One thought that keeps running through my head is something somebody said to me when I was pregnant - that once you have kids, the dog becomes 'just the dog'. In our case, this couldn't be further from the truth. Having Verity just solidified the place of our fur babies in our family, our lives and our home. This was especially the case with Kaiser.
Before I even knew I was pregnant, Kaiser started following me around the house. For a dog that had always been Chris' dog and stuck to him like glue, this was a little odd. After we found out I was pregnant, we came to realise that Kaiser had already assigned himself as personal protector to me and the little life growing inside me. Once Verity was born, Kaiser was absolutely besotted. He carefully kept guard at her bassinet, he checked out anybody who came for cuddles and he alerted us if she even looked like crying. Our gentle giant was here to look after our little girl.
We said good bye to our gentle giant today. He fought hard over the last month, through various tests, two spinal surgeries and finally a bout of pneumonia. I got a call from the vet hospital, basically telling us it was time to make that decision. We went in to see our man and we knew what he was saying. He had no fight left in him. It wasn't fair to ask him to keep going for us when we didn't even know if he would walk again.
I am grateful that he came home for the weekend. I am grateful that he had lovely vet nurses looking after him whom he bonded really well with. I am grateful that we had six wonderful years with him. I am especially grateful for the last year - all the walks, his watchful eye as my belly grew bigger and that he got to see Verity come home, welcomed safely into this world. I am grateful that Kaiser was never 'just the dog'. He was a treasured member of our family, the protector of our kittens and our baby, best friend of Bailey, my favourite running buddy and our best mate.
Although we didn't get the result we wanted, I am still happy that we did everything we could to help Kaiser get better. We made a promise that as long as he was fighting, we would fight too. We gave this fight everything we had and it was worth it for the one final weekend at home, for the steps he was so proud of taking, for the little laughs he gave us along the way. He kept his dignity right until the end.
We buried Kaiser next to his best mate Bailey. It is nice to know they will be together forever. We will hold onto him in our hearts forever. He will never be 'just the dog'.
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