My wife and I got 2 little dogs a few years ago as puppies. Initially the girl dog took to my wife & the boy dog took to me. They were brother & sister. I got really attached to both them & they basically became my dogs especially after she has our first child. All dog related responsibility fell to me from her second trimester.
Unfortunately the boy dog didn't like our son & was snappy. 2 years of trying to get them to get along – our son absolutely adored him but it was a one way relationship.
I had set up baby gates to section off the house which meant neither the dogs or our son had free reign. Unfortunately, when my MIL was watching our son she left the gate open & he bolted to go and play with the one dog that didn't like him. He got nipped & I couldn't ignore the problem anymore. I finally agreed to her requests to re-home them – contingent on finding them the right home.
In 2024 August we found this amazing older couple that were perfect and I had to say goodbye to my little shadows. It was heartbreaking but I knew it was the right decision given this older couple had no kids & they could be the kings of their home.
Fast-forward to tonight & I messaged them to find out how the dogs are doing only to find out the girl dog passed away 💔.
When I told my wife this, her immediate response was "you're emotional & tearing up over your dog but you were completely fine with my grandfather died".
Her grandfather was 85, had one working lung, multiple strokes , dementia & has been in and out of hospital 46 times in the past 8-10 years. He was a good man but his family have been expecting this for a while. Every Christmas the narrative is "this may be his last". He passed 4 weeks ago.
The worst part is he said he took her to the vet hospital & the vet on call said the diagnosis was good but they will keep her overnight for observation. She went into total organ failure at night on her own. Hopefully he remembered to bring her favorite stuffy – her little hedgehog 🦔.
So yeah I'm grieving the loss of my dog with silent tears tonight.