Bill (my husband) and I had the unforgettable blessing of adopting a Beagle when he was 7 weeks old. His name was Reggie and his life was abruptly cut short at age 7.
I don’t know if you know anything about Beagles, or ever had one, or even ever had a dog, but Reggie was the most faithful, most hilarious, most intelligent, most cleverly manipulative, most adorable little guy anywhere. He was all good things rolled into one amazing dog. I would classify him as the ‘Dennis the Menace” of dogs, lol.
I was determined to do everything right with his care, as all pets deserve. I did everything I knew how to do from having dogs most of my life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Reggie suddenly became extremely sick and died a few days later. It came out of nowhere. He vomited blood one day and that was it. The vet didn’t diagnose him correctly because in order to be able to diagnose him, thousands of dollars of tests would have needed to be done. He didn’t have the capacity to do those tests at his office, and we didn’t have the kind of money or health insurance that would pay for it if we travelled to get it done. In my heart, I knew he was too far gone to make him uncomfortable being tortured with invasive tests.
Our vet, after analyzing his blood work, told us that his organs were shutting down. He was near death. The possibilities of what caused this were endless. Reggie’s vet wanted to put him down but I looked into my precious baby’s eyes and they told me to take him home because we needed time to say our goodbyes. We took him home that day and he gave up. He wouldn’t eat or drink. He no longer could go to the bathroom. I put him up on our sofa and kneeled down in front of him and prayed over him with my husband, Reggie’s daddy. After the prayer, he stared into my eyes wanting permission to go home to Heaven. In tears, I gave him that permission. We placed him on his bed on the floor because he loved it so much and it provided so much comfort to him. One hour later, we watched him drag himself over to his daddy’s shoes, a couple of feet away by the door, and he put his head on those shoes, and breathed his last breath on earth. Grieving him has been brutal and hasn’t let up. I miss him desperately. You’d have to have experienced Reggie to understand. Since his death, on 2/7/24, I have been obsessed with investigation after investigation on what happened to him and why.
As I began relentlessly researching what could have gone wrong, I uncovered startling facts about the pet food industry, pet healthcare, vaccines, holistic care, natural remedies, medications, reasons for home cooking, sickness, disease, behaviors, signals your dog is trying to send you, and much more. It’s all a work in progress in the pages of this site.
There have been too many deaths, abuses of power, disabilities, and fatal illnesses that have been pushed on our loyal furry babies and most faithful companions. We should all want to give them the best chance at a safe, happy, health, and long life.
And so, this blog was born.
Bill and I are now the proud parents of a beautiful large rescue dog that a friend of mine delivered to our doorstep. We have named him Mr Fitch and he’s a 4 year old gentle giant who was abused in the worst ways for almost all 4 of his years. He loves to be loved and loves to love. We’re blessed to have him as our ‘son’. I am applying all that I’ve learned to his care. He deserves a great life as they all do.
I invite you to subscribe to this blog as I share lots of information. I want to remind you to always check with a licensed vet before making any changes to your dog’s care. I would highly recommend using a holistic/naturopathic vet if you have access to one in your area. Ask questions about care. Don’t just jump when the vet says, jump. I also want to say that I’m not a vet, so I can give you no advice. Use your judgement and your ability to weigh facts and research.
The sound of Reggie’s silence is still, to t his day, profoundly deafening, and life is not the same without him. I find comfort knowing that at the end of my journey in this life, we will be reunited forever. The Bible clearly speaks about animals having a soul. Souls are eternal. We, as humans, are souls with a body as well. I know he’s waiting for me in Heaven.
Reggie is here, in the pages of this blog, to give dogs a voice.
In Loving Memory of my Sweet Baby Boy
‘Reggie’
4/26/16 – 2/7/24
