Lately - My Watson

January has been quite the month - and it's not quite over yet. In saying that; it certainly hasn't been a bad month, but it's already had quite the emotional toll and it's only the 19th. I wanted to share a little more about our sweet Watson and his final days on this side of heaven. 

Ryan and I had been discussing for the last couple months that perhaps we needed to discuss end of life plans for our precious pup. Watson was fifteen and his quality of life had absolutely declined; especially in the last two-three months. He paced in circles frequently - a sign of dementia in older dogs and potentially a sign of a brain tumor. He continued to lose weight (even though he eats all the time) and he was completely blind and almost completely deaf and also incontinent... I could go on y'all...

  

We took the little guy with us to Asheville a few weeks ago and he gamely conquered an almost two mile hike in the sunshine but beyond that, he was an anxious little mess and kept both Ryan and I on edge the whole weekend. Once we returned from Asheville - we knew a decision had to be made. I called our vet on Tuesday the 10th and had a discussion and scheduled his final visit for January 16th.

 

We spent the little guy's final weekend spoiling him - plenty of cuddles, of course! My Mom made brownies and fed him a bite... after all these years of craving chocolate, he finally got himself some brownie! We gave him bacon biscuits and chicken strips and sips of his very favorite - milk - and just did our best to love up on the little guy.

Monday was the most beautiful day - the weekend had been sunny but so cold and my precious pup didn't have much meat on his bones as it was, so I didn't want to take him to his favorite spot just to have him freeze. Thankfully it was almost 60 and sunny on Monday, so I plopped him in his coat and away we went to the Arboretum! 

 

My Mom joined us and since there were very few people there while we were - we let him off his leash and let him wander in a wide open field. I don't think he can see much except light and dark, bright and shadows - so the bright day and wide open field must have been quite the experience for him. He enjoyed his time in the Winter sunshine and I loved watching him frolic and sniff as he wandered.

Mr. Watson's final vet visit was on Monday afternoon and my husband and I went together to say our last goodbyes to him. He was - as always - the most well-behaved little fella right up until the very end. He left the world after taking a big yawn, so it was nice to feel that he was taking a much needed nap - the sweet little guy.

I know he was welcomed to heaven by my grandma - my Nanny as I called her - and she probably had a corn dog or some scrambled eggs for him. I know he is in a much better place, where he is young and free and can race in the sunshine all day long - but man - he will surely leave a hole in my heart for a lifetime.