Sunday, March 24, 2013

IN HONOR OF A GREAT DOG

After almost 14 years we had to let go of Mocca, our beloved, chocolate loving, Chocolate Lab...

For all our friends who knew and loved her and probably as much for us, I want to say a final good bye with a few images from her long life. So long in fact, that I had to search through my dust covered boxes of printed photos to find some of the images here.


Mocca came as a very sick puppy to us. I saw her in a pet store, and fell immediately in love with her. But noticed right away that she was sniffing and coughing. I had promised myself to never buy a dog from a pet store and for sure not a sick dog. Since the pet store was located in a mall, it happened that I passed the store a few times in the next couple of weeks...and always Mocca was there, looking at me through the shop window. Finally, after about 5 weeks, I had a loooong talk with my husband and the very next morning we went and got her. Although it took a while to cure her pneumonia we never, ever regretted it!


Mocca loved to play ball


and was always ready for a hug


Hard to believe that the boys here in the image are now a college and a high school student...

Although Mocca liked to snuggle up on the couch,


she always loved to be outside,




and being a true Lab preferably in the water...




If she could have laughed, she would have done so every time she was running along the beach, alone into the sunset...


...or playing with her pack,


And yes, snow is also a form of water that she really enjoyed, unfortunately she had not much time left to do so....


Shortly after her death I saw this posting on facebook, and since it fits so perfectly to Mocca I want to share it here with you :


Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me.  I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.  He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life – like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”
The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.” 





Farewell Mocca, we miss you......









No comments:

Post a Comment