Falcon, the Akita.
Breeding and hand-raising Akita’s was a beginning for our Family. Falcon came from the second litter of pups, which were entirely by accident! Griz, our male, broke into our Female’s kennel and six months after the first litter of pups, here comes the second!As a newborn puppy, Falcon had a series of seizures. Mouth-to-snout ensued and time after time he came back to life. He seemed to grow out of the seizures, and became a healthy, energetic little puppy. I was fourteen when I found out he would be going to a new home. Of course I was attached to the other pups, I loved them all, but something in Falcon’s amber eyes held my heart stronger than the rest.
Having a falcon-shaped marking around his neck, his name fit him. As the day he would be leaving us crept closer, my heart began to sink. My parents must have taken notice because my stepdad sat me down and told me he’d called the soon-to-be owners and told them Falcon had to be put down because of his previous medical problems as a newborn. My stepdad gave Falcon to me, and told he’d be expecting me to be a responsible owner of my new dog.
I raised Falcon, trained him, walked him, ran with him, spent many precious moments of my life with him. The last nine years of my life, he has had my heart in his paws. He was gentle, always gentle, and loving. He was my first dog, the first dog to call my own, the first dog I gave my whole heart to. In the last three years, his health began to deteriorate. His thyroid began to fail him, and his allergies began to worsen. He developed a skin infection due to both of those combined. Bathing him and medication seemed to keep it all held at bay. But eventually, he began to worsen. A pile of health problems started to crush him physically. The moment I decided it was time for him to go, was the moment I saw him at his worse physical condition.
Having to make a choice on one’s life is hard, especially when you can see in their eyes that they’re happy just being beside you no matter the physical pain. I couldn’t run my hands through his fur without getting blood on them, I couldn’t go outside and call to him without him taking a minute or more just to stand up. His eyes told me “I love you, let me stay.” But his body told me he’d suffer more if I let him. He was as much my son as a human child to it’s mother.
I held him in my arms as he passed away, his heartbeat faded away, his eyes closed. I can never thank him, for all the beautiful moments he brought into my life, for the love he taught me, for the loneliness he sent away with just those beautiful amber eyes.
I love you, Falcon. I will always love you.
Thank you, Dr. Dye. You’ve put my heart, and my family’s hearts, at ease. His peaceful departure from this world is all I could have ever prayed for.
