My tribute to Calvin
Note: I originally posted this to Facebook shortly after having to sadly have the vet put down our beloved gentle giant, Calvin. I am simply posting it here to for archive purposes.
Today as many of you have seen on our Facebook pages, we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Calvin. To those who know us, this brief blog will make perfect sense and hopefully for some maybe it will resonate. Some others, well, they simply won't quite get it. But that is fine, I am writing this for my own selfish reasons of wanting to give Calvin a bit of a tribute. He deserves it.
In our family, we are really "dog" people. But more than that, we are family pet people. And by that I mean, our pets are part of our family. No, we don't dress them up and give them a $1000 bed to sleep in or carry them around in a doggy purse. Heavens no. But, Donna and myself, and now Amanda and Sam as well, we view our dogs as part of the family. Like most dog owners (I imagine), we ascribe certain human characteristics and emotions to our canines; i.e. we treat our dogs essentially as our (canine) children. Yes, it may seem silly to you, but it is simply how we are.
As canine children, well, it means they never truly grow up. They always remain like kids until the very end. After all, we have to feed them, take care of them, let them out or help them learn how to "go" outside. They love toys and play games too.
Now back to Calvin. He holds a special place for us for several reasons. For those who didn't know, we got Tigh from an English Labrador breeder back in 2008. We went over there to choose a litter from the various doggie parents expecting to get a black lab puppy. While we were touring the facility, we noticed nearly every dog coming to the fence and jumping and making happy sounds, scratching at the gate, etc. Except one. There was this big, thick headed blonde yellow lab, just leaning right up against the fence, looking at us and wagging his tail. He was cool and calm, but still so very happy to meet us. We decided in that very moment we wanted one of his pups.
Several months later, I went and got Tigh and brought him home. Tigh went through the puppy stages and became a Jacobs family member quite quickly. We loved having him. Some 18 months later when the breeder decided to retire Calvin from breeding and find him a home, we felt ours would be the perfect place. The breeder agreed. I posted the covert details of our Calvin Christmas present to the kids in 2009 once before, but it just felt so right to bring Tigh's canine father to live with us. (Story here if interested: https://www.facebook.com/notes/grant-jacobs/now-announcing-jacobs-family-60/215730058719)
Calvin became both a son (well a canine son to me) and a father again (he and Tigh hung out quite often). Calvin took to Donna the way a child takes to Disney. He became her shadow. He proved to be so happy go lucky that everyone in the vets office looked forward to his visits. He always loved meeting people, he never stopped wagging his tail when he did. Ever.
Sadly, these past few months we knew his health was deteriorating. He was nearly 14 years old (July 21st he would've been). His kidneys were going, and he had developed balance issues which would arise from time to time. But his loving nature never wavered, not once.
This morning he simply fell over and had what we can only describe as a seizure while Donna got ready for work and after I had left. He went rigid and sadly when it finished he simply could not move much or get up any longer. Donna knew when she went into the bedroom for a moment and he made no attempt to follow that this was quite serious.
She called me and I came home. He had two more episodes before we got him in the car to go to the vet's office. We knew this would be a one way trip for him, but we hoped we would be proven wrong somehow.
We weren't. The vet looked him over, indeed I am sure the entire staff checked on him at least once as they assessed him and we hoped for a recovery. It was simply his time. He never sat up, but every single time someone said his name or moved into his vision, that tail wagged. Damn, he proved to have more dignity and genuine affection for others than any human I have ever known. His love was simple and indeed if you are a Christian person, you will understand when I say, he embodied the love for others Christ wants us all to have.
Anyhow, we made the tough call, and at exactly 09:11 this morning, Calvin took his last breath. He did so staring straight ahead at Donna, with me just barely in his field of vision. I rubbed his belly from the moment they gave him the sedative until the vet said his heart had stopped. He went in the best way I can imagine for a dog to go.
Now, I am not going to engage in a theological debate but I do think we will see Calvin again. I know while this chapter for us and Calvin ends sadly, it is only an end to the chapter and not the story. His love, his memories, (and in Tigh's case his genes) live on in us. Sure, he may have only been a family pet, but he showed all of us humans how to love unconditionally and that is a lesson which transcends any species. In fact, it really is amazing how much some pets teach us above love, and all the time we think we are training and teaching them.
Calvin, I hope when you got 'there' a small black cocker spaniel named Alex met you and gave you a nice hello butt sniff. I know you met him with a big tail wag.
Today as many of you have seen on our Facebook pages, we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Calvin. To those who know us, this brief blog will make perfect sense and hopefully for some maybe it will resonate. Some others, well, they simply won't quite get it. But that is fine, I am writing this for my own selfish reasons of wanting to give Calvin a bit of a tribute. He deserves it.
In our family, we are really "dog" people. But more than that, we are family pet people. And by that I mean, our pets are part of our family. No, we don't dress them up and give them a $1000 bed to sleep in or carry them around in a doggy purse. Heavens no. But, Donna and myself, and now Amanda and Sam as well, we view our dogs as part of the family. Like most dog owners (I imagine), we ascribe certain human characteristics and emotions to our canines; i.e. we treat our dogs essentially as our (canine) children. Yes, it may seem silly to you, but it is simply how we are.
As canine children, well, it means they never truly grow up. They always remain like kids until the very end. After all, we have to feed them, take care of them, let them out or help them learn how to "go" outside. They love toys and play games too.
Now back to Calvin. He holds a special place for us for several reasons. For those who didn't know, we got Tigh from an English Labrador breeder back in 2008. We went over there to choose a litter from the various doggie parents expecting to get a black lab puppy. While we were touring the facility, we noticed nearly every dog coming to the fence and jumping and making happy sounds, scratching at the gate, etc. Except one. There was this big, thick headed blonde yellow lab, just leaning right up against the fence, looking at us and wagging his tail. He was cool and calm, but still so very happy to meet us. We decided in that very moment we wanted one of his pups.
Several months later, I went and got Tigh and brought him home. Tigh went through the puppy stages and became a Jacobs family member quite quickly. We loved having him. Some 18 months later when the breeder decided to retire Calvin from breeding and find him a home, we felt ours would be the perfect place. The breeder agreed. I posted the covert details of our Calvin Christmas present to the kids in 2009 once before, but it just felt so right to bring Tigh's canine father to live with us. (Story here if interested: https://www.facebook.com/notes/grant-jacobs/now-announcing-jacobs-family-60/215730058719)
Calvin became both a son (well a canine son to me) and a father again (he and Tigh hung out quite often). Calvin took to Donna the way a child takes to Disney. He became her shadow. He proved to be so happy go lucky that everyone in the vets office looked forward to his visits. He always loved meeting people, he never stopped wagging his tail when he did. Ever.
Sadly, these past few months we knew his health was deteriorating. He was nearly 14 years old (July 21st he would've been). His kidneys were going, and he had developed balance issues which would arise from time to time. But his loving nature never wavered, not once.
This morning he simply fell over and had what we can only describe as a seizure while Donna got ready for work and after I had left. He went rigid and sadly when it finished he simply could not move much or get up any longer. Donna knew when she went into the bedroom for a moment and he made no attempt to follow that this was quite serious.
She called me and I came home. He had two more episodes before we got him in the car to go to the vet's office. We knew this would be a one way trip for him, but we hoped we would be proven wrong somehow.
We weren't. The vet looked him over, indeed I am sure the entire staff checked on him at least once as they assessed him and we hoped for a recovery. It was simply his time. He never sat up, but every single time someone said his name or moved into his vision, that tail wagged. Damn, he proved to have more dignity and genuine affection for others than any human I have ever known. His love was simple and indeed if you are a Christian person, you will understand when I say, he embodied the love for others Christ wants us all to have.
Anyhow, we made the tough call, and at exactly 09:11 this morning, Calvin took his last breath. He did so staring straight ahead at Donna, with me just barely in his field of vision. I rubbed his belly from the moment they gave him the sedative until the vet said his heart had stopped. He went in the best way I can imagine for a dog to go.
Now, I am not going to engage in a theological debate but I do think we will see Calvin again. I know while this chapter for us and Calvin ends sadly, it is only an end to the chapter and not the story. His love, his memories, (and in Tigh's case his genes) live on in us. Sure, he may have only been a family pet, but he showed all of us humans how to love unconditionally and that is a lesson which transcends any species. In fact, it really is amazing how much some pets teach us above love, and all the time we think we are training and teaching them.
Calvin, I hope when you got 'there' a small black cocker spaniel named Alex met you and gave you a nice hello butt sniff. I know you met him with a big tail wag.
Comments
Post a Comment