Obituary of Eli Strey
We brought Eli home from the Brandywine Valley SPCA in Newark, Delaware on July 5, 2019. He was a stray that had been brought in with one full cataract and limited vision in his second eye. He also suffered from bladder leaks. In May of 2019, when he was brought in, the vet estimated him to be about 12 years old. Georg and I had volunteered at the Mega Adoption Event at the University of Delaware that week and I had pledged to take home any dog left behind. There were about 15 dogs that did not get adopted and Eli was one of them. He was shown several times at the end of the last event day, and we noticed that the one thing he did not like was to be put back in his crate after he was shown.
That point was proven when we got him home and thought, maybe he would feel more comfortable initially resting in a crate. This was clearly not the case and I think the only thing that he did not like in the course of the time we had him. He made himself at home on the couch and that quickly became his favorite spot. Eli took to home life very quickly. He was not up for the mile-long walks we take twice daily with our other two dogs, so we walked him separately or put him out in the yard to explore.
He had his first rawhide bone the day he came home and remained a big fan of bones of all kinds until the end of his life. Even last weekend, when he was already weak and disinterested in his food, he took some time to chew a bone in the driveway for quite a while. He also loved toys. And destroying them in particular. We usually kept them put away except for playtimes when he was thrilled to get his paws on stuffed animals, ropes, Kongs and balls. His powerful jaws made him a worthwhile adversary in all things tug-of-war, and we had lots of fun chasing him around the house to wrangle the toys back in.
In August of 2019 we took Eli and our whole family to Michigan to visit my Mom. He wasn’t used to cars and I remember him sitting as close as possible to my front passenger seat and breathing heavily into my neck for most of the trip, looking for comfort. Even with his sight limitations he settled in well on vacation and made it his mission to discover all the hiding places my mom had for her dog’s treats and make his way into devouring them.
He took a liking to our neighbors’ dog across the street, and we retrieved him from their yard several times. Once in January he walked across the street early on a very cold morning and lost his orientation. He headed to the house behind our neighbors’ instead of back across the street to ours, and they thankfully saw him looking for home and kept him warm until we got in touch over Facebook. That was the end of Eli’s meanderings, we put out two long leads in the yard and on the deck for him to explore the yard safely.
One of his favorite things to do (besides sleeping on the sofa!) was to lay in the sun on the deck or the driveway. He’d be out there for hours warming his bones and experiencing the sights and sounds. Since he wore a diaper in the house for the whole time we had him, this was also his chance to get some fresh air and sun on his skin. He was resting outside on Tuesday, enjoying the sun for one last time.
We had him with us for almost two years. He started to slow down and sleep more the last few weeks. Last week he began to lose interest in his food. On the weekend he had some special meals, which were hard to digest but very tasty: Tater tots, pieces of meat and chicken, apples and bananas. On his last morning he ate his sister Maya’s food for breakfast and an apple. He was breathing heavily throughout the evening, and we sat with him for his last trip to the bathroom and, eventually, his last breath. He fell asleep peacefully around 10:00 on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
We miss him dearly and look forward to bringing him home from Paw Prints Forever, who picked him up Wednesday morning and have taken such good care of him in the meantime. His ashes will sit with us in the Family Room where he spent too much of his time, and we will hang his picture there to look at every day. We do believe he’s in a good place where he can once again see, hear and romp around with our other dogs unaided. This is a comfort for us, as are the sun and the stars that have been shining bright over the last days reminding us that a body’s time may end, but the spirit remains. We will keep him in our thoughts and in our hearts forever.
