Viggo's Story

He was the cutest puppy I had ever seen.

I was 26, a veterinarian, and I had never owned a dog. Veterinary school was so

demanding that I decided not to get a dog while I was still in school. I had cats, as they

are easy keepers.

I was only a few months into my first job as an associate veterinarian. It was about 4:30

in the afternoon, almost closing time. I looked up from the chart I was writing in to see a staff member walking towards the back kennels with this tiny, adorable white puppy. I asked where he came from and where he was going. The story told by a young couple

that walked in the clinic was that they found him wandering and picked him up and did

not know where else to take him. He was to stay overnight at the clinic and be

transferred to the animal shelter when they opened in the morning.

I said, “No he’s not, he’s coming home with me.”

And that is how I got my first dog. I was really adulting now! I named him Viggo, after

The Carpathian from the second Ghostbusters movie. He was with me for 14 years. He

helped me foster dachshund puppies. He got into mud and porcupine quills. He peed on my friend’s mom’s leg. He loved hiking and fetching sticks thrown in the water. He was with me as I added other dogs, cats, my husband, and children to our home. He was with me through divorce, moving, turmoil and heartbreak. He was there.

As he grew older, he started to have trouble with arthritis, especially in the hind legs. I

started joint supplements and pain medications and had chiropractic adjustments done.

I massaged his hips while he lay in the sunshine on his dog bed. His stomach was

upset by some of the pain medications, and he vomited occasionally. He was still

eating, and his spirits were good. He still loved walking on the beach, albeit slowly, but

he had more and more difficulty with the few stairs to get there. As I watched him nearly trip and land in a pile at the bottom one morning I made a decision. I decided not to wait for the day he would not eat, or he could not get up at all. I decided to make sure he could take one last walk on the beach.

On his last day, he started with a delicious breakfast. Then, we walked in the sunshine

on the beach. It was early May, but the sun felt warm. He was invited to sit down on the blanket with me and given more yummy snacks. At that time, he received an injection under the skin that contained a cocktail of pain relief, calming, and sedation

medications. When he was sleeping peacefully, about 10 minutes later, I gave the final

intravenous injection. Within minutes, his breathing and heart had stopped, and he was

at rest.

I know that we both appreciated being able to say goodbye on the beach in the

sunshine at our own home. It is an absolute honor for me to give this gift to other

families.