Spoil Your Dog Like There Is No Tomorrow

Spoil your dog like there is no tomorrow. Because you never know when there won't be one.

Let your dog sniff that fire hydrant. Let him do all the doggy things he wants to do. Let him get dirty. Give him the piece of steak he craves.

Spoil your dog like there is no tomorrow.

Because you never know when there won't be one.

There won't be a tomorrow for Rufus, our neighbor's dog.

Rufus was 2 years old Bull Mastiff. He was one of the nicest, happiest dogs I've met. Always excited, always ready to play, always polite.

Last Saturday I was busy in the kitchen. When I was done I went for a smoke to find Rufus laying on the front lawn, being hosed down. He wasn't moving, other than spasm-like movements which might have been breathing or not. He was irresponsive to what was going on around him.

What happened?

The neighbors figured he got a heat stroke; thus the hosing down. Could have been, as it was a hot and humid day. They were out on a walk when he suddenly collapsed.

One thing I knew was, that regardless of the cause, just hosing him down was not going to save him.

If it was a heat stroke, he looked quite far gone.

"Listen, you need to take him to the emergency vet," I said.

"If he is to stand a chance, he needs to see a vet now. You need to take him now, trust me on that."

I gave them a card with the emergency vet's address and number. Rufus got loaded in the car, covered with wet towels and off they went.

They were gone for quite a while, so I started getting hopeful. 

It's taking a long time, which to me meant they were doing something, which meant he had a chance.

One look at their faces when they returned told me that Rufus did not make it.

The emergency vet declared that it was not a heat stroke after all, but his heart. The heartbeat was very irregular and then he stopped breathing. And that was that.

He was two years old!

With no known history of heart disease.

Spoil your dog like there is no tomorrow. Because you never know when there won't be one.

Jasmine is the most spoiled dog on the planet. We almost lost her twice. But she pushed through each time. She is eight years old now and living it up.

We are thankful for every day she has.

As she was getting older I used to worry about how long we might still have her in our lives. But now I look at it differently. She is eight years old.

That is eight years she has had that nobody is going to take away from her!

Every spot she wants to sniff, she gets to sniff. Every bit of attention she desires, she gets. Every piece of steak I can give her, I give her.

Spoil your dog like there is no tomorrow. Because you never know when there won't be one. RIP Rufus.