I am thankful for.

Losing a pet is so difficult. If you are going through the process of looking after a sick or dying pet or are in the grieving process, my heart goes out to you. Stay strong.

RIP Oscar (Google). We miss you!