Rest In Peace, Knuckles · 2:22pm Oct 26th, 2019
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I made a blog post like this for the passing of my first cat, Nelly, so I thought it felt right posting this here too. Haven't entirely left this site or anything, I'm always lurking.
This might be something of a word vomit, but my oldest dog, at 17, died in his sleep at some point in the night. I stayed up with him until 4 am, because his health had gotten pretty bad over the month. He was getting very skinny, he had lost his eyesight, and was losing his balance, so I knew it was about that time. I woke up at 8 am to find that he really passed away.
His name is Knuckles, and yes, he was named after the Sonic character (I was 6…). He’s a Bichon Frise, I still remember picking him out as a puppy when I was only 6 years old. We picked him out because my parents thought I might have been allergic to dog fur at the time, and Bichons are known to be among the few acceptions for those with allergies.
We grew up together, and yet he went through his entire life while I’ve only lived a fraction of mine. That’s just a part of having a pet. But knowing that doesn’t make this any easier. For an old dog, he was really tough, how he held himself together over the years really betrayed his age. I remember the first real scare that we might have to put him down was when he was 8, and it turned out he had over fifteen kidney stones that needed to be surgically removed.
Despite the reputation tiny dogs have for being snappy little brats, which I can attest to being not just a stereotype, but Knuckles was and still is one of the nicest, friendliest dogs I’ve ever met. He’s never once been mean to anyone he’s ever met, but that didn’t make him spineless. I think my second dog, Nestle, a 10 year old large Golden/Labrador Retriever mix, kept Knuckles’ spark going throughout the years by making him feel young when they played together.
As corny as it probably sounds, losing Knuckles today is like losing the last piece of my childhood, and one of my oldest friends. I’m so lucky that I got as many years as I did with him, he’s outlived many other dogs I’ve known throughout my life. I’m almost relieved that he doesn’t have to suffer anymore.
He was a lil’ fighter until the end, so I guess his name really was appropriate for him after all.
I’ll miss you, Knuckie. Love you always.
Rest In Peace
2001 — 2019
