Harry, RIP
At first she thought he would go away but on the second day she picked up some dog shampoo on the way home from work and gave him a bath. She let him hang out on the porch leaving the back door open and soon he started to come in until he felt at home. She took him to a vet who declared he was about a year old. She wondered what she should do, he told her that its her dog now and so it was.
She named him Harry. She was moving back to NYC in six weeks and a friend said she'd take him when she left but when the time came, she had already fallen in love. Harry was hers.
What a life Harry had. He was treated like a prince. A happy funny dog who Josh deemed the wonder dog about 11 years ago when we couldn't find him on the beach after dark. We looked everywhere and finally decided to walk home. When we got home, there was Harry sitting in the driveway waiting for our return.
Harry loved to eat. He would sit by his bowl when other dogs were around coveting his property. His favorite food was red licorice.
Harry got old like we all do. He is 18 which is really old for a dog and the vet said he was the oldest dog in his practice and he has been practing over 40 years. He was blind and was a bit out of it this past few months. Yet putting Harry to sleep is not so easy. You want to say good bye before it gets to the point where things get really bad.
Today was the day. I went with my sister today to say goodbye to Harry. He had a helluva of a life.
Harry, RIP
Comments (Archived):
What a great story and what sounds a like an amazing dog. Such a remarkable life. Everyone calls dogs pets, but they really are a part of our family. To Harry!
harry was definitely part of the family
Wow. 18 years is indeed very long. I’ve had to say Goodbye to dogs twice. Never easy. 🙁
reborn, with two legs, already ahead of the game
Thanks, Jo… Already received notes telling me they heard about Harry on Twitter! Thank god for social media being the town crier.. One point you forgot to mention here. He’d still be alive today, slowly walking into walls if you hadn’t been there to help me do what was absolutely the right thing. Probably the best thing you ever did for Harry.. Thank you! xo
twas time.
RIP to the Big H.Sorry Sue…xo
RIP Harry…I’m sure you will be badly missed.All of the dogs we’ve had have always become a major part of the family and saying goodbye is just heartbreaking. A few years back it was time to take the family dalmatian to the vet, my dad drove his car into mine as he was reversing off the drive, he just didn’t see it because he was so upset!
wow. i am sure that goes down in the family lore.
yup – we don’t let him forget it 🙂
Sorry to hear. Though it sounds like old boy Harry had a damn fine life. That’s all any one of us can ask for.
I didn’t know Harry, and yet I am sitting here with tears streaming down my cheeks relating to saying goodbye to a wonderful companion…so long “good boy”.
On a quick scan of my RSS feeds before I power down for the weekend and I find myself sitting in tears, also saying goodbye to Harry. We said goodbye to our 14 year old Lab Sophie in February, and it’s still as raw as the day it happened. Dogs are such faithful companions and as you go through life, you realize that can be a rare and precious thing.
He is a beautiful dog
Wish they could live forever :-/ Had to put to sleep my 13 yr old Choc.Lab/Weimeraner after Thanksgiving and my daughters 5 year old rabbit died in our arms of cancer 6 weeks later. It’s been just as intense mourning their loss as our human family members.We just rescued a 2 yr old rabbit from a shelter – this has definitely eased the losses. <3
What a great story!In 1990, we were vacationing on the Isle of Palm off the coast of SC. We saw what appeared to be a dead animal on the sand dune behind our cottage. It was a little black dog who was just barely breathing so we rushed her to the vet in Charleston. The vet told us that it was a waste of our money to save her. We begged to differ. That dog became Dune Hanson and she was part of our lives for 15 years. “Duney” was about two when we found her. The vet thought she had been abandoned or lost during Hurricane Hugo. When we brought Dune back to Bronxville and took her to the vet we asked if Dune might be a danger to our 2 year old daughter. He said “Mrs. Hanson, this dog is going to spend the rest of her life being grateful that you saved her.” And he was right… Dune was the most amazing dog we ever had. 🙂
that is an absolutely fantastic story.