More about Otis

I've been so concerned about how Sammie was going to deal with the passing of Otis.

She depended on him for everything in her life, he was her mentor, comfort and best friend. I often thought devastation of losing him would throw her into inconsolable fits. I thought there is no way I could comfort her because I would be just as heartbroken as she.

To my surprise and relief, Sammie is taking the loss quite well.

We noticed how Sammie and Lightning had been giving Otis tons of personal space during the final few days. I really feel as though Otis had a talk with Sammie. He must have told her to be strong for Mama, because she would be hurting too.

During the procedure, Sammie sat quietly behind John. She was leaning around him to watch every move being made with her ears bouncing and with a very concerned and serious look in her eyes.

When it was over, Sammie was very subdued and appeared to be holding on to her denial for as long as she could.

She didn't cry when Otis was taken out of the house, she just sat in the background watching.

Afterwards, we noticed that she stopped talking. She also stopped trotting around, she just slowly walked. Sammie has always trotted instead of walked, I call her Little Miss Trots A Lot.

Sammie spent several hours sitting in the yard by the pepper tree stump. She was staring down the driveway through the fence slats. I could tell she was waiting for Otis to come home, but she knew he wasn't.

Every time John drove up the driveway, Sammie got excited and ran to the door expecting John to bring Otis to her. It took a few times, but Sammie seemed to realize that Otis coming home was not going to happen.

When Sammie wasn't sitting by the stump, she was sitting by herself either in my office or on the bed that Otis used for his 14 years with us. She wanted to be by herself, so we let her deal with her loss in her own way.

Lightning took a different approach. She spent the whole time wanting to cuddle with the doctor. After the first injection of pain killer/sedative, Lightning went up to Otis and started cleaning his ear just as Otis had done for her every day for 3 years. All of us took a few moments to sit back and watch as Lightning said her good-byes. It was a very touching moment.

Neither Sammie or Lightning ate their dinner that night.

It's been a few days and Sammie is beginning to be herself again. She talked to me this morning, it was just a word or two but that's a start. She also trotted down the hallway to the office.

I have to post a few more pictures of Otis and his happy life. We have literally thousands of pictures and videos, here are some of our favorites.

I hope you enjoy them and that they bring a smile to your face.