A man, a dog and a gun - sad story

[Rastoff]

I read this on another site. It is a true story and it moved me. I thought many of you would be moved as well. This took place on 2 Dec 2013

I was out for a walk early this morning in the fields and forests where my Dad and I used to hunt when I was a young boy. I felt the need to go back and re-visit some of the places and ghosts where some of the best memories of my young life took place.

The snow has just started to fall here, the sun had just cleared the horizon, and there was a light blanket of snow on the ground. All the leaves have fallen, and just the smell of everything around me was intoxicating. The only noise was the distant calling of crows, and the scampering of squirrels gathering nuts for the winter.

Across the next field, I saw a man and his dog out for a walk, or perhaps hunting rabbits. They were a good 500 yds away, so I watched them through my binoculars. The man was old, the dog looked past his prime as well, and I couldn't make out the rifle model he was carrying from that far away. I watched the old man throw a stick for the dog a few times, and the dog would happily chase it time after time, even with the apparent arthritis of all its four legs.

I watched them play for a few more minutes, then thought I'd go over and say hi and talk guns and see what he was hunting with, or for. Just as I was about to put my binoculars down and set across the field, I watched as the old man told his dog to sit. The dog did so with instant obedience and trust. The old timer turned and walked a few paces away from his dog, then turned - raised his rifle, and fired. I was shocked. I was horrified. I couldn't believe what I saw. The dog crumpled instantly and lay where he had been sitting.

I can't remember the next few seconds as I moved towards the man, but I'm sure I ran across the field, and hopped the fence into the next, and I don't think I ever ran 500 yards that fast in my life.

I approached the old timer, and introduced myself and why I was out there. The man was even older than he appeared through my binoculars. We stood for a moment in silence after that, at the dog's feet. The man was crying. I was about to ask him about what I just saw, but the man started talking. He told me that Scout was born 19 years ago, and was the best dog he had ever had. He told me his wife had passed away 10 years ago, and the dog was all the man had left, and was his sole companion now and best friend. He told me that the last few months, the dog had developed leukemia, as well as the worsening arthritic condition which was already apparent from a field away when I first spied them.

He went on to tell me that his dog was in constant pain now. He couldn't see letting a vet take the dog's life in a clinical environment like that. The dog loved outdoors, and most of their time together since his wife's passing were spent there. He said it was time for his dog to go play fetch with his wife now, and there's was no damn way he'd let a stranger with a needle be the last thing that Scout remembers.

I burst into tears. I haven't cried this hard, maybe ever. The old man stopped talking as quickly as he started, and we simply stood over the dog, with tears streaming down our faces. I sobbed like a baby.

Then we stood silent for a while. I never did get to ask him about his rifle (Marlin lever action). I finally shook his hand, and told him there's not many things better in life than the love of - and for - a good dog. He simply nodded and squeezed my hand a little tighter.

Tears are falling on my laptop as I type this. It is something I will never forget.

 

[sureshotbob]

VERY SAD POST it brought both memories and tears to me.

 

[PWGUNNY]

I dread that day, but it is likely that I will outlive my Wyatt. I'm 50 and he's 4

 

[bamabiker]

As hard as it is it was the right thing to do.
Thanks for posting. (wiping away the tears)

 

[joeintexas]

Wow, my monitor just got really really blurry!! My throat appears to have a bit of a lump in it also.

 

[Iggy]

That story brought back many memories and a lot of tears too.
I have had to do that many times with dogs and horses.

Hopefully, I've got a few more years left, but one day, I'm gonna meet one heck of a crowd at the Rainbow Bridge.

 

[fat tom]

I can relate.
f.t.

 

[Hapworth]

It never gets easier. No matter how old you get or how many you've raised and loved. Each one of them, in their own way, is the best there ever was.

My favorite writer, an outdoorsman and lifelong dog owner approaching 80 now, says at some point in advancing age he realized he'd stopped measuring his life in years but rather in the dogs he's had...

 

[jaykellogg]

I have had several cats put down. I stayed with them while they got the shot and stayed till the end. I cried like a baby, but when an animal gets to that point, you have to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. On one hand having a pet put down at the vet's is painless and 100% effective. OTOH, the pet is stressed as this dog was not. I guess I feel it is better to have a vet do it, animals are so perceptive I would have concern that the dog or cat would know what was coming anyway.

 

[Ranger514]

Our five year old Lab has an immune system issue that was just discovered a little over a week ago. We took him into the Vet because he was limping and had a spot on his right leg that we had biopsied. Fortunately it wasn't bone cancer, but a followup blood panel showed his blood platelets were nearly nonexistent, and fluid was seeping into his lungs causing rapid, labored breathing.

He's starting to show improvement now that we have him on Prednisone to help remove the excess fluid from his system. His most recent blood panel shows his platelets are back up into a "normal" range, but the white blood cell count shows an infection, which is probably from all the fluid in his lungs. Now he's also on antibiotics.

I can only hope and pray for his total recovery. Rodeo is just a great companion and big old sweetheart that came to me as a gift from my wife to replace a Jack Russell Terrier that we had to have put down. We've lost three dogs in the past 10 years. It's tough, and the OP's story really strikes home. All our four legged fuzzbutt friends are precious to us.

 

[brucev]

My heart goes out to that man.

 

[kamloops67]

I have had several cats put down. I stayed with them while they got the shot and stayed till the end. I cried like a baby, but when an animal gets to that point, you have to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. On one hand having a pet put down at the vet's is painless and 100% effective. OTOH, the pet is stressed as this dog was not. I guess I feel it is better to have a vet do it, animals are so perceptive I would have concern that the dog or cat would know what was coming anyway.

maybe they would know its coming, maybe not. i was with my dad and his dog one day when dad shot a coyote... his poor dog was scared , he didnt run off but he wouldnt come when he was called . his eyes were rolling in fear-he was sure he was next . took a lot of petting and reassuring noises to convince him otherwise- border collies are smart -sort of of
i dont think that dog ever got used to guns.

 

[Erich]

Wow. That's a big part of the reason I don't have pets, BTW.


Thank you for the story, Rastoff: good stuff.

 

[16thVACav]

A sad, sad story.

Heck, I'm still not over watching "Old Yeller", and that was 56 years ago!

 

[Bugkiller99]

I've buried two in two weeks. And my remaining cat is on my lap now. She is still wondering were all her friends went.
I can't remember that last time I didn't have a dog.
Fishslayer posted a wonderful poem recently on this topic.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/334995-lost-great-friend-today.html

I read it a month or so ago. I searched for it and read it again after my dog died. Then again after my cat. It helped some.
Both went quickly. I think they didn't want to burden me with making that decision.
Daggum blurry monitor........ :''l

 

[Smoke]

I don't know if I could pull the trigger on one of my dogs. I had to put a ferret down several years back and I bawled like a baby.

 

[Gunslinger808]

Well heck, why did I have to read that after looking at the thread title?
I'm off to go find dawg and give him a hug.

 

[the ringo kid]

Shasta is in my lap now peacefully paying attention to a cold front blowing in. I can relate to many stories here too. We had a cat we called Garfield. It wasnt that he looked like him, but the way he acted. All was good with him till one day when I was walking out of the garage and I heard a painful howl come from him which made the hair on my neck stand. I gently picked him up but it seemed to hurt him more.. We put him on a pillow and drove him to the nearby vest clinic to be checked. We got there and the vet saw him and took him ahead of others there who didnt mind. I knew by the Docs action as well as the look on his face--that Garfield wouldnt be coming home with us. It turned out he had Advanced Cat Lukemia and he was in so much pain he had to be put down. I hadnt cried so much--as well as a few other people waiting to have their furry friends seen. We couldnt bring him home to be buried because of some asinine city ordnance in effect at the time. That ordnance was cancelled a month later when a Vetrinarian ran and was elected Mayor. To this day I still greatly miss Garfield. I would have been in a much darker mood for a longer time, had it not been for our Dog, Toby. That afternoon, I went to the backyard to sit--Toby came up to me and sat next to me like he knew what had happened. I put my right arm around him and sat there from about 5pm to after midnight. I also still miss that bonehead of a good dog. This was 30 years ago.

 

[Salty RI]

I read this earlier today and it had me thinking all day, about 35 years ago I had a great beagle, I had several at the time but this one was my favorite hunting dog, I also did field trials, old Windy was about 16 at the time and getting a little houndy, all the years I had him he never took a deer, his legs were not in the best of shape either, we were out one day and he took a deer, when it was time to go home he was nowhere to be found and we were going out with some friends that night and I couldn't hang around anymore, so I took my coat and left it on the ground where my truck was parked. I went back later that night and no luck but I did find a black & tan coon hound, I called the # that was on the coller and the owner came down and I told him my story, he said he lived in the area and would look for the dog and call me when he found him. A few days later he called someone in the neighborhood had the dog and he couldn't walk. I carried him to the truck and put him on the seat, when I got home I put him in the dog house in the kennel and it was three days before he came out, he was in a lot of pain after that, I knew it was time to put him down. One day when I came home from work I took him to the vet, when I opened the door on the dog box, he stuck his head out and I rubbed his ears and he licked my face, I just pushed him back in the box and went home, I tried the two more times with the same results. Saturday rolled around, I got up early, put a shovel in the back of the truck got my Winchester 410 pump and put the dog in the box and took him to a fram close by, when I got there I dug a hole, cut he dog loose, he hit a track right away, the rabbit made a small tight circle, when he came by I shot him and a few minutes later Windy came by as he sniffed the rabbit I shot him, I put them both in the hole and burried them together, I know now he is driving rabbit's 24-7.

 

[redlevel]

I don't know if I could pull the trigger on one of my dogs.

Luckily, I have always had a brother, a Daddy, or a friend to do that deed for me when it was my dog. I have had to do it for others, though, and it still ain't no fun.