My Baby Hershey, taken in the worst way possible... Options

[kaairo]

Hershey
September 4, 2003 ~ July 2, 2012

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me and Hershey on my graduation day last month. My mom yelled at me because I refused to take any pictures without him

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one of my favorites. he looks so innocent

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swimming!

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him and his favorite teddy that he would try to bury

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this just makes me laugh every time

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us cuddling a few months ago

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sleeping on his bed...that part of the couch is all sunken in because he would always lay there


My Hershey was tragically killed on July 2, 2012 by strangulation. We have a tent in our backyard because we are hosting a party and there are two ropes hanging down from it to keep it in place. My dog was on his leash and he wrapped himself around the rope so much and so tightly that he suffocated himself. My brother in the one who let him outside and the one who found him; he said he forgot he was outside and couldn't remember how long he was outside in total, but we believe it wasn't more than an hour. My brother came into my room screaming saying Hershey became tangled up outside, and when I first saw my dog, he was slightly hanging above the ground. A part of the rope was chewed off, in an effort to break free. On the way to the vet, I was holding him and I heard a slight wheezing noise and there was a snot bubble coming from his nose. I thought he was still alive but the vet said that rigor mortis already set in. My brother said when he first saw him, there was a fly on him and that just killed me. I don't know how long he was out there or how long he suffered.

I feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooo guilty I wasn't there for my baby. I feel like he was looking for one of us to save him. He would always get tangled and he didn't understand the concept of going the other way and I'd always have to pick him up and walk him out of the mess. I sometimes just feel like he hates us. How could I let that happen to my poor baby...

I woke up around 11:30 and I wanted cuddles so I was going to ask my brother where Hershey was, but I didn't and I just feel like everything could have changed if I did. In the mornings, he usually goes under my parents bed for some reason and if you try to get him out, he bites HARD so I just decided he would come out eventually. I didn't even know he was outside.

My brother feels like it is all his fault, because he left him outside. He threw up all his food and we had to take him to the doctor to get pills to calm him down. He forgot he was out there, and I admit I did that a few times too. Every time I did, I said I was sorry and gave him kisses and extra treats. Just a few days ago, we put him in our pool and he was swimming, even though he didn't like the water. And just the night before he died, there was a bad storm and he always came to me and scratched my door because he was terrified. He always came to me when he was scared. We cuddled and that was the last time I saw him alive. He was also deathly afraid of fireworks, and 4th of July was just the worst because he wasn't there for me to protect him. I spent the entire holiday in my bed and didn't eat until 11pm. I am just so, so miserable. I break down in tears every time I come home because he would just bark and jump all over you as soon as you walked through the doors. When I cried, he would lick the tears off my face and when I had boo boos he would lick them and it made them feel so much better. I cuddle with all his animals now, and they sit on his little bed. All of his stuff is on my bed.

We got him when he was a puppy and I am the one who named him. He was really dark brown and I thought he looked like a little chocolate bar. He was just so funny. Every time he got wet, he would run around the house like a maniac and run into walls. If you said the word "cheese" he would go nuts, he loved cheese. He loved my grandma and I'm sure she was his favorite because she spoiled him. He had this stuffed bear and sometimes he would walk around the ENTIRE house looking for a place to bury it. If you tried to talk to him, he'd ignored you because he was in the zone. He walked a certain way when he did that; the pitter patter on the kitchen tile...if you heard that, you just knew he had that bear. He would whimper when he was around other dogs, he liked people way more. We took him to obedience school once but had to stop because he would just sit in the corner shaking. He'd always liked to lay on my bed because I have a large window and everyday he would look out and wait for my parents to get home. It was so funny just walking into my room and see him sprawl out like that.

It would be so much different if he was just old...he was almost 9. I lost another dog to cancer, but for me, it's just sooo different. He didn't deserve to die this way. I would give my limbs just to have him back...he was one of the only things on this earth I knew I loved. I just don't know how I can live with this. All I see is my poor dog hanging from the ground. I just need to see him and say I am sorry, I feel like my dog hates me for letting this happen to him, as he always came to me to protect him. I don't know how I can live. I know I will ALWAYS feel guilty. He gets jealous easily and I feel like he would hate me if I got another dog. He even got jealous when I hugged my dad, he would bark and jump all over us until we let him join. I just don't know...

[Gretta's Mom]

Hershey's mom

I'm also writing to Donnie's mom - and one million apologies for getting your two love-bugs mixed up! Your stories are so heart-rending I just could not NOT reply. I'm sorry for my fuzzed up brain. Hershey loves you. Donnie's mom is absolutely right - dogs, the pure beings they are, cannot hate. Even poor little Benjamin (on this site) loved his rescuers. You know each others' hearts and he felt and feels the incredible love you have for him - every minute of his existence.

Wherever you are, keep cool today.

Gretta's mom