Rescue Journal

Emmeline Harris

Nicole  ·  Jul. 13, 2010

This morning I euthanized my dear little girl, Emme. She never came to SAINTS except to visit so no one really knows her but me but I wanted to share a wee bit about her.
Back in January, Emme came to SAINTS via another rescue (thank you Bonnie) which had pulled her from the Abby pound. They found her a 2 week temp foster, but had no where for her to go after that.
She reminded me so much of Honey, I couldn't not take her. She had been shaved down by Samantha and was a bit of a pathetic site:
They had started to call her Honey, but that would just be a little too creepy for me, so I changed her name to Emmeline Harris (it's from the Anne of Green Gables sequel). She was deaf so I could have called her Potato or Rock and she wouldn't have known but I thought it was a great name for such a wrecked old dog. When she would go outside for a pee I had to wave frantically to get her to come inside when she was done as she would just wonder and smell things, but learned if I sent Shrek back out she would follow him back in.

I never thought she had connected or bonded to me or the other dogs, but slowly she became a connected part of the family. At work when I let the dogs out of my car they would run to the back door of the clinic and she would mosey away over in the direction of the nearby street. But over the last couple months she started to b-line it with everyone else. She also started to look for me when she would be in the back yard, no more frantic arm swinging, just a small hand wave. It doesn't sound like much but there was a change. It was nice.
Eating was one of her favourite activities. She had to eat the same amount of food as shrek and fi to maintain her weight which hovered around 23kg. I gave her pancreatitis once because I fed her too much buttery popcorn.
She had a few underlying diseases, cancer included but none of them really interfered with her daily life.
But she had slowly lost her appetite over the last few days, even while being on anti-nausea drugs. And her ability to get up and walk on her own has been on a steady decline that last month or so.
So this morning her and I left the house and drove over to a nearby park. She was the WORST dog to try and walk on leash, because all she wanted to do was stop and sniff everything. The park is an offleash dog park, that never has any dogs in it so she got to walk around and sniff everything and anything.

I made her stop and take a picture with me which she didn't appreciate:

Then we went to Burger King for breakfast. We went to the clinic and she was fed Hashbrowns while we placed her iv catheter and then in the bag was a surprise. I didn't order it but they accidently put a croissantwich thing in the bag. It had double egg with bacon and a meat patty. She stole it and snarfed the whole thing down. She was a very happy and full girl.

I couldn't have asked for a better last day together.

And just because this picture brings nothing but smiles to my face on a sad day:

Comments

Bonnie

Thank you so much Nicole for giving Emme the love and attention she so long deserved. You have a heart of gold and I can not thank you enough for all you have done. She will be in our hearts forever...

RIP SWEET EMMELINE!!!

Run free and say woof to Kiera for me....

Mo

I have just now had a chance to catch up on the blog & saw this, so sorry for this loss Nicole.. what a wonderful girl and she was so fortunate to have you in her life.

Poppy

Am sure she enjoyed her day with you Nicole, you did it up just right. Very sorry for your loss. Feel good that you provided her with a happy, loving home to the end.

Jenn

she definately won everyone over at the open house I remember she was so sweet and calm. Such a good dog. You gave her what she needed and wanted most Nicole. It has been a hard year with all the loss. My condolences.

Love the name Nic. I heart Anne of Green Gables--yes I'm a dork. When I asked my mom if Gilbert could be named after Gilbert Blith and could I call him Gil for short .. she said NO! He is Gilbert but NOT Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables. Like hi, spoil-sport mom. Hmph.

Last pic made me smile too thanks.

Charlotte

So very sorry Nicole - but so very happy that she had you. And I get a smile out of the last photo too, even though none of the subjects seem to be smiling ...

emma

Well, you managed to make me cry reading that and so did the comments. We all know how it feels. Big hugs to you Nicole and all your dogs from Nudge, Toad, Jenny Two and myself. Yes that final photo made me smile too!

Carol

for the first time in her life...she actually had someone who committed to follow thru, no matter what, right to the end with her...it is a great gift to have found that after waiting a whole life long.
lucky em...so sorry nicole for another great loss.

jezebel

What a beautiful day with a croissant-wich blessing - great job Nicole...you gave her the opportunity to be a loved dog on her own terms. What an amazing gift.

leila

Oh my lord, it seems like Emmy and Bernard had some things in common. It is the little things that let you know they loved you. You are amazing with your seniors animals Nicole - they really are lucky they have you in their lives.

Mauro Salles

Embracing an old girl, rescuing her from a miserable life and giving her a very happy ending, knowing she'll be leaving soon.

It's not easy, because the time is short. I do respect and honor people like you and Carol. And, I hope, so many other great people.

Ann

I remember her from the open house too, so sorry for your loss, but what a lovely story,

Cheryl

I remember this on Brindle..thank you so much Nicole for giving her such a lovely end of life...

laura

What a very special last day you had with your sweet Emme.....I can see you were both blessed.

lynne

i remember emme at the open house. she was sweet and the kind of girl to immediately fall in love with. she was so lucky to end up at your house nicole. what a great ending to a great dog. rest in peace little one.

Maggie

For us there is no way to make these days easy, they are brutal. What helps me is knowing I performed the last kindness for one I loved, as did you.