One Year Later. Remembering Chloe.

Today is exactly one year from the date that Chloe passed away. It has been a while since I even felt like writing anything about her. Dr. Glover gave us about 2 months for Chloe on September 13th and it was that quick. It is still hard to believe that she is not here, even though we all know that these things are not forever. She was her normal self all the way to the last day and I couldn’t have ask for a sorrowful situation to go any better really. November 18th started as normal, except Chloe didn’t really eat very much. I always said we would know when it was time when that trash compactor of a dog didn’t want to eat something. One of my favorite stories was when Chloe was about a year and 1/2 old, we had a stick of butter softening up on the counter. The entire stick! We were sitting on the couch and saw a blur off to the right of us. Chloe quickly had placed her front paws on the counter, snatched the stick of butter in her mouth, and flopped back down in a matter of seconds. As I got up to get her, she came out into the living room, and stood on the opposite side of the coffee table looking at us. She had this stick of butter, wrapper and all perfectly centered in her mouth like a bone. She was taunting us to come get it. I darted around the left side and she went right. Then I quickly changed directions and we locked our eyes from opposite sides of the table. In 2 seconds, she chewed and swallowed the entire stick of butter, wrapper and all! And then licked her lips, as to say, “that was good!” We couldn’t believe it. The entire following week after that we joked that she was greasing the sidewalks every time she went number 2. Crazy dog!

As the day went on, I could tell Chloe wasn’t herself. One thing I think all pet owners stress about is waiting too long or not long enough to make a decision and I worried about that too. I always told myself that once she stops eating I knew it would be time. That was my gauge and I started to think the time had come. She still wanted to walk and do other things, but she was really tired too. When she didn’t eat that night, I called and made arrangements with the Vet for the next afternoon, just in case she turned around in the morning. My dog has always made it through so much, multiple operations and was still a champ. So I still had hope. One time, I had this brand new package of Oreo cookies that I had just bought at the store. I left them on the counter, but had them slid all the way back to the backsplash to be sure Chloe couldn’t reach them. Off to work I went. When I got home and opened the door, Chloe was greeting me as always with her whip tail going to town. After I gave her some loving I noticed the Oreo bag on the living room floor. Not a crumb in site. The bag was neatly opened and laying out completely flat on the ground. The divider tray was even still there. But not one crumb or cookie left. I thought for sure she was going to be sick as a dog that night, but not even as much as a stomach ache!

On the morning of the 19th, I made us both an omelet with all the fixings. I had decided that if this was going to be Chloe’s last day that she would be spoiled above and beyond what she normally was. Omelet for breakfast and then, her favorite on all of our road trips, McDonald’s for lunch. When she refused to eat the omelet I knew it was going to be a bad day. We went for a walk, which she always loved. She had become used to getting 4 mile walks, so much to the point, that if you turned around early, she would stop in the middle of the sidewalk until you would keep going. Even in her last days, there wasn’t a walk long enough for her. I always enjoyed my walking time with Chloe and we would wander around and explore new areas all the time. After her walk, we took a nap together until lunch time. Not only were we going to McDonald’s for lunch, she was sitting in the front seat of the car, which she loved. Buckled in, off we went with the windows down and her ears flopping in the wind. We picked up a 2 cheeseburger meal and a vanilla sunday. She went straight for the ice cream right in the car, bringing a smile to my face. When we got home, she had about 3 or 4 fries and only ate a couple of pieces of her burger. I knew it was time. We spent a couple more hours together and then made the dreadful drive to the Vet.

I wouldn’t change anything I did with Chloe in the 14 years that I had her. She made it to 15 which is pretty good for a large dog. We had lots of fun together, playing, walking and taking trips. She was obviously part of our family and accompanied us on many of our new adventures, from Ashville to Key West and many places in between. I am happy that I had my time with her, from the first time I saw her at the Humane Society until her last breath in my arms one year ago. She had more of an impact on me than I probably ever could have on her. Thinking of her today more than ever.