My heart is breaking, my head is aching, the tears come and go. I never thought it would come to this but it did. A decision had to be made and we, my husband and I and the doctor, came to the conclusion this Wednesday morning that it would be best if we put our sweet Trinity down.
She had been ill for several weeks, her heart was enlarged and her kidneys were failing. The medication was not doing what we had hoped it would do and she was struggling to catch a breath to be comfortable.
She was ten years old and had had a good life, our Trinny. She was adopted through Rosie’s, a pet rescue centre in Montreal. She was the runt of the litter and absolutely adorable. She was the cutest little puppy I have ever seen, with big ears and big brown eyes and white paws!
We took her home at eight weeks and we never looked back, as she became the “baby” of the family. My daughter’s dreams came true after many years of pleading and wishing and hoping for a dog – she finally got one. Trinity spared no feelings when it came to us; he loved us unconditionally, showered us with kisses and gave us countless stories to tell.
I remember once at Christmas, when Trinity was still a puppy, we had cooked a turkey and Trinity sat in the kitchen and barked at the “bird“ sitting on the counter. We couldn’t really understand why she was barking at the cooked turkey but felt that perhaps some instinctual element was involved. After my father’s funeral we had an eight-by-ten photo of him sitting on a shelf in our living room and Trinity went right up to the photo and barked at it. Did she know on some level that my father had passed away?
As a curious puppy Trinity happened to start digging where there was a wasps’ nest! I was out in the garden when I heard her start yelping. I rushed in to get my husband and he charged toward Trinity, who was covered in wasps, and he shook off as many as he could and brought her into the house. He too was covered in bites. He and I ran around the house swatting wasps and then immediately took Trinity to the vet. It was the last time Trinity ever dug up anything in our garden.
She was a herding dog by instinct, so when people came to our house they would be greeted by barking, wagging of tail and then more barking. In some instances Trinity might try to divert you to another area but mostly she just barked. Many friends and family were put off by her barking, and I am sure they wondered why we let her do it. But for us it was part of her character and although it would get annoying we all knew none of us were going to train her to stop. We were resigned to keeping Trinity just they way she was. Her name then became Trinity the Barking Dog.
My daughter also named her Trinity Prancing Tiger Page because as a puppy Trinity would prance instead of walk on her paws. She was very elegant in her gait, and so my daughter decided to give her this wonderful name describing Trinity as delicate yet strong like a Tiger. My daughter was in grade four when we brought Trinity home and now she is entering her second year at university. Time, it seems, moves faster than one would like.
I still cannot believe she is gone. There is a large void now in our hearts. It will take some time to get used to the idea that she will not be greeting me with a kiss and a tail wag anymore when I come home from work . Or that she will no longer bark at the doorbell, the phone, or even when we get up from the couch.
I will miss her dearly, this little puppy that came into our lives so many years ago. To me she will always be that little puppy full of curiosity and joy! The sadness engulfs us now as we mourn her death, but we are remembering all of those wonderful things about her and being thankful that she came into our lives and enriched our home with pure, unadulterated love! Those memories of her will never fade, nor will our love for our first family dog. Watching her grow over these past ten years I have learned a lot from Trinity: I have learned to be more patient, to hug more, to give more kisses and certainly to love more. Trinity taught us all that in her ever-so-clever wondrous dog ways.
Image Credits
All photos by Martha Farley. All rights reserved.
petalsofwisdom.wordpress.com says
Thank you Martha for sharing the life of Trinity with us. The bond that we create with our pets is one of pure love and complete trust. Its their unconditional love and trust that adds such richness to our lives. I can understand your grief and would like to say that although Trinity has moved on her presence will forever remain in your life and that’s something to be cherished because not everyone in the world gets a chance to experience that.
martha says
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words, and yes, I will always be so grateful that Trinity was in our lives!