My heart goes out to you…. I have always had dogs in my life… they just aren’t around long enough. Beau was a golden retriever, truly the best dog ever. He was more human than most people I know. He died in the middle of the night of a heart attack. I didn’t know how I could ever recover from this. My husband and I gave him mouth to snout cpr, he came back, only to leave forever. We had 2 other dogs, Barney and Beau’s son Rebel. Barney lived to be 13 years old when he started to stumble. He was part shepherd. Apparently, Shepherds commonly get the condition he had, where his back legs just won’t go anymore. The Vet said his front end was that of a puppy, his mind didn’t understand what was wrong, which you could see on his face… I had to carry his back around, he often couldn’t get up to go to the bathroom… I finally realized I had to let go… He deserved to go and not live in this way. I though it was hard to let Beau go, suddenly, quickly in the night when he didn’t know anything. I was wrong. I held Barney in my arms as the life drained out of him. I took him home myself. I didn’t want anyone to handle him with rough hands. I took him home, cleaned him up, and buried him in my back yard, under the trees with my shoe, his collar and his stuffed toy. Rebel, Beau’s son, had much of the same symptoms as Pepsi. He stumbled. he seemed to be dazed at times… one day we noticed the indentation in his skull. It was a tumor. Again, the decision…..

I have 3 dogs today. All of them in their later years. I dread the day… and yet I know in my heart they had a wonderful life, they were always loved and cared for, and I will be there until the end to be sure they are never alone or afraid. It’s the least I can do.

God Bless, and take comfort in the memories.

Here’s a picture of Rebel.

Jana from MN