Boomer
This is about my beloved Boomer. Boomer came to me 10 years ago when I found him runing across a highway near where my wife and I live. He almost was hit twice by cars. I was able to lasso him and get him in my car.
He had to be the saddest looking Beagle I had ever seen. He smelled so bad and weighed a measly 20 lbs for his size.
He had no tags so it was obvious someone dumped the poor guy.
I got him home, gave him a bath and good meal and named him Boomer for the Philles mascot that my wife loves.
From that day forward we bonded like father and son. I know it sounds odd to some, but since we do not have children, our pets are our kids, and Boomer especially my son.
Over the next ten years we grew ever so close. He got tucked in every night, had his rear and paws wiped everytime he went outside and pretty much knew what buttons to push to get his way! Every night when I got home from work he greeted me at the door and followed me around until I stopped and gave him a hug! He had his own motorcycle jacket to match mine and had a costume for every holiday. This past June, he started to act differently and was not himself. He always had a check up twice a year and had just had his bi-annual, but he just seemed tired and quite.
After a few tests from by our Vet, we discovered he had Lymphosarcoma.
Now by no means is this the same as a child or person getting cancer, but to hear that news I was absolutely devistated as I ulitimately knew what this meant. My buddy, my son, was not long for this world. My wife did not want him to suffer, but our Vet advised us that there were new treatments that could stop this disease, but with obvious guarantees.
We agreed to start the Wisconsin Protocol only if we saw improvement, which we did for about 8 weeks, but in the end it was only masking the symptoms. When we brought Boomer in for what was to be his 8th treatment, we knew he could not take it anymore.
We knew what would be best for him. the Vet would have relieve his suffering right there that night, but I knew Boomer wanted one more night with us, I could tell by how he looked at us. that night we brought him back home to sleep one final time in our bed, tucked in nice and warm. We had hoped GOD would end his suffering that night in his sleep to spare us the agony of making the most difficult decision we would have to make, he did not. The next day we gave Boomer a nice big meal of his favorite foods, wrapped him up in his favorite blanket and went to his Vet, Dr. Daniels at Willingboro Vet Hospital.
I never cried so hard all the way to the Vet. I carried him in like a little baby (the first and last time he ver let me do that).
You could tell he knew whcih made it all the harder. When Dr. Daniels was ready to start the injections, Boomer on his own stood up on his own power as if he was saying I am going out with dignity and at full attention. I held him for the whole procedure and cried a river as I felt his life elave his little body.
My heart is still broken over this and will be for a long time to come. I now have a beautiful cedar box with his ashes that I touch every morning before leaving for work. Boomer will always be a part of me that I can never get back, but I have comfort knowing we did the right and humane thing in the end.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
What a beautiful story about your dog, Boomer. What a great dog! I’m trying to type this, but have tears in my eyes. I, too, just went through the same thing this past Monday with my dog, Cheyenne. My best friend… it’s like a piece of your soul had been punched out. May God comfort and bless you always and know that you are not alone, Keren
October 25th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I cried like a baby when I read about precious Boomer. What a LUCKY dog he was to have been found and LOVED in his later life!! God bless the person(s) who take this on. I recently lost my beloved Bailey to an auto-immune disease and was dreading having to put her down. The day before we were to do it, she rebounded so we called the vet to cancel. She ended up dieing on her own, thanks be to God, 2 hours after we had planned to do it for her. I’ve never known such an unexpected, unassuming, unfailing love as I have from my Bailey. The part about Boomer following you around until he got his hug brought a tearful, smiling laugh to my face, as Bailey required the same greeting. I pray that your loss will grow more into fond memories. What an awesome life you provided for this precious creature, and obviously visa versa. You both are quite lucky. As sad as I can get over my dog’s loss, I always tell others how LUCKY I feel that I could love so deeply that the loss hurt this badly.
October 26th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Wow-what a story I’m still crying. We lost our beloved Pepper in April of 2006 and I still cry thinking of her.Boomer was a very lucky dog to have had a family like yours.
We adopted a new dog Sable in December of 2006 and she is great! I hope you get another dog soon, I think you’d be happy if you get one.
Good Luck and God Speed to you.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Oh, how touching. I had a beagle when I was a kid, and I loved him dearly–he died on Christmas Eve, and I always thought he was on the sled with Santa, bringing joy to everyone.
Please, please get another dog–there are so many great ones, and you are a great dog dad.
October 27th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Hey Thanks for the story about “Boomer”. Growing up our neighbor had a beagle, named “Snoopy”.I am looking at this site for the first time and getting ideas for putting up a story about my dog, Bridget. Sometime in the near future. I am a big fan of Mark’s and enjoy his setting up this page for us.
SSG Matthew Fischer
B Co. 1/109th Infantry
28th Divison
October 27th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
OMG…I can hardly see my keyboard. Your amazing story brought me to tears. You inspired me to write about our “Pepper”, but I can’t right now. I will post later.
Boomer is still chasing you around, and you stopped to hug him when you wrote this story.
As we all take the time to read your story, we are sending him a BIG “GROUP HUG!!”.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:56 am
What a wonderful life you and your wife had with Boomer in it and what an even more wonderful life Boomer had with you in it! I am so sorry for your loss, but know as time goes on, thoughts and memories of Boomer will bring a smile to your lips. I lost my Mitzi to an auto-immune disease, also, three years and two months ago. I still miss her every day. She is buried in my back yard and I visit with her quite often. She was two weeks shy of her 10th birthday when she died. I, too, had to take her to the vet to put her to sleep. I told her to give mama kisses and she did and then she went to sleep one last time. No one will ever replace my Mitzi, but I do have another little toy poodle named Shelby who is now three. She is the love of my life now. It’s just like with my three grown children – I love them all so much, but each one is totally different. That’s how it is with Mitzi and Shelby. I loved Mitzi and still do, but I love Shelby, too. I do hope your pain will lessen in the coming months. Just know that you and Boomer were blessed to have each other as long as you did. Eventually, that thought will ease your pain. Don’t forget, you will meet again one day on the Rainbow Bridge and spend eternity together. :)