My Promise to Wally

by John Flores

As most of you know, Wally hasn’t been feeling well. He has been having trouble getting up and walking so I took him into the vet yesterday. Turns out our favorite beagle has some ACL damage among his other ailments that come along with getting old. The ACL is the most concerning at the moment. Wally is 12 years old so surgery is not an option so he needs to lose some weight and is on pain meds and anti-inflammatories. The good news is that I had to carry him into the vet and he left walking on his own four legs. However, I must be realistic about this situation. When I adopted him, I knew he wasn’t the healthiest dog and that has never mattered to me. I adopted him knowing he had Cushings Disease, a gall stone and multiple tumors (all benign). All that matters with Wally is his QUALITY of life and as long as he can still “be a dog” I will help him with whatever he needs. So while he’s still holding strong, I decided to make a list of his 5 favorite things to do outside of eating, sleeping and snoring. When he can no longer do 3 of those things consistently on that list, I know I will need to make a decision. Here is my list:

1. Howling- Wally LOVES to howl. I put him in his wagon and he just howls away. He loves it. I love it. Everyone loves it.
2. Getting up whenever any form of female comes in the house- Especially Pittie Crew Member, Macie. He LOVES Macie. For him not to get up when she walks in the house, I will know something is not right.
3. Wanting to go on walks- Even if Wally cannot walk all the time, he always wants to go with us. He LOVES his wagon.
4. Tennis Balls – He doesn’t necessarily need to chase it, he just wants it in his mouth. Even when his throat was swollen a few weeks ago, he still wanted the ball!
5. Going through the doggy door – even though there is a cover it, he knows how to lift it up with his nose and go through. Penny and Elvis look so confused whenever he does this. It’s almost like he’s just proving that he can do it and they can’t!

Well, there’s my list. Of course, this doesn’t count the obvious but I promise that I will let Wally leave this world with some dignity. I promise him I will not let him get to the point where he’s no longer Wally. Wally has been one of the biggest “pit bull” advocates I’ve known and has done his share in helping me reverse the negative stereotypes Penny and Elvis face every day. This guy means so much to me and there’s nothing I won’t do for him, and that includes being selfish. Our dogs could live for 50 years and it would still never be long enough. But today, he’s good. Today, he howled at the guy that knocked on my door to try to get me to switch over to solar. Today, he pawed his bowl to ask me for more food. I haven’t checked anything off his list and don’t plan on it but when his time comes, I will make sure he leaves this world as peacefully as possible. I owe that to him and that’s my promise to him. A promise I cannot break.

John Flores

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