My Freddie

I used to have a Schnauzer mix dog named Fred. He was my favorite out of all the dogs that I've ever had. My husband and I loved him just like he was a part of the family. I used to call him my "mush bunny" and "Fredikens". When Fred reached 12 years old his health started to deteriorate until finally he could no longer use his rear legs. We took him to the vet and the x-ray determined that he had degenerative spinal disease. The vet said that as long as Fred had an appetite then he could continue to carry on a different lifestyle which consisted of me holding Fred's back end up by his tail so that he could walk around with his front legs. I worried that holding him up by his tail would hurt him but the vet assured me that it wouldn't. So for a while that's what I did when I took Fred outside but soon a new nightmare took place. Fred could not control his urine anymore. He had a constant dribble that made his life even more miserable because anywhere that he would lay down for a while would be soaked in urine. All of this just broke my heart and Fred looked at you like he knew that things weren't right. Finally things got so bad that we had to have Fred put to sleep and out of his misery. This was the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I feel guilty everday. We had Fred since he was a puppy for 12 1/2 years and to this day I still cry every time I see one of his pictures or think about all the good times we had together. He has been gone since 2002 and I can't get past the sadness and guilt that I have. I want to get another dog but none of them can live up to the friend that Fred was.