The Last Walk -- Take 2

I finished reading The Last Walk just as my plane touched down in St. Louis on the way back from Durango.  I spent a not insignificant portion of that flight with tears running down my cheeks.  Luckily for me, I had an aisle seat and, on an otherwise full plane, there was no one in my window seat.  I curled up, facing the window, and kept on reading.  Because I had to.

There is nothing particularly Earth-shattering in this book.  But even if the author's experiences are just like everyone else's who has lost a pet, there's comfort in knowing that the loss of that beloved friend is a shared experience.  She quotes Mark Doty, saying, "Because dogs do not live as long as we do, they seem to travel a faster curve than human beings, flaring into being and then fading away as we watch."

And, sad though it was, it was -- I can't say "nice," but "worthwhile," maybe -- to revisit parts of that experience.  Since I lost R the Wonderdog, my life has gone on.  I still think about him all the time, and find his white dog hair stuck all over everything in my apartment, but it isn't the oppressive misery anymore that it was right after he died.  But reliving parts of R the Wonderdog's final days reminded me how much I still love him, even though it's been months since I last got to scratch his ears.

Aside from the personal remembrances, there were a number of other enjoyable aspects of the not-too-scientific book. For example, there's a short (just over a page) but fascinating section on whether companion animals understand human death.  Most of the tales of animals "foretelling" their person's death is anecdotal and require some, as Jessica says, "healthy skepticism."  But she does also point out the well-documented ability of dogs to detect certain types of cancers (a la The Art of Racing in the Rain), drops in blood sugar, or impending seizures, because their super-sensitive noses give them the ability to smell chemical changes in the body.  "Why not smell when a body in in the early stages of dying?"  Does the breakdown of carbohydrates produce a smell?

The introduction to the third chapter is a good reminder to all who have pets.  "Change has been like this with Ody -- bit by bit, right under my nose, but beyond my view....I noticed, but didn't really take it in.  It was too incremental, and I was too close to really see. I would have an occasional epiphany, when I would think to myself, My God, he's really getting old.  Now, at thirteen years and eight months, it is no longer so gradual."

Give your puppies some love!