Ode to Odin
I didn't get to spend much time with Odin. He came here because he was a rescue dog, with a behavior problem and a potentially fatal tick-borne disease, Ehrlichiosis. I knew he might ultimately be euthanized, so I tried to keep an emotional boundary with him.
Odin's Ehrlichiosis got the better of him, damaged his kidney's beyond repair. He also was in some previously undiagnosed pain. He had suffered from Valley Fever which is a fungal infection almost exclusive to Arizona, where he had lived at one point. I think the damage done by the Valley Fever was causing arthritis to set into his joints way too young. I will always believe when Odin snapped at people it was because he feared they would hurt him. He had good days and bad.
The results we got from Odin's blood test were mixed. It showed the permanent kidney damage, but also that his liver could handle the drugs he needed to feel better. We put him on maximum doses and it changed his personality. I think we got back to the Odin his original "mom" wrote about.
On Odin's last day, I took him to the big woods and fields. I put him on a 50' lead and let him rip. It was one of those wonderful days we get in Maine where the breeze is cool and the sun is warm and you are very much aware if you are in sun or shade. He saw fields, hardwood stands, ceder bogs, pine ridges and a couple of ponds. We flushed a grouse. I don't think he knew what the sound was, but I hoped he got a whiff of the bird. We were also standing on fresh deer tracks. He was tantalized by scent, but which scents he was picking up on, I don't know.
I took these pictures right before I took him to the office. He had enjoyed the run, but was starting to get sore, maybe nauseous. Odin was stoic about pain. Amanda and I euthanized Odin. He was really starting to hate the vet's office and needles, which made it so much harder. We used a strong sedative first so he went to sleep before he died. He went very quickly and quietly.
I've cried a river over his death. Odin was not my dog but he was my friend.
Odin's Ehrlichiosis got the better of him, damaged his kidney's beyond repair. He also was in some previously undiagnosed pain. He had suffered from Valley Fever which is a fungal infection almost exclusive to Arizona, where he had lived at one point. I think the damage done by the Valley Fever was causing arthritis to set into his joints way too young. I will always believe when Odin snapped at people it was because he feared they would hurt him. He had good days and bad.
The results we got from Odin's blood test were mixed. It showed the permanent kidney damage, but also that his liver could handle the drugs he needed to feel better. We put him on maximum doses and it changed his personality. I think we got back to the Odin his original "mom" wrote about.
On Odin's last day, I took him to the big woods and fields. I put him on a 50' lead and let him rip. It was one of those wonderful days we get in Maine where the breeze is cool and the sun is warm and you are very much aware if you are in sun or shade. He saw fields, hardwood stands, ceder bogs, pine ridges and a couple of ponds. We flushed a grouse. I don't think he knew what the sound was, but I hoped he got a whiff of the bird. We were also standing on fresh deer tracks. He was tantalized by scent, but which scents he was picking up on, I don't know.
I took these pictures right before I took him to the office. He had enjoyed the run, but was starting to get sore, maybe nauseous. Odin was stoic about pain. Amanda and I euthanized Odin. He was really starting to hate the vet's office and needles, which made it so much harder. We used a strong sedative first so he went to sleep before he died. He went very quickly and quietly.
I've cried a river over his death. Odin was not my dog but he was my friend.
Those kinds of decisions are the hardest to make. I just recently had to make the same one with one of my Weim fosters, MerMer. I love that you made time for one last, manic run. My heart goes out to you guys.
Sara&Weims
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I have had to do the same many times while with the rescue. I cried just reading the ode to odin, in memory of all the ones waiting for me at the bridge.
Sincerely
Terry
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