My dog, Graham, mourned so terribly for the death of our beloved yellow lab He would not leave "Beener's" grave site in the back yard, he would sleep on it and refuse to leave it for the longest time. It was terrible. Beener was so adored, he was with us for 13 years and he was a truly gentle being, him and Graham were BEST friends to the end! When Beener got cancer and I made the decision to put him to sleep, Graham KNEW! I had the vet come to the house to put Beener to sleep because I thought it would be the most comfortable thing for my sweet old friend, to be in the comfort of his own home...when the vet's car pulled up, Graham KNEW it was time! He frantically ran to Beener (who was lying on the floor on about a million blankets and pillows) and he plastered himself at Beeners side, and licked his face all over, I had never seen Graham lick Beeners face before, ever. We had to litterly pull him away from Beener and carry him outside, the vet could tell by Grahams attachment that Graham may try to prevent that vet from putting that kneedle into Beener's leg. The vet strongly suggested that we keep Graham in the backyard while he was there, because Graham was so in tuned with what was happening, and he was not ready for it.

We put poor Graham in the backyard and went to say our last words to Beener before the vet did his thing, and through our sobbing, we could hear Graham litterly wailing in the yard...it was a sound that I had not heard from him before, nor have I heard it since. It sounded like a ghost. It was the most horrible thing in the whole world. He knew, not a doubt in our minds that he knew. When the vet finally left, we carried Beener to the backyard where we burried him. Graham, who is normally the sweetest, happiest, most dependent dog, went to the far, dark end of the yard and cryed all by himself. He came when I called but he was like a zombie, he was limp and seemed almost lifeless himself. As hard as it was to see my beautiful lab die in my arms, it was nowhere near as hard as it was on Graham. We were worried that Graham would die as well, he stopped eating almost entirly and he lost all his zest but after about 3 weeks he started eating more and showing some happiness. He lost 12 pounds when Beener died. His ribs began to stick out. And I have actually had someone argue with me as to whether or not dogs get sad! They don't believe that dogs become close and mourn if their companions die. Amazing the things a non animal lover will never know.

I know this post did not have anything to do with rawhide....sorry if it's out of topic, the last posts brought back memories of the horrible night that Beener died. I still cry, but not as much for Beener as for Graham. I did not mourn for Beener for very long at all because he gave me the most amazing send-off. I held him close to me when the vet gave the injection, and very shortly after he breathed his last breath, I felt his spirit circle very rapidly around me...it was playful and beautiful and peaceful and happy and bright...all those things I felt from him spinning around me. It actually made me smile. He spun around me for maybe a minute or so. I was the only one in the room, other then the vet, no one else could stand to see him die, and I was the only one who got the "grand send-off". It was just like Beener to do that, too. He just let me know that he was happy. I wish my family members, especially my mom and Graham, could have felt what I felt.