Daisy Vander Vliet KuipersAs a forewarning, this is going to be a very long post. Today, May 29, we put our beloved Daisy to sleep. Daisy has been a part of my life for more years than not. She has seen my first date, my first heartbreak, my college years, my wedding day, my infertility and the birth of my son. She was here for all the important milestones and I think she realized that she was no longer needed to comfort me.
I received her as a gift when I was 11 years old and in the sixth grade. For those of you who are dog lovers, the following post may make you shed a few tears. If you are not a dog lover, you may find this entire post to be completely ridiculous.
Because time seems to fade the memory, I wanted to capture some memories of Daisy for the future. Seeing that she spent 15 years with us, I wanted to write about 15 memories we had with Daisy. Daisy was quite the unique dog. She definitely had a personality all her own and she always made us laugh.
1. Meeting Daisy~ After Salem died, my first dog, I wanted another dog very badly. The house seemed lonely without one. One Sunday afternoon while I was taking a nap, the doorbell rang. My mom was standing there with an adorable black and white puppy in a box. She told me that this was my new puppy. I was elated and never knew this would be the beginning of a 15 year friendship.
2. Salem's Grave~ When Salem died, my sister and I chose to bury her in our backyard. We built a makeshift grave and planted a Pine tree above her body. We placed several dog treats around the grave. The first time Daisy explored the backyard, she came upon the dog treats and thought she had hit the jackpot. Bethany was furious as those were "Salem's treats." I found it quite amusing as to how spunky she was and my friendship with Daisy started to grow.
3. Rice Krispie Treats~ When Daisy was a puppy, she LOVED Rice Krispie treats. It didn't matter where she was in the house, she would come running as soon as she could hear and smell my mom making them. She definitely had her fair share of those treats!
4. Spain~ I studied in Spain for a semester in college. I had somewhat of a hard time there as I became extremely homesick. I missed everyone in my family, but for some reason, I almost found myself missing little Daisy the most. I think the reason for this was that I could communicate with my family, but I felt as though Daisy thought I had abandoned her. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when I got home and got to see her again.
5. Meeting Brad~ When Brad and I started dating, he was introduced to Daisy very quickly. At that time, she was still our family dog. Within a few months of dating, Brad took Daisy into his own home. He did this with one requirement, that she stop eating the nasty wet food she was eating. We had been feeding her wet food because we thought she wouldn't eat the dry food. Brad was able to switch her over to better food and take her for long walks and she was a much healthier dog within a few months. Brad became very attached to Daisy very quickly.
6. Kermit the Frog~ When Brad and I started dating, I told him I had a Shih-Tzu and he said, "Oh no. You have one of those crazy little dogs, too? That's what my parents have." Within a few months, Daisy went over to Brad's parents's house and met their dog, Megan. Megan had all sorts of fun toys for Daisy to play with. One toy, in particular, was one of Megan's favorites. It was a little stuffed Kermit the Frog with a rubber head. Daisy decided she liked Kermit, too. In fact, she liked him so much that she decided to chew his head off. Megan came out with a headless Kermit and quite the sad look on her face! Megan and Daisy quickly became the best of buddies!
7. Daisy's Advice~ Before we were married, Daisy lived with Brad. Brad took her on long walks every night. He did it partly to keep her in shape, and partly for the companionship. During these walks, they had many long talks. Daisy was the first to know that Brad was going to propose to me. He asked her for her advice and obviously she approved. Brad told me that he partly wanted to marry me because he loved me and partly because he loved Daisy.
8. Filet Mignon~ Daisy was notorious for begging at the dinner table. I am pretty sure that Grandpa VV spoiled her quite often and this is what started this bad habit. One night, Brad and I went out for dinner and I got a filet mignon. I had gotten full before I got to the entree, so I had it wrapped up to take home. Brad and I went to the movie store and Daisy was in the car...alone....with the filet mignon. Needless to say, by the time we got out to the car, Daisy had polished off the entire filet mignon as well as half of the container it came in. This wasn't the first or the last time she did this.
9. Snow White~ A couple of years ago, I found an adorable Snow White dog costume for Halloween. I bought it knowing that Daisy would put up quite the stink to wear it. I managed to get it on her while she was biting at me the entire time. Brad was laughing and telling Daisy to "bite harder" because he thought the outfit was so ridiculous too. She looked adorable!
10. Revenge~ I have a dear friend, whose name I will not mention, who was not the biggest fan of Daisy. A few Summers ago, we decided to go camping in the pop up. We all decided to go to the beach one day and we left Daisy in the camper. When we got back to the camper, we found that Daisy had gotten sick and had diarrhea all over our friend's bedding. Daisy managed to ONLY get in on her bedding. I felt very bad about it at the time, but looking back it was quite funny. I guess we shouldn't have given her the left over pork BBQ the night before:).
11. Santa Claus~ Daisy was always welcomed at Brad's parent's house. She often played with Megan, ate her food, and slept in her bed. However, there were times when we wouldn't hear from Daisy for awhile, and just like when a kid becomes quiet, we got concerned. One of these times, Daisy came running up the basement stairs with a bit of extra fur on her beard. I went down to investigate and found that Daisy had eaten the beard off of the Santa Claus by the fire. I was laughing uncontrollably and Brad was laughing quite hard, too. Grandma Kuipers didn't find it quite as amusing.
12. Flowers~ While taking a nap last Summer, I had tied Daisy to my lawnchair in the front yard. After drifting off to sleep, I woke to Brad laughing hysterically. Daisy had decided to dig a HUGE hole in the flower bed. We found her laying in the flowerbed covered with dirt from head to toe.
13. Pajama Pants~ Bethany and Colin graciously babysat Daisy while we were at the cottage last Summer. We were nervous as to how Daisy would do with Abigail and Henry, but they ended up being the best of friends. While we were at the cottage, Bethany sent me a text message of her pajama pants with a huge hole eaten out of them. I laughed so hard that I showed Julie. Julie did her best imitation of Daisy by sticking out her bottom jaw as far as she could trying to come close to Daisy's horrible underbite. Needless to say, Bethany did find a present under the Christmas tree from Daisy this year - a new pair of pants!
14. Baby Boy~ When I went into labor with LP, we didn't want anyone to know that I was at the hospital. This posed to be a bit tricky as we had a dog that needed attention. So, we decided to do what anyone would do. We took her along! While I was in labor, Brad went out to the car every few hours to check on Daisy. At one point, in the middle of the night, Brad took Daisy for a 2 mile walk around the hospital. The nurses thought this was the funniest thing and the news spread quite quickly among the floor. On the ride home from the hospital, Daisy knew something was very different. She clung to me the entire ride home and was very clingy for the days to follow.
15. Last Walk~ Last night, Brad and I took Daisy for her last walk. Long before LP, Brad and I took long walks with Daisy on a nightly basis. We went for 2 mile walks at the old house and let her explore the trails at our new house. Brad would often take Daisy along the back trails to the farmer's field and let her run once they got there. Last night was a very tough walk for little Daisy. She was stumbling as she walked and she did not seem to enjoy it as much as usual. But...she made it to the farmer's field. She did this for Brad and me. She was loyal to the end!
I am writing these memories as a way of healing. I understand that losing a pet is nothing compared to losing a person. However, there is something very different about losing a pet. You don't get to decide who your relatives are. You do, however, choose what animal becomes your pet. Your pet does its best job to stay loyal to you, make you happy, and be there for you. In return, you offer them a life of happiness and health. When a person dies, we do not choose the moment in which they die. That has been decided for us. When a dog dies, however, we are made to choose the day that should be their last. It seems unfair to have to look at a dog and evaluate whether or not it is their time to go.
Daisy was diagnosed with chronic renal failure. She had not been eating for over two weeks and she had lost 20% of her body weight. She was still physically able to walk, but she was stumbling more and more. She had also been deaf for over a year. We were there with her until the end and she died a very peaceful death.
We hope and pray that we made the best decision for Daisy. She gave us 15 wonderful years full of laughter and love. We wanted to make sure that we put her down at the beginning of the suffering and not towards the end. She did not deserve to suffer and we hope that we let her go before she truly did. The following is a line from the poem "A Dog's Plea." It is our hope that we answered this plea for Daisy.
"And, my friend, when I am very old and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see to it that my life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands."
