There once was a rescue named Scooby Doo……
Sounds funny right? I wanted my very own dog to raise from a baby to adulthood so I bought my sweet baby girl, yellow lab and I named her Morgan. She had a great 2 months of puppyhood but she was lonely so I decided to buy her a puppy and along came my goofy tuxedo Australian Shepherd Captain.
Where does Scooby fit in you ask? Even though I had my 2 wonderful, crazy obnoxious puppies, I always felt I was missing something. So…….I started scrolling through the websites of adoptable dogs and along came this picture of an 8 ½ year old half black lab and ½ Great Dane. I saw his picture and fell instantly in love. I don’t know what it was about him but I knew I had to have him. I went that Saturday to the shelter and they couldn’t find him. Needless to say, I went a little crazy because I knew he was destined to live with me. I went looking around the shelter and found that he was in a pen with another dog and a couple that was looking to adopt one of the two dogs. So, I started a conversation with the couple and steered them toward the other dog and I was able to adopt Scooby Doo! He was officially mine in October of 2013.
He had a hard time at first, he was only 85 pounds when he was adopted so he had to gain some much needed weight and as he only had one family prior to me, he was confused why they gave him up. By his 9th birthday (March 14, 2014), he forgot about his old life and started new with us. I do believe he enjoyed his doggie birthday party complete with cake and tons of presents. Needless to say, he packed on the much needed weight and became a healthy 110 pound dog. He also was more vocal. Howling vocal that is. Whenever he wanted a treat, food or a toy and he wouldn’t get it, he’d howl. Whenever he wanted your attention and you weren’t fast enough, he’d howl. I think the adjustment period is over, he was happy!
By June of 2014, he had to have major surgery. He blew out his ACL and unless we did surgery, he wouldn’t be able to walk. There was no doubt in my mind that he had to have this surgery. The doctors couldn’t believe that even though he was 9, he was in great shape and could go forward with the surgery. Well as you can tell from the picture below, surgery was a success but the after-care was exhausting.
Did you know that dogs can have a bad reaction to anesthesia? What’s on top of Scooby’s head you ask? Well, it’s a cold compress. It took a while to get him to keep it on but he figured out that it helps with the headache. For a 9 year old, Scooby amazed his doctors & staff as he was up and running within 2 months. When I say up and running, I mean running. Scooby had new parts to his leg (I called him the bionic dog) and wouldn’t walk anymore, it was a jog/run for him. Did you know they put titanium in dogs? I had no clue but Scooby thought it was awesome!
What I learned from his surgery is that Scooby liked being pampered, spoiled and well taken care of; he also became a bed hog! He never slept on the right side or the left side, it was smack dab in the middle. I would turn off the tv & lights and run as fast as I could to the bed so I would be the first one in bed and could get my spot. If I beat Scooby to the bed, he would nonchalantly walk around the bed and then plop his butt right next to me or lay on top of me. Within minutes, he would start pushing me so that he had the middle of the bed. Out with the queen size bed, in with the king size bed and boy did Scooby love that. But the best change in Scooby is that he became a snuggle dog. Several times I’d wake up and he’d be laying on the pillow right next to me. Thank goodness for a/c because he loved covers just as much as I do and he was always under them. Life was easier for Scooby after his surgery. He had a new lease on life and took advantage of every day. He went to the dog park a couple times a week and went swimming as much as possible.
In November of 2014, my brother moved in with us and it was time to start looking for a house to fit all of us. In March of 2015 we closed on our house that had a pool and I couldn’t have been more excited. Needless to say, the pool was #1 in Scooby’s eyes. It didn’t matter if it was 40 degrees outside, rain or shine, he went swimming every day. I had so many pictures on my cell phone that I had to keep downloading them on my computer to free up space. That gave me an idea to hire someone to take professional pictures of my dogs to have everlasting memories and along came Angie! I fell in love with my dogs all over again.
Things were smooth sailing with Scooby until January of 2016 came. Emergency ear surgery and once he healed enough for that, emergency eye surgery in February of 2016. I thought man how much can one dog take but Scooby kept bouncing back no matter what happened to him. I noticed little changes in my gentle giant when he turned 11; he had more white on his face & he took things a wee bit slower but his favorite thing, the swimming pool, he never missed a day. Hurricane Matthew (just heavy rain/wind) came in early October of 2016 and we were all in the house waiting for the rain/wind to blow over. Scooby was so mad because I wouldn’t let him out but he kept barking & whining so I finally just let him go. I’m thinking he really has to go but nope, Scooby went outside swimming a few laps in the pool.
Just 2 weeks after the hurricane something changed in Scooby. He had trouble going to the bathroom, ate less and wouldn’t go in his beloved pool. I took him to my vet and then to a specialist. My worst nightmare was confirmed and he was diagnosed with cancer; the doctors gave him a few months to live. Our local vet put him on some much needed pain meds and that seemed to help for about 6 – 8 weeks. I contacted Angie to take his “Bridge” pictures as soon as possible. Mind you Angie is very busy but she always seems to fit you in. So as chance would happen, Angie arranged for us to go to a dog beach on November 16, 2016 which was also my 50th birthday. Scooby loved the beach but I don’t think Angie was happy with Scooby because he decided to swim way, way, way out into the water and she was worried he’d be too tired to swim back. I told Angie, it’s okay he’ll be back, he loves the water and he loves to swim. That’s just who Scooby was, he found the water very peaceful and very relaxing. He finally came back and he was really tired but he enjoyed his morning at the beach. That was probably the best present I’ll ever get…a day at the beach with my beloved Scooby who had one of the best days (even though it was only an hour) of his life.
December came and I thought if he makes it through Christmas, he might make it even longer. Unfortunately, cancer sucks and right after Christmas, his decline was imminent. The Friday after Christmas, I took him to the vet. She confirmed what I suspected, it was time. As I was off that day, I asked Scooby if I could be selfish and have one more day with him. He seemed to know what I was saying and just looked at me with his sweet eyes and put his head in my hands. So the rest of the day was Scooby day. We went to McDonald’s (his favorite place) and he ate cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets & french fries. Scooby went in the pool and we went for a walk around the block. We went to bed early and we snuggled all night; Scooby slept but I did not. I stayed awake until 4 in the morning just watching him. He woke me up that morning around 9 and he was in a lot of pain. I told him it’s okay, in a few hours there will be no more pain and he’ll be at peace. I told him, lets go in your beloved pool one last time. Again, he seemed to know exactly what I was saying and we walked outside and he did a lap in the pool. I dried him off and he went to lay on the dog bed. I said, “no Scooby, come lay with mommy one last time in bed” so he climbed up in bed and we snuggled for 2 hours. And then it was time to go to the vet. So in the car we went…Scooby, Captain & Morgan. Scooby crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday, December 31, 2016, this was Scooby’s final picture…
I hope you enjoyed the story of my beloved Scooby Doo. I am still not over the loss of him and there is still a huge hole in my heart but knowing that I have stories and hundreds of pictures to look at when I am really sad helps. I don’t think my title is correct, I think Scooby Doo rescued me.
Love, his mommy,
Therese