Aiden

I got Aiden in the spring of 2004. My brother had him initially, but he was living on the third floor of an apartment building and was really never home. On my days off I would drive the 30 minutes to his place to pick up the puppy and bring him home where he could play with our German Shepard and run around the yard. It didn’t take long before I just took “custody” of him. It’s true what they say, dogs choose their humans; Aiden definitely chose me. From the days of just puppy sitting until the day he died, 2/2/17, he was my shadow, my confidant, my son, my best friend. We would go to Burger King for nuggets. Dog parks. City parks. Hikes. Walks. Sleep together. He would guard the bathroom when I was in there so no one could go in. If he got out of the bed he would sleep at the bedroom door so if someone attempted to come in the door would open into him and they couldn’t come in. He was diagnosed with bone cancer 2/22/16. We had gone to the vet because he was limping. Because if his age, 13 at the time, I thought it was just arthritis. The dr took one look at him and asked to do X-rays. He didn’t believe it to be arthritis. And unfortunately it wasn’t. At the time, he had only been limping a week, but the cancer was already so far gone, the tumor had basically eaten his entire left hip. Because of his age, the only real option we had was pain management. Devasatation is an understatement for how I felt. There was no tumor showing on the outside, so cancer was the farthest thing from my mind. Over the next 12 months, I did the very best I could for him. Our walks obviously were limited and eventually went away. Same with hikes and dog parks and city parks. Burger King nuggets didn’t though. We could drive there. But than the day came when he just didn’t want to fight anymore and I had to make the hardest decision of my life. Do I be selfish and make him suffer so i can keep him, or do I let him cross the rainbow bridge and be whole again? Finally be pain free? I saw it in his eyes. He wanted to go. So the night before I said my final goodbye I promised him I would. Hardest thing I ever ever done in my life. It’s been only 3 weeks, so I am still very much torn up, and miss him very very much. We had a bond like I we never had with an animal before. I feel like a part of me died with him. I feel empty. He was seriously the best dog ever. Most loyal dog I have ever had. There will never be another Aiden. When I’m ready I will have another dog, and I will treat it the same way, like it’s my child. That’s just the way I am. But he was one in a million.