Man's Best Friend

Casey 'The Sunshine Dog' McGinnis

July 1998 - December 2010

It's amazing to me how a simple dusting of snow can ignite such strong and sad emotions. I woke up early this morning with the kids, came downstairs and peeked out the french doors of our deck to see if the 1 to 3 inches of snow they were calling for actually came. Thankfully, it didn't and all we had was a dusting of snow, if you can even call it that. The thin layer that is covering our deck, grill and pile of leaves in the ditch out front brought on such feelings of sadness though.

This past December 23rd we said goodbye to our dog Casey. We welcomed her in to our family December 2nd, 2000. She was 2 1/2 at the time and full of energy and spunk. We adopted her from my husbands then manager. She was a big, yellow lab mix with a pink/mauve nose. She was a tall girl with a broad chest and spindly legs. I fell in love with her from the moment I saw her picture and begged for Scott to let me have her. He agreed. I'll never forget the day her previous owner (that seems so impersonal) brought her to our home. We lived in a ranch-style rental home (Formerly the home of Mrs. Marshall of Mrs. Marshall's potato salad) and had an enormous fenced in back yard with 22 oak trees. It was the perfect yard for a dog like Casey who had extra energy to burn. Those first few weeks brought many trials. After living in an apartment for the first 2 years of her life and not being let out between the hours of 8 am and until sometimes 8 pm, Casey loved her newfound freedom. She stayed outside the majority of the time reveling in the fresh air, open field and a plethora of squirrels to chase. She used to bring us the most enormous sticks/logs she could find out the in the yard. We used to joke that she was a "mighty" dog (Remember that dog food ad?). She flat out refused to come inside and she was so excited that most days she would only eat 1 out of the 2 meals we fed her (breakfast and/or dinner). Whenever we would try and leave the house from the front door or gate Casey would use it as an opportunity to try and escape. She loved to run and ran away almost everyday for the first couple of weeks we had her. It was beyond frustrating to say the least. She would worm her way out and take off to me screaming, yelling her name and starting to cry as I was so afraid she was going to get hit by a car. Sometimes we chased her for miles until we cornered her and Scott would dive-bomb her and attach her leash. How she survived without getting hit is beyond me. I remember feeling like we needed to find her a different home during those weeks.

I'm thankful that we stuck through them though. Casey turned out to be such a faithful and loving dog. She lived for the walks we would take her on when we got home from work. She would greet us excitedly with her tail spinning in circles when we got home. She would cry and jump and follow us so closely as we got on our tennis shoes, grabbed her leash and attached it to her collar. Casey loved the fall and would lay in the big pile of leaves that we would rake up as if we did it just for her to make her a bed outside. She loved the winter and the snow that the season brought even more. As soon as it would snow she would bound outside running, leaping and grabbing snow in her mouth, tossing it up in the air and catching it again. It was definitely a sight to behold.

Once we figured out how much Casey loved to ride in the car her running away didn't scare us quite so much. She would take off and we would go get in the car, pull up next to her, open the door and ask her if she wanted to go for a ride. She would immediately get in to the back seat and we would drive home. Over the years she quit running away all together. We could even have her out in the front yard with us and she would stay put.

Casey loved us and we loved her. She reveled in the back and tummy scratches she would receive. She would tuck us in at night by coming to both mine and Scott's sides of the bed before she turned in herself either in her bed or I allowed her on the couch the first year we had her. She comforted me and let me cry on her and talk to her during difficult times. She was truly a good dog. I felt safe with her in the house as her bark was scary and I believe she would have protected me if the situation ever presented itself.

Around the age of 7 or 8 Casey was diagnosed with severe arthritis in her 2 front elbows as well as severe, inoperable, hip dysplasia in her back hips. One was worse than the other. She was prescribed a special hip and joint dog food as well as a very expensive anti-inflammatory medication that she had to take daily. All in all it was about a $200 expense monthly. Over the years I admit that I grew bitter in having to pay for such expensive care. I complained about it a lot! Then one Easter Sunday 2008 she was chasing after a squirrel and tore the meniscus in her knee and had to have immediate surgery to the tune of almost $2K. I know she couldn't help it but it was just one more thing to get me upset about how expensive her care was.

Before Logan arrived on the scene Casey was my baby. After he was born however, my priorities shifted and the love I used to shower on her waned. I believe in my heart that she knew she was still loved even through the complaining and less attention showed to her.

As Casey aged her joint health deteriorated with each passing month. Stairs got harder to climb. The snow that she used to love to run in became difficult to manuever in and would cause her to limp after being out in it. My parents came down the week of Christmas this past year (2010). Every time they visited they were able to clearly see the decline of Casey and her health. This visit was no exception. That week I (and Scott too) had been moved to give Casey lots of back scratches, head pats, treats of rotisserie chicken and I had the week before purchased her a rawhide bone. Now I firmly believe the Lord was letting us subconsciously know that she wouldn't be with us much longer and allowed us to have some sweet, last moments with her. My dad took her on the final couple walks of her life which I know, without a doubt, that she enjoyed immensely. On the 23rd of December my mom called up to me that she didn't think Casey was doing well. She had been laying by the back door which wasn't unusual but her breathing was labored and she had the look in her eyes that the lights were on but no one was home. I knew for sure that something was wrong when my sister and her family showed up at my home, rang the door bell, came inside and got settled and all the while Casey never moved a muscle. Before all of this the door bell ringing or new people coming in to the house would have set her off. She was a barking maniac when stuff like this happened so I knew then and there that this was not good. I placed a call in to the vet, Scott carried her out to our van as she wouldn't even get up and we took her in. I road in the back of the van with her, petting her and reminiscing with her about all that we had been through in the last 10 years that she had been a part of our family. The vet concluded Casey had something going on with her central nervous system and we decided it was time to put her down. We didn't want her suffering or going through unnecessary tests. She had lived a good life in her 12 1/2 years. I held my girls head in my arms, thanked her for her love and protection and hugged her through as she left this life. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but I wanted to be there with her as a comfort so she wouldn't be scared. It was the least we could do.

Not a day goes by now that I don't think of her and miss her. She truly was a part of this family and my home doesn't seem quite right without her. Especially on days like today, with the snow falling I remember my sweet Casey girl with her pink nose and zest for life. I thank the Lord for blessing our family with her all those years ago. I pray she's running pain-free after some squirrels in a big field in the sky.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Casey with Scott's sisters.