RIP Sky Blue 2/14/2000 – 8/8/2013

I’m not sure how to write this. I don’t think my heart has ever been so heavy with grief and my soul feels empty. There is an undeniable emotional connection between a man and his dog that can’t be matched in any other kind of relationship. There’s an unspoken mutual understanding that if shit really hit the fan, he’d die for me and I’d die for him. He’d kill for me and I’d kill for him. Dogs are pack animals and deep down I think that men are too. When we establish this relationship with our dog it’s our chance to be the leader of our pack. Our dog will spend his life with his main goals of pleasing us, being loyal and faithful to us, and doing whatever is in his power to protect us and make us happy, from the moment they wake up to the moment the drift off to sleep. You will not find a more pure example of unconditional love between any two living beings on this earth. It’s the way a dog loves his man and the man loves his dog.

I’m an emotional basket case right now, but I’ll give this my best try. In the winter of 2002 I had to put my 17 year old Siberian Husky to sleep. It was one of the lowest periods of time in my life. I grieved heavily for months and without that dog, my life was empty. My house was empty. I was empty. Towards the back end of my grieving process I realized that those 17 years of joy that Crystal Dawg brought me was well worth the few months of emotional torture that came along with her death, and it was time to get another companion. The online search of perfinder.org began with a 30 mile radius, then 60, then 120, then 180 and there he was. Sky Blue was in a rescue shelter in Queens New York. One look at his picture and I knew he was the one. I felt a connection with him as soon as I looked at his picture. For all the paperwork involved, you’d think I was adopting a child, but before long, I was driving to New York to pick him up.

Without going into a biography of Sky’s life, I’ll just tell you that his previous owners abandoned him at the groomer. He went to a kill shelter and was on death row and was rescued by Bobbi and the Strays, a no-kill shelter in Queens NY. He spent nine months there in a cage waiting. He had several people that wanted him in that time, but thankfully, no one passed the test. I adopted him in the early spring of 2003. I taught him to swim and he loved the river. He loved the boats. He loved my friends and they loved him. He’d swim up to the pontoon boats and stand on his hind legs like a bear and beg for ring bologna. He was with me though thick and thin and I love him dearly. He protected me when I needed protecting and even when I didn’t. He loved me every day of his life and I loved him the same. Ten years goes by so fast.

He went downhill pretty quickly in the last six months. First there were seizures, then his belly got big and he had trouble walking. He got tumors in his lungs and a big one on his liver that was pushing his stomach tight against his spine. I took him to the vet yesterday and they said they couldn’t fix him. They said if I brought him back home that he’d basically suffocate from the pressure of the tumors, so I really had no choice. I put him to rest and eased his pain. I loved him. I petted his head and told him “thanks” and that I loved him as he took his last breaths.

I’m the one in pain now. It feels like someone ripped a huge hole right through the middle of my soul. My throat feels like it has a grapefruit in it and tears flow freely out of my eyes. I can’t speak. My spine is vibrating and there is a pain in myself that originates from my brain that I just can’t describe. it permeates every sense of my being. It is uncontrollable. I wish right now that I went with him. But I know that my pain too will pass as I remember every scratch of his head and every wag of his tail. Every moment that he snuggled up to me is now a precious memory and every time I hugged him I wish I’d have hugged him longer. We had a great life together. He rescued me as much or more than I rescued him. I’ll love and miss him deeply as long as I live and I hope he’s waiting for me for when I go. RIP Sky. I will love you always.

4 Responses to “RIP Sky Blue 2/14/2000 – 8/8/2013”

  1. Beautiful story Cap’n – so sorry for your loss.

  2. Beautifully writen Ron.. I ‘m sure your memories will last a lfietime. When you lose some one weather a child or animal and the love is deep the pain will never fully go away..but the memories will make it a little easier to handle I’m sure that he loved you as much as you loved him and he had a better life then what he started out with..my prayers are with you

  3. Beautifully written Ron; I feel the same way about Killer. Killer is 14 now and he still thinks he’s a puppy, except for his hearing and eyes going on a downslide, he still gives me more love than I can handle. We are both growing old gracefully, I don’t go out or ride as much as I used too, but I still enjoy life. I will always remember the fun times you and I had when you live around the corner, up the street, and down the block. Time heals all pain, and hopefully you’ll get another faithful friend who will sail off into the sunset with you my friend.

  4. You made his life beautiful.
    You are HIS spirit animal.

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