3/29/2009
Despite his size, Jai always wanted to be a lap dog.
Jai's last ride
By TAMMY MALGESINI
The East Oregonian
The day Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States always will be a memorable day for me. It's the same day we had to put down Jai, our 141⁄2-year-old Airedale terrier.
Jai took his last ride to the vet in the Bronco - very fitting since it's the vehicle John and I bought specifically for our canine kids.
The difference this time is he wasn't bouncing from the back seat to the rear with slobber flapping in the wind - anticipating a romp along the river.
Or was he? I'd like to think there's a special place for dogs and one day the Malgesini pack will be reunited.
As we walked into Oregon Trail Vet Clinic I chuckled to myself, remembering a past time I took Jai when he was, well, sicker than a dog. He hadn't been eating or drinking, so I loaded him into the car and took him to the doggie doc.
As I drove down the street he laid still in the back seat, which was very uncharacteristic. He sauntered slowly into the vet clinic, but then out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Perched on a short dividing wall was a large stuffed dog. He lurched at it and, before I could react, he pounced on it. In the ensuing melee, he bit his tongue.
When we entered the examination room, he was panting profusely with slobber and blood pouring from his mouth. The doggie doc looked at him and asked how long he'd been like that.
"He had a fight with your stuffed dog in the waiting room and lost," I said with a laugh.
Losing a canine kid is tough, even though you know from the outset you're going to outlive them. John and I stayed in the room as Dr. Mark Sargent put the needle into Jai's leg. Only a few moments had passed when he told us Jai was gone and then he slipped out the door so we could say our final good-byes. Over the years, John didn't cut the hair on Jai's head, which resulted in dreadlocks - very fitting for his middle name of Rastafari. I told John I wanted one of the dreads. When I got home, I taped it to the bathroom mirror.
The next day, I sat on the floor with a bunch of photo albums. John and I laughed as we flipped through the pages - remembering how Jai used to lay under the coffee table, but had to move to the kitchen table as he got bigger, how he learned to go up the stairs several weeks before he mastered descending them and he'd stand at the top whining for us to rescue him, how he'd balk at opening Christmas presents because the rest of the year we'd chastise him for "getting into things" and how he innately knew when John put on a certain pair of shoes it meant he was going to go for a walk.
We have a three-page "manifesto" plastered on the kitchen cupboard on how to care for the dogs when we're out of town. When we've needed a new dog sitter, it was Jai and Jeter, our German shepherd, who screened potential candidates.
We've always been a two-dog family and with the loss of Jai, there's a hole in our family. I know Jai will never be replaced, but when it's time we'll find another canine kid to join the Malgesini pack.
---
Tammy Malgesini is the community editor for the East Oregonian. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com.
By TAMMY MALGESINI
The East Oregonian
The day Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States always will be a memorable day for me. It's the same day we had to put down Jai, our 141⁄2-year-old Airedale terrier.
Jai took his last ride to the vet in the Bronco - very fitting since it's the vehicle John and I bought specifically for our canine kids.
The difference this time is he wasn't bouncing from the back seat to the rear with slobber flapping in the wind - anticipating a romp along the river.
Or was he? I'd like to think there's a special place for dogs and one day the Malgesini pack will be reunited.
As we walked into Oregon Trail Vet Clinic I chuckled to myself, remembering a past time I took Jai when he was, well, sicker than a dog. He hadn't been eating or drinking, so I loaded him into the car and took him to the doggie doc.
As I drove down the street he laid still in the back seat, which was very uncharacteristic. He sauntered slowly into the vet clinic, but then out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Perched on a short dividing wall was a large stuffed dog. He lurched at it and, before I could react, he pounced on it. In the ensuing melee, he bit his tongue.
When we entered the examination room, he was panting profusely with slobber and blood pouring from his mouth. The doggie doc looked at him and asked how long he'd been like that.
"He had a fight with your stuffed dog in the waiting room and lost," I said with a laugh.
Losing a canine kid is tough, even though you know from the outset you're going to outlive them. John and I stayed in the room as Dr. Mark Sargent put the needle into Jai's leg. Only a few moments had passed when he told us Jai was gone and then he slipped out the door so we could say our final good-byes. Over the years, John didn't cut the hair on Jai's head, which resulted in dreadlocks - very fitting for his middle name of Rastafari. I told John I wanted one of the dreads. When I got home, I taped it to the bathroom mirror.
The next day, I sat on the floor with a bunch of photo albums. John and I laughed as we flipped through the pages - remembering how Jai used to lay under the coffee table, but had to move to the kitchen table as he got bigger, how he learned to go up the stairs several weeks before he mastered descending them and he'd stand at the top whining for us to rescue him, how he'd balk at opening Christmas presents because the rest of the year we'd chastise him for "getting into things" and how he innately knew when John put on a certain pair of shoes it meant he was going to go for a walk.
We have a three-page "manifesto" plastered on the kitchen cupboard on how to care for the dogs when we're out of town. When we've needed a new dog sitter, it was Jai and Jeter, our German shepherd, who screened potential candidates.
We've always been a two-dog family and with the loss of Jai, there's a hole in our family. I know Jai will never be replaced, but when it's time we'll find another canine kid to join the Malgesini pack.
---
Tammy Malgesini is the community editor for the East Oregonian. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com.
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