While watching my father dig a hole slowly at the bottom of our garden, I was unaware at the time this was in fact where one of my childhood best friends was going: the dog I grew up with. I was unaware of how ill he was, unaware of how far cancer had spread all over him. As a young child, all I seen was the same dog I seen years before. A dog that loved playing around and loved going for long walks, running and rolling in the mud and water.
My first memory of Bart was the day he arrived home. My mother and father travelled miles to get a chocolate Labrador, when they arrived at the farm he was at, the strong smell of wet dog became clear as they walked further in the farm house. The sound of little footprints got louder and louder until Bart came storming down the stairs with a kitten locked in his mouth. “I thought it was a puppy we were getting”, - my mum whispered to my dad. Bart was a lot bigger than my parents thought he would be and a lot more hyper. Once they returned home it was time for me and my older brother to meet him. I was around 2 years old, the only thing I remember clearly is when I was quietly sat at the top of our freshly carpeted stairs and much to my surprise, I was knocked over by a very excited dog running mad around his new home.
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From that day on Bart became a staple in our family, he came everywhere and did absolutely everything with us. As he grew older, he became a little slower but he didn't change drastically, until he started getting a small lump on his body which progressed to being multiple lumps over his body and his head. I didn’t understand at the time that these lumps were making Bart ill, I found the trips to the vets exciting as I thought they were just checking up on him. I didn't realize they were planning how long he had left to live. As he got gradually worse and worse the small lumps turned into large cancerous lumps, this is when my parents knew they had to do what was best for Bart. I remember very clearly those words that came from my mother as she was trying to hold back her tears, “We need to get Bart put down”.
This was my worst nightmare. I felt every emotion run through my body at once as I heard those words. Bart had been with me for as long as I could remember and the thought of him no longer being around was heartbreaking to not only just me but my whole family.
The night before Bart was put down, I was told to say my final goodbyes as he would be gone that next morning. The hardest part was not saying goodbye that night it was in fact the next morning. Returning home after he had been taken to the vets, the gate leading into his garden was left open creaking slowly by the wind. This is when it really hit me that he would never run excitedly out the old, rusted gate to go on a walk, never stand and wait at the gate for me to return from school and I would never hear his deep bark at the other dogs walking past our house ever again.
As the weeks slowly progressed after he died, my mother started to bring up the idea of getting another dog but I could not stand the idea of this. I could not think of anything worse than replacing Bart with a new puppy. Without Bart the house felt empty as there was no one there to always happily greet me every time I entered the living room, no one to give me company whenever I felt alone and had no one else.
It took around a year and a half for me to feel ready for another dog to come into my life, there was just one rule that it could not be another chocolate Labrador as it would always remind me of Bart. Instead, we all agreed that it would be a golden Labrador we would look to get, this is when my life changed for the better. I never thought a new puppy would have such a huge impact on my life. It helped fill the empty feeling that was lingering around the house.
The day we went to take our new dog Max home was exciting but also nerve racking, as we were led into the breeders living room, I could hear the small footprints running towards us. From that moment on Max would follow me around everywhere and want to be with me constantly. It became very clear from the start that Max was my dog, he needed me just as much as I needed him.
It is often said that ‘a dog is a man's best friend’, and rightfully so. A dog's company portrays the same quality and benefits than human company can, it just comes without the negatives; they will sit and listen for hours without a single argument. Therefore, I strongly believe that everyone at some point in their life should experience Reflections on the experience of owning a dog to a loving home.
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