No more pain or suffering

[mothervixen]

Well I have an update on my dog. Early this morning Taco passed away. From what my dh told me after he got back from dropping off out dd at school, that Taco came out to say one last goodbye...then he was gone. Everyone here is upset except our dd, case she doesn't know yet. He was 105 in dog yrs., but before he got sick acted and looked just like a pup. Now he has no more suffering or pain. Taco lived a long and comfortably exciting life. He Went from the streets to a home, from a home in CA traveled by van up to OR, where he had a lot of new smells and trees to leave his mark on. Got to live in a small town in an RV next to a field, then in the same RV move to an RV park, then to an apt., then back to the home where he lived his final days. I know this sounds like I'm rambling on but this was Taco's life with me and my husband. Taco was a bright intelligent dog, he knew when my stomach was hurting every month and would lie right against that spot One year where we lived in OR he got introduced to the snow the hard way. He did his business in our RV and my dh tossed him outside straight into the freshly fallen snow. After he did what looked like a little dance trying to keep his paws out of the "cold, wet, stuff" he jumped up on an old van seat we had outside to sit and wait to be let back in. My dh had laughed so hard at Taco's little performance that after the mess was picked up he was brought back in. Then Taco learned that whenever his master was upset "do something funny to make him laugh".

We decided to train him as my service dog after I had fallen in our RV between the bed and the step in front of the dresser. There was actually no way to safely lift me up so my dh got in front of me and asked me to crawl forward to him so he could lift me to the bed. I tried but for some reason I had no strengthen in either my right arm or leg (this was before I was diagnosed as having MS) so I just lay there sobbing in frustration, I then felt something cold and wet touch the back of my knee, it was Taco, I moved forward a bit more then stopped, again the nose, it continued like that until I was close enough to my dh to help me up and on to the bed. That was then we decided to train Taco as my service dog. He was a big help through all of the changes I was going through, a guard, a messenger, a help putting and retrieving items, and a comedian when either my dh or I was upset. Taco even taught himself to pull me in my manual chair. Which was a big help in giving me a bit more freedom going over speed bumps in parking lots and up small inclines at our apt. and about town. They do say dynamite comes in small packages and Taco was proof of that. He was small but hec was strong in heart, mind and body.

A couple of months after we moved into our apt. we found out I was pregnant and When I went into the hospital to deliver Taco was right there with us. my dh put him across the delivery room tied to my power wheelchair to keep out of the way and when I started pushing he knew or thought I was in distress and started pulling that 300lb+ chair a millimeter at a time towards me. From what my dh says he got almost halfway across the room before he stopped. When I got to my room we made sure that both Taco and the baby were introduced and as soon as he got her scent she was his, not ours. ;) In fact he was so protective of our little baby that whenever the nurses came in to check on Kira or me he would stand up on my bed and stare them down like a hawk until he sensed that I was relaxed and calm, then he would lie back down. Taco would even do that to people he knew from our apt. complex.

Even though my dh wants to get me another bigger service dog I really don't want one right now. I figure if it is meant to be then like Taco and almost all my other animals that I have owned if one was meant for me it'll find me someday.

[Lb128f]

Feb. 11, 2012 at 12:41 AM

I'm so sorry. Taco sounds like a wonderful family pet and friend. I know he will be greatly missed.