Heisman Winner [135569]
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Joined: 12/6/98
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Glad this week is over.
Sep 19, 2014, 2:28 PM
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Just as I get Mom settled in the rehab facility here for her broken hip and Dad through his surgery and back up and running, I went home for lunch Tuesday to find that my 14 year old dog Bear was in pain and could not stand up. I rushed him to the vet only to find out that he had some tumors that were pressing on his spine. The only prudent course of action in the end, unfortunately, was to euthanize him.
It's fair to say that Tuesday was one of the worst days of my life. I brought him home and buried him in one of his favorite spots in the side yard, and after two days of what I can only categorize as a 'paralyzing sadness' I can only now post about this without breaking down.
Bear lived a long, and truly amazing life. Every second that we had him made my family's life that much better. I guess that through divine intervention, the Tigernet search function allowed me to find this original post
http://www.tigernet.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=157503
and my retelling of the story about him a couple of years back from what appeared in the RH paper:
From the Rock Hill Herald 10/05/05:
LOST 18 months ago in Rock Hill. FOUND Last month on Gulf Coast.
Pooch's adventure may have included a hurricane
Bear always loved to travel, but his owners never thought he'd get as far as Louisiana.
The mutt wandered so often that RH Tig and Mrs. RH Tig got the vet to put a microchip under his fur. He'd jump in cars of people fishing at the Lake Wylie ###, near RH Tig's house. More than once, it took a newspaper ad to bring him home.
This time, it took two different animal rescue organizations and a thoughtful couple from Huntersville, N.C., to bring Bear back. After being lost for nearly 18 months, the RH Tig family was reunited with their dog Tuesday night after a series of strange events.
RH Tig came home from work to a message Monday from the Catawba Animal Clinic: Bear was at a Huntersville home, though it was late Monday before RH Tig made contact with the couple who had him.
"Joonyer was just beside himself," RH Tig said. "He said, 'Can we go get him, can we go get him?'"
But it was already 10 p.m., too late to make the hour's drive. RH Tig hardly slept at all that night.
"We were all just floored, after a year and a half," RH Tig said. "He is special. He's got the most incredible temperament and personality. I know everybody says that about their dog but I've had a lot of dogs, and he's like very few I've run across."
Turns out Bear had been adopted from a clinic at the Mooresville PetSmart -- a clinic with dogs rescued from the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina.
Bear didn't look so good. But that didn't discourage *name redacted* from taking him home.
"He was in such bad shape," *name redacted* said. "He still doesn't have any hair on his bum. His hair looked horrible, and he had fleabites."
The dogs had been brought back from Louisiana by volunteer *name redacted* of Operation CARE, a Rock Hill-based animal rescue organization. She had gone to Slidell, La., for a week with Noah's Wish, a national group that rescues animals after disasters. Four of Hucks' refugee dogs went to Lake Norman Animal Rescue, which held the clinic at PetSmart.
No mix-up about it; Bear got picked up in Louisiana, *name redacted* said.
"It's just the weirdest thing. It's a major coincidence," she said. "The poor pup, somehow, he got around. It's almost like divine intervention, and that's not something I use often in conversation."
After a weekend with Bear, who they called "Murphy," the *name redacted* got pretty attached. They took Bear to their vet, and *name redacted* thought to ask the doctor to scan the pup and see if he had a chip. Sure enough, he did, and the vet traced Bear back to the RH Tig family.
"I'm so pathetic," *name redacted* joked. "I was driving home and that Sarah McLachlan song 'I Will Remember You' came on and I started crying, thinking 'Murphy's leaving today and I'm gonna remember him.'"
Bear isn't saying where he's been. But this escapade may be his last for a while.
"I'm thinking this dog may have to learn to go to the bathroom in a litter box," said RH Tig with a laugh. "He may never go outside again."
Rest in peace, my dear friend. You were the best canine I've ever known.
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