09/14/2013
MY BOY WATSON
The special young man that I'm talking about is Watson. Watson was my baby all the time even though he lived to be 17 years old. I picked Watson up when he was just about eight weeks old. Watson was the runt of the litter. He was part sheepdog and part lab. He liked to be known as a sheepador. He also knew that he was adorable. Together we both played on that.
When Watson was 15 years old he became affected with arthritis and hip dysplasia. He really had difficulty walking. I would carry him. People would come up to me and tell me what great owner I was. My reply, "no not really I just have a phenomenal dog". When I was carrying him people thought that I was something special. When you love your dog that much nothing will stop you.
When one person walks their dog, a complete bonding takes place. It is not just for the animal to relieve himself, or to get a little bit of exercise. It is so much more than that. It is spiritual. I knew that I would have to find a way to continue walking Watson, whether it be carrying him around or finding some other way.
Watching a show on rock climbing gave me an idea that I might be able to make a sling for his rear end. I went to a pet store bought five leashes cut them up and sewed them in a fashion so as I was able to slip it over his "t**h" and support his rear end. It must have looked quite funny to other people; and both myself and my beloved Watson enjoyed the attention. Not only were we getting attention, we were getting inquiries about where people can purchase what eventually became known as the Bottom's Up Leash.
The saddest observances that one can make are noticing that their pets are getting older. It is just telltale signs at first. The mortality issue is one that we all try to block out. Since Watson was gray and white in coloring that physicality was not noticeable. He started to slow down. That is your first sign. I still remember when he went into his first seizures. How frightened the both of us were. You try to block out the obvious and just look at it as a onetime occurrence.
All of a sudden, it was getting more difficult for him to get up. It was getting more difficult for him to walk. I did try to associate it with just age, but I also knew it was more.
I took Watson to see a veterinarian and she suggested acupuncture. She also put him on phenylbarbatol. After Watson's first acupuncture sessions, I really wanted to believe that it did work. I am really not quite convinced. We want to believe that the things that we are doing will help out our precious, precious animals. Animal and pet people will really do almost anything for their pets.
When I first started using the Bottom's Up Leash, it was absolutely awesome. I know that my boy Watson really got off on the attention that he was receiving. He knew that this Leash was his, it carried his stamp of approval, and that itself somehow seemed to affect him in the positive.
I took Watson everywhere. He went to all of my ballgames, to the beach, to the park. I treasured those moments that I spent with him. I would sing to him in the mornings and tell him jokes when I returned from work. I started though to worry about him all the time. No matter where I was, if he was not with me I was worried something might happen to him. I used to block off all of the stairs so that he could not go up them and possibly full down. I would have to almost baby proof the house.
At the very end I was sometimes so nervous about walking in my house and possibly finding him- (I cannot even say the word).
I remember during the fires in Southern California in 1993, making a deal with "the man upstairs". I was away from my home when the area started to burn. I remember telling him that if he gave me Watson, he could burn the house straight to the ground and I would consider it even. That is exactly what happened. It was still one of the best deals that I have ever made.
When we see our pet aging it seems that thought is all pervasive. We try to think on how we can make life better. The actual sense of mortality was pretty much blocked out by me.
Any time someone and that includes my pets, passes on I block out that date in my mind. I do not know the dates that anyone of my dogs has died. Consequently I found out that I did the same thing with my mothers passing on also.
When Watson was just sick I would pray to the man upstairs that he would make him better, please just let him get better." When I realized that the end was near I used to look up towards the heavens and say please do not make me do your job." In the end I was the one who had to put Watson down.
I remember once when Watson was at the veterinarians and he did not respond well and they wanted to keep him overnight. I stayed with him in the cage. I loved him.
One of the saddest sites I can remember is when I was taking Watson out from the veterinarian and we were getting into our car. The fact that he was still with me made me feel wonderful inside. A young couple got into a car next to us. They were in their early 30s. They were crying. When you see that and you know that they just came out of the veterinarians office, you know what happened. I turned around and hugged and kissed Watson.
The legacy of Watson is the creation of the Bottoms Up Leash. He lives on through so many animals. I have been told that he winks every time I sell a leash. Where else can one talk about their animal continuously while they are working.
I like to think he is sitting up in heaven thinking that he is a big shot because he has an Internet business. (I am smiling as I say that). Every day I think of him. His pictures adorn my whole house and my office. All of my dogs have their picture around me. Just as with children you don’t love one more than the other but there is that special one. Watson and I had the same heartbeat. He knew how much I loved him; and I know how much he did love me. It was exciting just to come home and see him. I could not wait to take him down to the beach or to the schoolyard and run him in his younger days. He was such a wiseguy. It is amazing how we give attributes to these wonderful creatures the same as we would to human beings. I do believe they do carry many personality traits that we exhibit as humans.
Our routines are greatly shaped by our interaction with our pets. Every morning I used to get up, and routinely fix Watson his breakfast first. I would love to sing to him. Anything from made up songs to songs using his name in appropriate spots. I know that he would laugh. I know that I must sound somewhat insane to people who don't have pets.
Watson would sit there, looking up at me, just waiting for any interaction that I would give him. I used to tell him jokes involving him. "Watson, if you leave your food out the ants will come and eat it ". He used to speak back to me, "where are the uncles?"
AM I NUTS? No, I'm in love with a hairy, chubby, little dog.
I have heard of many expressions describing our pets. One of them is "fur children". In essence they are our children. We look at them with a twinkle in our eyes.
With the advent of modern science, we're keeping our pets alive much longer. The only drawback to that is that they are now being afflicted basically with many of the same problems that human beings are as the progress of age takes effect. Arthritis, vision problems, dental problems, cancers...and so on. Veterinarian science now allows us to further diagnose problems using high-tech machines such as MRI and cat scans. New drugs are being used. In essence, we're treating our animals with the same respect and regards that we do to humans. Maybe as a race we are learning something from the so-called inferior animals. We talk about unconditional love that our animal friend gives us. Maybe in reality it also is the unconditional love that we give our animal friend.
I am very fortunate that now I can speak about Watson every single day because he is involved in my business. In essence is his business.
As I say on a homemade video that I made with Watson; I'm holding him up, and he is near the end, but we both look into the camera, I give him a kiss, and say, "this is your reward".
Watson, I so dearly love you.
I have a million stories of Watson. We all have a million stories that we can tell about these precious creatures that have crawled into our lives and touched us so.
