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Chizzle was our female red nosed pit bull. We were there the day she decided to come out of her mother "Lady". It was definitely Chizzle that decided to be born, she was very strong willed, but very loving at the same time. She was the pup of our friend's dog and she came home with us six weeks later. There was a perfect match and we bonded as a family instantly.

We have a pool in our back yard and Chizzle loved to swim. She would play fetch with herself by dropping a tennis ball off the top step of our water feature and then jumping in after it. She would swim to the other side of the pool get out and do it again over and over. She could keep herself occupied for hours doing this, so long as we watched. She did this for our entertainment as much as for herself.

She also loved to hike. She would run with me in the desert for miles chasing quail. This is where the tragedy happened. We were out one not-to-hot day (90 degrees, which is cool for Phoenix in the summer), hiking as we usually did. We were behind Phoenix International Raceway in the Estrella foothills doing our normal route. We stayed out a little longer than usual and our water was running low. I decided to head back to the truck. Chizzle would run from tree to tree taking advantage of the little shade there was to be had. About two miles out she refused to go anymore. I had a decision to make, force her to go on or let her stay until she would go on her own. I decided to make her go now because by this time our water had run out and I thought it better hurry to the trucks air-conditioning and the ability to get more water than to stay and possible get hotter and more dehydrated. We made another mile and she stopped for good. I tried to carry her, but she was too heavy to go very far before I had to put her down. I found a tree with some shade and laid her there. I went for the truck as fast I could. I returned to find her alive, but in very bad shape. I put her in the truck with air-condition on full. Her condition got worse. On the way to the Vet she stopped breathing. I pulled over and tried CPR, but it was no use she was gone. I cried uncontrollably the rest of the way home.

My wife met me in the garage and held me as we cried together. I did not know how I could go on after the loss of my baby girl Chizzle. What was worse, I felt like I had caused it. I wanted to go into the desert and die myself. Fortunately my wife loved me too much to let that happen.

I wanted to keep her near me so we decided to have her cremated. I have not decided yet whether to keep them or sprinkle them somewhere. I am leaning toward putting them in the ocean so she can travel the world. My wife and I are sailors and we like the idea of Chizzle being able to follow us where we go.

This is only symbolic of course because the life force is energy and not the flesh of the body. We are confident that she is still with us somehow in her spirit form. The sprinkling of the ashes does help with the grief in that it gives us an open ended closure. It is a way of saying a final goodbye without ending the possibility of her continuance. She is gone from our physical presence, but will always be there in our hearts.

Learn more about this author, Richard Griffin.
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