Wicket, our new puppy, died last night after three days in the hospital with Parvo. We only had him in our home for four days before he got sick, though he managed to wiggle his way firmly into our hearts in that short time.
He was our first dog. And I never realized how much we needed a dog until we got one and especially now that we've lost him. In some weird way, the three-pound puff ball completed our family.
My son, Sawyer, who's 8, is allergic to dogs, so he never thought he could have one. But Wicket was a Maltipoo, a Maltese-Poodle mix with hair instead of fur. Sawyer had always dreamed of having a dog that would sleep on the end of his bed.
Wicket did sleep on Sawyer's bed those few nights, though he was in his crate – the dog, not the boy. Sawyer would lace his fingers through the wire door, and the puppy would push his head up against them. (My plan was to let the puppy sleep on his bed without the crate as soon as he was housebroken. Now wet sheets don't seem like enough of a reason to have kept them separated.)
Sawyer chased Wicket through the house, and when he ran the other way, Wicket gave chase. Sawyer tried to teach Wicket to play videogames but the puppy would try to chew on the controller. With Wicket, Sawyer was brave enough to go alone into the backyard at night.
Sawyer proclaimed that he had never been so happy. And then I had to tell him that Wicket was dead.
“He's gone, isn't he?” Sawyer asked when I kneeled in front of him to talk. I could only nod. Sawyer crumpled into my arms.
“I needed Wicket,” he choked out. I know, I told him, we both did.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
I am so sorry to hear about
I am so sorry to hear about your puppy or should I say your tiny little family member. It's so hard. We lost our kerry blue terrier to cancer in 04. I wanted to share with you something that maybe you can share with your family. It's a website called
www.rainbowsbridge.com
Rainbows Bridge is a virtual resting place for your departed animal. You become the guardian of the residency you create for your animal, leaving new toys and treats, changing the flowers and shrubbery, the season of the residency or leave a special memory of your animal as often as you wish. This really helped my son and husband when we lost Gracie our Kerry Blue. Your family can post stories that they remember and hold close to their heart. It's really a wonderful site. I hope you can check it out. It's so sweet. Sorry for your loss.
We now have a maltese that is the best dog in the world...
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children, Joshua 12, Brooke 2 and Mason 10 months
Oh Karina I am so sorry for
Oh Karina I am so sorry for your loss!! I know how hard it is, we've lost 3 dogs over the course of 6-7 years and no matter how little or how long they've been with you it still hurts the same. My thoughts & prayers are with you and your family.
That made me tear
That made me tear up...imaging your son. I'm so sorry. There is nothing worse than watching our children hurt (I mean heartsick, not scraped). Your son will do a lot of growing up in the next few weeks. There are a lot of lessons that he can take from this. Hopefully, that perspective will help ease his pain. My kids' first lesson in death, came last year at ages (7 and 4) when their Grandma died. In some ways, I wish that their first lesson was the one that your son is living. But, hurt is hurt and it's hard to watch. I'm sure that in these next few days, your son will teach you a thing or two. I learned a lot from my guys.
Our family lost our dog of
Our family lost our dog of 16 years last April 6th. We held onto her to long. She was sick and it was hard to let her go. Healthy she was 65 pounds. At her death she was only 45. My daughter who was 7 at the time took it the hardest. She still does. She wouldn't talk about it for a month. Now she has the ashes in her room along with pictures.
The loss of an animal is a hard lesson for anyone, but I think especially for children. Good luck on your road thru grief. May it be brief.
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
I'm so sorry. We, too, lost
I'm so sorry. We, too, lost our dog on Christmas Eve. It was so hard on the kids and on me. Our dog was Jeff and my first "baby." She was also Alex's best friend because he was too shy to make human friends.
I won't lie, it will be hard for a while. My kids every now and then will cry about losing their furry companion. I cry, too. She was the best.
Yvette Armendariz writes about trying to manage life as a busy mom in her "Time-starved (goddess) Mom" blog.
I am so sorry this happend
I am so sorry this happend to your family. Losing a pet is so difficult for us as well as the kids. Animals bring so much happiness into our lives but it is so hard when they get sick. Hang in there, time will help the heartache.
I'm so sorry for you guys.
I'm so sorry for you guys. My heart goes out to you all.
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our beloved dog to cancer when my daughter was 5. A book that helped was "A Dog Like Jack" .
Are you planning on getting another dog? It won't replace this dog, but will will help with the loss of the dog's companionship. It would give your son (and all of you) a distraction.
I am so sorry. I was really
I am so sorry. I was really hoping for a full recovery.
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
Karina, I am so sorry that
Karina, I am so sorry that this happened. It's so hard to figure out why things happen the way that they do, and the why's never seem to answer. Wicket is no longer suffering, and he is in a better place now. I recently lost my brother so I understand what loss is like. What I try to remember is that he is in heaven, and I try to think about what he is doing up there. I remember the good times that we had, and how funny he was. I like to think that the people in my family that have all passed on are taking care of my pets, and are waiting for us when it is our time. And most of all that they look in on us from time to time. My thoughts are with you and your family cause I know it's just so hard.
Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette
I'm so sorry for your
I'm so sorry for your family's loss. Hang in there.
I am very sorry for the loss
I am very sorry for the loss of the dog......you got this puppy from a breeder, right?
Are you going to try and take any recourse against them? The puppy must have had the parvo when they sold it to you. I'd be hopping mad at them for selling me a sick animal and ptting my son through all that anguish. This may be the last thing on your mind at the moment - but I would want them held responsible in some way.
karina im devastated to hear
karina im devastated to hear this, our 6mo old bichon frise is sick right now with parvo , your post hit so close to home for me, we are very concerned about her her name is doby we are really hoping that she'll make it, she's been very strong she is only 6lbs, you can only imagine, we took her last nght about midanight to a vet we didn;t think she'd make it trhough the night, she got antibiotics, iv, and painkillers we heard from the vet this virus is hitting hard they have seen way too many pets with this, it was so hard to hear about your loss, hang in there, doby seems to have seen the worst of it and they only give us 40% chance she'll make it been at home with the best care we can give her she is not running a fever anymore but we still don't know, im just so sad we can't afford to have her hospitalized, hang in there karina
xoxo
HI Katrina, I find myself
HI Katrina,
I find myself thinking about Wicket and Sawyer and wondering how to make sense of it all. I wonder if Sawyer would feel better if he thought of it from Wicket's perspective? If you two hadn't come around to give Wicket love like he'd never known, he would have died without knowing such happiness. Your time together was definately too short, but it let Wicket know the love of a boy (and his Mom) and with such he could die loved, and that has to be better than dying without anyone caring. It is still sad, but maybe less sad knowing that you being in Wicket's life didn't change his death, but it did change his life.
It breaks my heart...
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
Karina, I am so sorry to
Karina, I am so sorry to hear that you and Sawyer lost your puppy. This is very sad news.
C'mon, do you really think we thought Sawyer sleeps in a crate? I am happy to hear you continue your silliness -
Jan Katzen-Luchenta
Author - Nutrition for Learning:Feeding the Starving Brain - Foresight nutritional counselor- Montessori educator - www.nutritionforlearning.com
How difficult that must have
How difficult that must have been to break the hard news that your child’s very new best friend is now gone.
I am a single mom and my son Xavier, an only child, has really wanted a sibling-or A pet! And he says things that just melt you, like "mom, since I don’t have a brother to play with me can I have a puppy?" So when your son said, " I needed Wicket" Oh I lost it! The flood gates opened up, it just reminded me so much of recent conversations I have had with my son. Because, children do need pets, I think, people in general need pets. They enrich your life.
I grew up with cats. When our family cat died, even my strong and silent father could be seen shedding tears at our little funeral in the backyard. Blacky was a huge part of our life and a "constant" as we were a family that moved with father's work, but Blacky was always there. His death brought us together even more so, as I recall. And as a family we shared an emotion that may have not been expressed as freely as it should have.
Good luck, and think you for your heart-warming story.
Amber
I'm so sorry about Wicket!
I'm so sorry about Wicket! We went thru that particular hell with a beautiful, smart and oh so loving little pup named Daisy. That was about 9 years ago and I still cry when I see her picture. She was my little girl, and she died at 9 weeks with distemper. Actually we had to put her down, and I thought I was never going to get over it.
{{{Hugs}}} to you and your son.
One thing though, I know when Daisy died, some people including a vet said I couldn't bring another pup into the house for about a year because of the distemper maybe lingering in the house. I'm honestly not sure if that's true or not, we moved soon after. I do know that surfaces have to be bleached or disinfected well though so another pup doesn't pick up parvo. Ask your vet.
I feel for you guys.
Mom of sons M (18), J (14), and daughter S (11) ... I love them all but heaven help me, some days I want to run away :)