Well, here we are again. My daughter lost her Finn last night, after losing Farley June 2021.
Finn was special. He & Farf came to us as a bonded pair, 11 years ago. We weren't looking for 2 dogs for my daughter, but when we/she met them, it was instant love. They returned the favor 100 fold. Farf was a love - dumber than a sack of hair, but the happiest dumbbell you'd ever meet.
Finn was serious & the alpha. He'd get a wild hair up his arse every once in a while and tear around like a puppy, or play fight with my daughter. But mostly, he was her hip barnacle/shadow. He took his job of owning my daughter seriously. I'd often go into her room to check on her, especially when she was unwell, and find him smushed up against her back as hard as he could smush. If not there, then either up against her face, or head tucked under her chin. It was like he couldn't possibly get close enough to her.
We got them the year after her accident, when all her health stuff really seemed to be hitting the proverbial fan, to encourage her to walk more, to help with her foot. It wasn't long before I realized that Finn knew when something wasn't right with her health. He'd become very fixated on her, sit & stare at her, then look at me, then go back to looking at her. When he wasn't doing that, he became a major hip barnacle & would very reluctantly leave her side - sometimes he'd refuse. I learned quickly to pay attention to that behaviour & he was *always* bang on, that something was up.
If she spent any time in hospital, whether in emerg or admitted, it was imperative that whichever hand/arm they'd had the IV in, he needed to try and lick the area to death. Maybe he didn't like the hospital smell, I don't know, but he wouldn't stop trying to "clean" the area until he was satisfied that he'd done whatever it was he needed to do.
He was the best little dog. He was her support, in every way. I don't know who loved who more, it was a gigantic mutual admiration society between those two. His little ears heard a lot of secrets, his fur caught many tears and his cuddles could make a bad day much better.
He was 17, but until this past year, people often thought he was still a puppy. He really started showing his age in the past 6 months, mostly blind, almost deaf & in the past while, we think he had doggy dementia, all his symptoms matched up. He fell off her bed sometime in the morning hours on Monday, we think he may have had a bit of a stroke or something. He could eventually walk, a couple of hours later, but he looked drunk. Then he started howling off and on, a sort of cry-howl. She knew it was time and he passed yesterday, at the vet's. She is pretty devastated and it's entirely too quiet around here - we've gone from 3 dogs to none, in 17 months. Finn got her through many hard times.
A few pics:
His favorite position:
Camping:
Christmas pup:
A hospital admission, at South Health, in 2014 - the nurses found out she had a dog &
let us know that we could bring him in to visit her, so we hopped on that quick as quick -
not sure who was happier to see whom:
Saying goodbye:
