In Memory Of Our Fur Baby

8 min readMar 6, 2018

By The Family

Eric

You might have noticed that we didn’t post a blog last week.

We had plans to, but then life happens and you find yourself standing in an animal hospital at 7:30pm on a Monday night, making the heart-breaking decision to put your thirteen year old Miniature-Schanuzer to sleep. Coal’s health had been deteriorating over the previous year and the situation finally became untenable when he suddenly went completely blind over the course of a week.

After consulting with the vet and weighing our options, we made the decision that putting him down was the best choice for Coal. So instead of writing a blog, Sarah and I found ourselves sitting on the cold tile floor of the vet’s office, petting Coal’s back and wiping back tears as we waited for the sedative to kick in.

In that moment, I thought back over all the years that we had shared with Coal. I remembered how Coal was given to us a few months after Sarah and I got married; our “fur baby” that we joked was a trial run for when we had kids of our own. I pictured our “walks” with Coal, with him pulling at the leash, tongue out, panting hard, always pulling ahead or dragging behind, eager to get to the next spot but not wanting to leave anything behind.

I smiled at the nights when Sarah and I would cuddle up in bed, only for Coal to stubbornly attempt to nuzzle his way between us, until we moved apart and let him lay between us like a reverse Oreo. The tears came when I remembered how much Coal loved babies, how when our kids were little he would always lay near them, keeping watch like the older brother he was. He was always gentle, always protective, always wanting to be near his family.

Though not everyone in the house has always lived with Coal, he has been a part of all of our lives for years. His absence in our life is noticeable and the big house is emptier without him. We didn’t have a family funeral for Coal but we thought we would use this post as a chance for everyone to offer some reflections on what Coal has meant to them.

Olivia

Coal is the one dog that I grew up with. Even though I’m not a huge fan of dogs, he managed to wrap himself around everyone’s hearts. Coal has been a part of every memory I have as a kid. Whenever Coal was around, it made me happy, especially because I could see how happy Coal made my Mom.

Coal helping Olivia celebrate her first Christmas.

Sarah

Coal’s arrival in our life was a bit of a surprise. Eric and I had only been married for a few months when Coal arrived on our front porch as a birthday gift from my Dad. At the time, Eric would often work overnight shifts at work and so Coal was not only our first child, he was a little like a second husband as well; someone who kept me company during those scary nights alone and a companion that I could rely as we figured out the rhythyms of married life.

There were a million reasons why I loved Coal but perhaps the biggest reason was that he gave me a connection to my Dad and the memories of my childhood. Growing up, my Mom and Dad operated a dog breeding business. We had two Schnauzers and two German Shepherds, and then every so often, we’d have a whole bunch of puppies. I loved it! PUPPIES ❤

Eventually my parents split up, I lived with my Mom and for a few years we didn’t have a dog. During those same years, I didn’t see or talk to my Dad much at all because of the divorce. It was the hardest time of my life.

By the time Eric and I were getting married, the relationship with my Dad was starting to heal. Though he’d moved to a different city, he’d kept his passion for dog breeding and had two champion Schnauzers named Ollie and Hail (sisters). Coal was part of the last litter of puppies my Dad ever bred and when Coal was the last puppy left, he decided that I would be the perfect home for his last dog, to carry on the family legacy. It was both an ending and a beginning.

So for me, Coal has always been more than just a dog. Coal was a connection to my childhood, to the memories of our family and to what that all meant. Even more, Coal was a reminder that my Dad and I were going to be ok.

Hope

Having never let any of my children ever sleep in my bed I had a moment of weakness one time when babysitting the grand-puppy and allowed Coal to spend a night in my bed. Those big, sad black eyes were very hard to say no to.

I also remember many years ago when Eric and Sarah brought Coal to visit us at our house in Sudbury. We had a cat at the time named Flair. Over the course of the visit, Flair and Coal encountered each other on our stair well, in the middle of the house. There was hissing, barking, scratching and hair flying and by the the time a human arrived to break things up, a freshly dropped pile of poop.

Bethany

I’ve never been a dog person, but I have always had a soft spot for Coal, ever since Eric and Sarah got him many years ago. I have many great memories of him, but it wasn’t until this past summer when we moved into our one big house that I truly developed a bond with him.

He was my little old buddy. He greeted me with great enthusiasm when I got home from work everyday (even Sarah was jealous sometimes) and he would be glued to my leg every day at the table for his nightly pet session and cuddles.

I never thought an old puppy could steal a piece of this crazy cat ladies heart, but Coal did. I will cherish the months we had together. Though our time was brief, I grew to consider Coal not only Eric and Sarah’s dog, but my dog as well.

Alexa

When I think about Coal, I remember that I actually started training Coal a little bit. When I would say, “sit”, he would sit. A really weird thing was that when Mom and Dad were out getting Coal checked out, I kind of had a feeling that they were going to have to put Coal down. I was pretty worried. Then when Mom and Dad came home and told me that Coal wasn’t coming home, I felt mostly sad and we all sat on my bed and cried together.

Michael

I have never felt that I would be a “dog lover”, mostly because they take such a large amount of commitment to care and keeping. So I always resisted my children’s request for dog when they lived at home. So I am surprised that when they initiated getting a dog on their own as adults, I have discovered a fondness for their pets. I guess I have realized that it is very easy to love the things that the people you love, love.

Coal was our first grand-dog. He came into our life when Eric and Sarah first married. We got to do all the things that good grandparents do. We visited him regularly for holidays and special occasions and he would visit our home as well. We even got to have him come for sleepovers when his parents went on short vacations.

I remember one particular time we took him on a short walk to Ramsey Lake from our home in Sudbury to watch the fireworks on Canada Day. It was all a bit too stimulating for him and I ended up carrying him in my arms most of the night. Then a year ago we moved into Our Big House and got to live day to day with him. As an older dog he had slowed down a lot but his sweet nature made him a joy to live with.