Last week, mom finally decided it was Toby's time, and put her to sleep. Toby was our cute little lab mix, a pound puppy that we adopted in 1996. She was approximately 14 years old and had been blind and almost completely deaf for a few years. You may remember her bonking into the stair railing or knocking into random fixtures as she would awkwardly make her way around the house, her glossy eyes shining in the lamplight. It was sad to watch, but my mom did her best to "escort" Toby around using a secret language comprised mostly of embarrasingly loud verbal commands and a large amount of stomping (figuring she could feel the vibration of the floor better than she could hear). Her final ailment was a series of lumps on her underside that had started oozing and were clearly painful. And while a life cut off to the outside world by her senses was difficult, a life of pain was unkind and unnecessary. She was old, and she lived a happy life; it was time. But, as any person would want, let's not remember Toby in her fragile final days, but rather reminisce on the dog we all loved while she was in her prime.Toby was a cute dog, even up until the end. She had all the physical features of a black lab but was smaller than an average labrador retriever, only reaching a "healthy" weight of about 40 pounds as an adult. I say healthy because I know we fattened her up past that. She was easy going, eager to please, and a generally happy little dog. Often overshadowed by her much fussier, much larger older sister, Coco, Toby was not always the center of attention. But the nice thing about Toby was that she didn't mind. All she really ever wanted was to sit near someone with their hand resting on her back, knowing she was loved. And loved she was. Little Toby, we were happy to have shared your life with you, and we will always remember your cute little face and happy waggy tail.
On a related topic, I recently read a book by John Grogan called Marley and Me. It's a story of a man and his girlfriend-turned-wife who fall in love with a cute, frisky, yellow lab pup. Reminiscent of their saintly childhood dogs, they raise Marley to find that he's quite different from the dogs they knew as children. It is a great story about their family and the endless antics of ever-present Marley. The book documents the major events in the Grogan family that ensue throughout Marley's slobbery life and is a great story to read. Marley's end comes at the end of the book and is so intimately described that I was sobbing all over my couch. I think it's the only book I've ever read where I actually missed the character after I finished reading the book. The following week I would often say to Kane, "I miss Marley". Anyway, the point is, I recommend it to anyone who likes a good lighthearded animal-centric story and that little Toby reminded me, if not of Marley himself, but of his tale and the love his family had for him. We love you Toby-Tob!
