“Maybe he’s got a couple of weeks left, maybe a month, but I can’t guarantee there will be much quality of life.”
Those were the words of the veterinarian who first examined the old Husky I named Grandpa Jones. He spent the first 13 years of his life on a chain, and his leg muscles never fully developed. He had multiple internal issues. He had zero socialization skills.
Grandpa was discovered last year at the back of a property in South Carolina that was part puppy mill, part hoarder. The animal control officer on the scene told me there was no sign of food, but there was a water bucket. The liquid in that bucket, he said, was as black and as thick as tar.
So upon hearing the words from the veterinarian, I didn’t hesitate.
“I’m going to bring him home,” I responded.
Grandpa Jones was certainly a grumpy old man. I measured progress with this old dog by how long I could be next to him without him biting me.
But then one day something magical happened. I was petting the top of his head and I stopped. He looked up at me and nudged his nose against my hand.
I started petting him again, and then stopped. Here came the nudge with his nose.
So we carried out this game again and again and again – petting, stop, nudge, petting resumes.
Among all the basic necessities in his life that he was deprived of, I don’t believe Grandpa Jones ever was given a toy. And oh, how he loved stuffed animals! Bringing a new stuffed toy home to Grandpa became a daily routine.
You may have heard the phrase “failed foster.”
That’s when wonderful folks choose to temporarily foster a shelter animal and then, well, love happens, and they decide to permanently adopt. Needless to say, CHHS loves our failed fosters.
But there is a lesser-known phrase that is called “failed hospice.”
That’s when folks knowingly take home a shelter animal who has very limited time left, but want to give that animal dignity, peace, and love in their final days in the comfort of a home.
But sometimes those days and weeks stretch into months. And that was Grandpa Jones.
After an initial diagnosis of “a couple of weeks left, maybe a month,” Grandpa Jones made it 16 months. After spending the equivalent of 91 dog years on a chain, Grandpa spent 16 human months as a beloved member of a family, and not a prisoner on a chain. But years of neglect and malnutrition had taken a toll on his body.
So after one last weekend this summer of what must have been at least 100 times of “petting, stop, nudge, petting resumes” and the greatest Chick-fil-A nugget feast ever enjoyed by a canine, we said a tearful goodbye.
I look forward to seeing Grandpa Jones again at the Rainbow Bridge. I can see him in my mind’s right now running free, with healthy legs and no chain to bind him.
November is National Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month. I feel fortunate and blessed beyond words for having had the chance to spend 16 months with Grandpa Jones.
Yes, those final days were heartbreaking. But I would live them all over again for those 16 months we had together.
Failed hospice? I highly recommend it.
Established in 1987, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire. Our no-kill shelter is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. by appointment. For more information, visit us online at chhumanesociety.org or call (828) 743-5752.
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