Heathcliff

As I’ve said, we generally don’t take dogs from owners, since our view is that those dogs have their owners to protect them, while dogs in shelters do not. But sometimes we make exceptions, especially for golden retrievers, and it’s most often because of the story that the owner tells us.

Debbie took a call from a woman who had two dogs, a golden named Cathy and a black Lab named Heathcliff, both of whom were seniors. She explained that her long-existing allergies had worsened, and she could no longer keep Cathy. Heathcliff, having shorter hair, presented less of a problem, and she was going to keep him.

Debbie could tell how much this woman loved the dogs, and how much pain she was experiencing in having to do this. So we took Cathy, an absolutely wonderful dog, and the woman visited her occasionally, for short periods at a time.

Cathy died after a couple of years with us, and about a year after that, the woman called and asked us to take Heathcliff. He was ill with arthritis and Cushing’s disease, and she was having difficulty caring for him and affording the expensive medication.

When we got Heathcliff, he was in bad shape and was having great difficulty walking. But the meds that our vet put him on led to a very significant turnaround, and he maintained an excellent quality of life for two years. He handled the trip on the RV like a trouper; he was one of the dogs I worried about for what turned out to be no good reason.

Heathcliff died in his sleep a few months after we arrived in Maine. He was one of the few dogs we had whose previous owner we knew, so we knew that he was loved for his entire life.

That is a very comforting thing to know.