Bit of sad news this morning - our neighbor's 7yo dog died suddenly. He'd seemed fine except for not eating, so after a few days, they took him to the vet, they opened him up...consumed with cancer. It's especially a shock because, apart from a couple of days of not eating, he was full of energy and his usual rollicking self.
In the interest of full disclosure, this dog has been a sore spot in my side for the entire time they've had him. Too many holes dug in my yard (and massive ones at that), he's knocked both my wife, me, and my dog down violently on more than one occasion, he destroyed about $200 worth of flowers, he ransacked my tomatoes and peppers (when I was growing those), and he's damaged my herb garden before as well.
However, he was a dog, he was only doing what his owners let him get away with, and it's not in me to hate any animal, especially a dog, so both my wife and I are sad that he's died, and needless to say, the owners are positively devastated as, like many of us with pets, their dog was like their kid.
In our frequent fights over the years regarding their dog's behavior, I would point out that as a responsible owner, I contained my dog, and they would counter with, "Well, we wouldn't care one bit if she came over!"
A couple of years ago, due to her age and a heart condition, our vet advised we stop using our Invisible Fence to contain our dog, so after 14 years on a collar, she was free, and figured that out in no time, and makes multiple trips over to their yard every day, just to check things out, say hi, and poop somewhere. I figured that was light payback for years of expense and misery their dog caused, and they continued to tell us they had no problem with her coming over, so I continued to let her.
This morning, I let our pooch out, and she did her normal thing of sniffing around, peeing, then trotting off next door. I looked up, and they were both out, waved me over, and told me the news. The husband, who was completely besotted with the dog, couldn't even speak, so the wife filled us in through tears.
It was heartbreaking.
Finally when it was time to head back, the husband said, "We're keeping the back gate open from now on, just for her. You let her come over here any time she wants. We love her so much," and then he broke down and started bawling.
That tore me right up. It's really put a damper on things. I've been out a couple of times since then, and he's just standing out in his driveway, looking lost.
