File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Jackson was a good dog.

I was eight years old when I first met him, around thirteen years ago this summer, and we bonded in a way that a child does with an animal. It was the kind of relationship of unrequited love that an animal has for its master and the sort of passing acceptance that a human has for an animal, in a sense that its always there and always will be. Jackson was always there when I came home from school or my summer jobs, always ready to make me feel better if I had a bad day. And as a child, I was always ready to play with Jack and we couldn't be separated.

But I grew older and changed in the way that kids do as they grow, I moved to new homes, my parents divorced, middle school dragged by, I made friends, and high school was over before I knew it. All the while Jackson was always there when I came home with the same undying love that I seemed to grow out of. He was aging and I didn't have the time, or maybe the interest, to play with him and spend time with him like I used to. Eventually I went off to college and that meant Jackson would be staying at home without me. Even though I was now away for months at a time he still was happy as ever to see me when I came home for a weekend or the holidays. After awhile I just stopped thinking about him while I was away. I dont want to think of myself as a bad guy but people have a way of growing apart when at a distance, and I am a very busy student.
>> Anonymous
Unfortunately I came home on one of my weekend visits to find that Jackson was sick. He wasn't hopping around the yard as I pulled into the driveway the way he normally did when I came home, he wasnt even in the yard. I was told by my mother that he had been acting strange all week so I went to his bedroll downstairs to pay him a quick visit. I called his name and I got no response, and when I reached out to pet him he flinched violently, and it was the most gut wrenching feeling I had ever experienced. Jackson was born blind, and he now seemed to have lost his hearing. For the first time in my life I honestly felt sickeningly sad. I scheduled a vet visit for the next day.

I spent a lot of time between that moment and the appointment with my friend, comforting him as best I could despite his increasingly lethargic state and refusal to eat. It seemed like the 24 or so hours went by quicker than they possibly could have and I found myself in the vets office with Jackson laying on smooth aluminum surface of the examining table. The vet told me after he looked at Jackson that there was no helping him. It was simply a mixture of old age and something else that I didn't care enough about at the time to remember. He asked me if I wanted to be there when he died and for a moment I considered leaving the room before I looked into Jack's cloudy eyes and remembered all the times he had been there for me. It was almost surreal, Jack was given two shots, and he just sorta slumped on my arm as I held him, he breathed softly three times and closed his eyes. He looked content.
>> Anonymous
As I drove home I cried for the first time in many years, I suppose I was sad that I lost the last true piece of my childhood I had left, and I regretted not realizing and appreciating my friend until it was too late, but at the same time I was kind of happy. I know he had lived a long life with at least some of the love he deserved and knew I was truly and unconditionally loved in the time that I knew him.
>> gill !jBWQFxMp/A
And life goes on. The truth is sad, but everything will and must happen.
>> Anonymous
jackson ;_;
>> Anonymous
You'll never lose a friend like you do a dog. You aren't alone in your feelings, and all of us who feel this way will only have a few instances where we feel worse.
>> TRANSGENDERANON
tl;dr you ignored your dog and now you're sad it's dead.
>> Anonymous
Sort of a similar story with a cat I used to own. My family adopted him when I was six or so. I was the first person he warmed up to and he was always closest to me. He lorded over our other cats, and was pretty stubborn, but still affectionate. I kind of stopped paying him much attention once I got into online gaming, but after a years every now and then he would throw up at the top of the stairs. This got worse and worse and gradually I noticed he was losing weight. I asked my parents to take him to the vet but they always dismissed my worries. Well finally it got to the point that my cat couldn't eat catfood anymore without throwing it up. So I started quietly giving him people food, like actual meat and stuff which worked for a while. Then he couldn't even eat that. Out of desperation he started trying to steal food right off of my plate when I was eating. For a moment I was angry, but then I realized why he was doing that. He also meowed at me when I turned around, angry. I don't speak feline but it was a desperate sound. That's when I knew he was only going to get worse. He turned around then and started slowly hobbling up the stairs, barely strong enough to pull himself up. I realized all of a sudden just how skinny and bony he was. He was always lean, but healthy. I just hadn't noticed I guess.
>> Anonymous
>>325591


I resolved right then to have him put down the next day. I told my mother and she agreed to it. She was always close to him too, and I suspect maybe that the reason he never got to the vet was because my stepdad hated the cats and though I didn't fully realize it at the time my mother and stepfather were in the midst of getting a divorce.

My cat never liked car rides, but he was very calm and relaxed on the way to the animal shelter. It wasn't a long drive, only a couple of blocks really and then down a short road. I was pretty calm and relaxed myself, I knew my longtime pet and friend was going to have his suffering end. We had no cat carrier for him, so I just carried him into the animal shelter in my arms and held him on my lap. Just as before he was calm and relaxed, and even purred quietly.


About ten minutes later the vets were ready and we too him to one of the back rooms. I can't remember the exact moment when the hurt hit me. However I couldn't bare to hold him when they set him down on the table and prepared to do the injection. I had to step away and stand in the corner, staring at the wall. Instead my mother and sister held him, though of-course he was very calm and relaxed anyway.
>> Anonymous
>>325592
Despite my best efforts to maintain my "manly" composure tears started trickling down my face as I thought about how my companion would be gone forever now. I remembered thinking about this when I was much younger, that this day would come but it seemed almost impossible. At the last moment, I got up the courage to turn around and watch. I figured that I owed him that much. As the vets injected him he looked up, turned his head, and looked right at me. He wasn't frantic or anything, I'm not sure what kind of a look it was but it wasn't a frightened or distressed one. It was like he was saying goodbye, which I said to him, inwardly. Then his head promptly drooped into his paws and he was gone.

My mother and sister cried on the way back home, but I was mostly composed for that. Once we got him home my sister laid him out on the couch and I got a shovel and dug a hole for him in the backyard, in the garden. I didn't want to just toss dirt over him, so I had my mother wrap him in a towel first.
>> Anonymous
>>325593
I cried when I finished, alone upstairs in my room. I cried many times thinking about him for the next couple of weeks. Losing my cat was the most sadness and loss I've ever felt. In fairness, I don't have many relatives that I'm particularly close with and I suppose when they die I will feel the same way. So far though that hasn't happened and losing my cat has been the most painful experience of my life.

Sissy, I know.

Hard to imagine that was maybe... four or five years ago now. I still think about him all the time. I can still clearly remember all of his funny and quirky mannerisms. Sometimes I can practically see him hanging around, even here in my apartment.

He was a great companion. A lot of people think that cats are aloof, and I will admit that some of them. In fact I had one that was very aloof (but nice, and a bit silly). Mine was pretty balanced though. He enjoyed attention, but he was also independent and at times I think he tried to steal the role of "pack leader" or whatever. He certainly enjoyed getting even when he felt wronged. Knew just how to do it too... miss him.
>> Anonymous
cool story bro
>> Anonymous
>>325596
thanks :)
>> Anonymous
is that a picture of Jackson? He seems sad, you should pay more attention to your dog or he will die.
>> Anonymous
>>325539
Similar with my old dog, golden retriever whom my parents had rescued when he was ~1, at nine he developed bone cancer in his right front leg, after about 3 months I got home from school late(I was 12, lived close to school) after throwing the ball for him(and him comingback with a fucking huge stick), even though a lot of physical activity could have caused his leg to break, he seemed perfectly healthy, happy as ever. Drove him to the vet, he was worried, took him into the room and sat down on the linoleum floor, he laid down in between my spread out legs and stuck his head on my knee, vet came in and gave him the three shots and he died, using my thigh as a pillow.

Honestly, it really fucked me up.
>> Anonymous
>>325539

Pretty crappy story bro, should have copy posta'd something good.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
This is my golden retriever, Jackson. He's growing old and I'm away at school and only get to see him on holidays and some weekends. ;_;
>> Anonymous
Someone brought a little chocolate lab puppy into work the other day. I about died. They are SO. FUCKING. CUTE.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>325703
More chocolate lab babies for your amusement, this thread needs to be happier anyways.
>> Anonymous
>>325707
There is NOTHING cuter than chocolate lab puppies. Nothing.
>> Anonymous
Condolences for your loss, OP. :(