As a health and wellness enthusiast, it seems ironic that I would write about an Oreo…that’s because it’s not about the cookie. If you’ve been following along, you know I mix my health and wellness informational posts with real life “stuff”. While it took me a few days to get my thoughts together and try to put in writing what I’ve been feeling, I’m not sure I’ll be able to give her justice. This past weekend we lost one of the sweetest parts of our lives. As heartbreaking as it was, on Saturday our family made the decision to put our family pet to rest. We stopped her suffering. It was not a shock, but that makes no difference when you lose a pet. We were lucky to have her for over 15 years!
Our son (now 18) was only 2 years old when we rescued her from a local no-kill shelter. He never knew life without her. My daughter (now 22) was 7 years old and was pretty much responsible for picking her out. I can’t remember the exact number in her litter but when we went to adopt her, she spoke to us. The decision was made very quickly. We scooped her up, signed the papers, made our donation and brought her home. Harry was against the idea of getting a dog since it was just a few days after we closed on our new home, but he quickly grew to love her. They were buddies. We have so many funny, (and not so funny) memories of her.
She was so protective of her home and her family. One time the furnace repairman wouldn’t come in our house unless we locked her up! That was a pretty smart move since she was lunging at him and growling. Then there was the time she disappeared for 24 hours and we were worried sick. Later we found out she actually had spent the night at our neighbor’s house! I don’t know if we were more mad at the neighbor or the dog. That same year the same neighbor rang the doorbell just before Christmas. They had a big old gift bag in hand…we thought that they were bringing over gifts for the kids, but it wound up being Christmas treats for our dog!
Our daughter used to get on the bus at the end of 
our driveway and I would watch out the front storm door until the bus came, Oreo would (on occasion) sneak her way out the front door, bolt across our front lawn, cross the street and get on the bus with her. Seriously, try to get a dog off a bus with a bunch of elementary kids! She chased cars, barked loudly and had explosive diarrhea after being given a pigs ear by our neighbors.
When we moved into our current home 9 years ago, our new neighbor came over with a bone in her hand and Oreo wanted to bite her hand more than eat the bone . I guess she liked our old neighbor better.
Right around her 8th birthday we
brought another dog into our home. I think us bringing her a brother, (that she eventually grew to tolerated), fueled her desire to be around as long as possible so she could remain queen of the castle. It didn’t take them too long to live peacefully together, but they were never best buds.
For those of you who have pets, or have had to go through the death of a pet, you know how hard it is. I know I’m not alone when I say pets give us so much more then we could ever give them. Companionship, love, entertainment. They teach our children responsibility, unconditional love, and even a little tolerance (like when they eat your favorite Barbie doll’s head).
And so, I’ll end this post saying that I will forever cherish our sweet Oreo and how much she gave to our family. She is undoubtedly chasing pick-up trucks, eating pig ears and climbing on to school buses full of elementary school children.
Be healthy, be well,
Meredith
