The Story of a Dog

Why do we have dogs as pets when they cause so much heartbreak? They are only with us for a short period of time and then they are ripped away, sometimes before they should be. They cannot tell you they are sick, they cannot explain to you what is wrong, and they cannot tell you goodbye.

When adopting a dog you know that they will be gone before you and yet we still do it anyway.

April Davis 2006 - 2014.

The above picture is of the dog I picked out while still living at my parent's house in high school. Her name is April and she passed away two days ago from complications during surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in her stomach. She was 8 years old. This picture was taken the day she passed away. She was happy. She was taken too soon.

My sister, Teresa with April in 2007.

And yet, I am not overly sad. April had a good life. She was loved unconditionally and loved everyone back in the same way. This is why people adopt dogs.

A dog does not care what kind of person you are. They do not care what color you are or whether you have a good job or lots of money. All they care about is being with you and making you happy. They are always happy when you return home. They will wag their tail, squeal, and jump up and down. But what do you do when you come home and the wagging has stopped, when there is no sound.

We remember.

We remember the times she ate the shoes. We remember the countless times she ran away, but always returned home. We remember her biting the nose off of our favorite stuffed animal. We remember her splashing in the river. We remember the face licks. We remember the times she would lay with us when we were sad. We remember the love.

This is why people adopt dogs. Because, even if their time with us is briefer than we'd like, we enhance each other's lives.

A dog is happy when their owner is happy, and April would want everyone to be happy.

The way she changed us and the memories will last forever.

Goodbye wolf dog.