Belty, the best dog in the history of the world, is not going to live much longer

Belty, the best dog in the history of the world (after killing a stuffed toy)

I usually try to keep my Space as the place I have fun on the internet. But, there are other times that sad things are happening and I have to turn to my Windows Live family for support.

As my friends here know, I love animals, and have quite a few. Mostly, I take in animals who need a home due to some sad circumstances. I have taken in the old and handicapped, birds mostly, because they are small, but also other pets.

I know that I won’t have them long, but am happy that they can spend the rest of their life in a loving home. When they die, we try to concentrate on the happy bonus years they spent with people who love them. Peanut Boy and Lily are two sad situations who died within the last year or so. When we got them, we knew we wouldn’t have them long. But, they, and we, had a very nice time while we were together.

But, then on the other side of the coin, are the two pets right now who are not going to be with us much longer: Belty, my very good dog, and Penny, my first bird. I will write about Penny soon.

When we married, neither of us had pets. My nine year old girl dog, Bo, had died 10 days after I first met the man I was to marry. Shortly after we married, about four months into it, we got a four month old abandoned puppy that we named Nicki.(short for Nicodemus, the Pharisee who visited Jesus at night) Nicki is nearing 13 and thinks she is a puppy. She was very insecure when she was young, and was problem child, but has grown into a very good girl dog. She is really active and happy.

Belty our other dog, is not doing well at all. Belty is short for Belteshazzar, (we name pets after Bible characters) Belty is the best dog that was ever born on this earth in the history of the world. We got Belty when he was about 1 ½. At the time, he was about the same age of our first dog, Nicki. It is very easy to keep track of how old Nicki and Belty are since they are as old as our marriage.

Belty was rescued from death row at the pound. Belty is my “Main Man”. He gives everything, and asks for nothing. Belty was the puppy of the house until last year. He just never seemed to show his age. Last year, he started losing his hearing, and then he started losing his sight. But, he was still getting around alright.

Then he started refusing to eat. The food he ate, he can’t keep down long. It’s like his system is just shutting down. Now he is starting to act like he is confused. Yesterday, he got stuck between the wall, my lazy boy chair, and two of my crochet project boxes. He just stood there, all mixed up. (That is just how Lily acted before she died). We were at the vet recently, and they told us to just keep trying to get him to eat. We are taking him to the vet again today, hoping there is something we can do to keep this good boy around longer. But, we don’t want him to suffer. We will not extend his life artificially if he is not going to be enjoying living. We are not taking him to be put down, no way, just to see if there is something that we can do to help him.

Anyway, one day soon, I will be writing a blog entry called “Good bye, Belty, I will miss you very much”. I am really dreading that day. Writing a tribute to my lost pets is my main way of dealing with the grief. I guess I am getting a head start on it, now.

My hubby knows he takes second place behind my Main Man, Belty. (We tease each other about it) When I lose my Main Man, I will be very sad girl.
I’ve been spending as much “quality time” with Belty as possible. Belty likes me to use him for a pillow. He’s got a very comfortable butt.

I’ve been getting a lot practice at Sudoku. When Belty does not feel good, he gets on my pillow (we put the bed right on the floor so it’s not too high for an old dog) and I lay back, using him for a pillow, and reach for my Sudoku book. This is very comfortable for both of us. He usually just falls asleep. He has really bad nights a lot of the time. We spend many hours like this in the middle of the night during the course of a week while I comfort my Belty Boy.

Anyway, I never really talk about Belty very often at all. He’s not funny like my naughty parrot, Rufus, so he does not get much press here in my blog. He is just a very good boy. And, I wanted to talk about him while he’s still here. Like my hubby told me on the phone just now, “Give flowers to the living”.

Belty Boo, Mom’s Main Man, you are the best dog ever born on this earth. Mom will miss you very much when you go away.