Dear Mark, Ijust finished reading about your spritey, I just lost our family dog, Amy, a big beautiful alaskan malmute to bone cancer at the age of 8 years 11 months, she had bone cancer in her left front ankle. I loved her like no other dog in my life (I’m 57) and shew loved me more than I coul;d Imagine she was put to sleep on Mar. 19, 08. it was the hardest thing I havew ever done in my life, I felt your pain in the hours preceding sprites passing for my wife and I experenced the exact thing we knew the night before she would have to be put down the next day she was in so much pain she was on 100mg’s of trammadol three times daily which she didn’t like. but nothing could stop the pain and we didn’t want to go tomorphine to give her afew more days we knew it would have torn up her stomach, we went to an orthopedic onoclagast and brought her and the e-rays fom our first vet and he said she is a big dog and amputation would not be advisable, he said she had 1 to 3 months left, I prayed for 3 but we got 1month exactly. she knew we were hart broken about her. she could tell but she tried to be upbeat as best she could malutes are inhsde/outside dogs, they love there family and she loved being in the house with us but she would sleep outside at night whewre it was cooler for her. I made her a large platform for her big mattress to sleep outin the open she also had a large igloo she would sleep in when it snowed or rained. when she was daignosed with bone cancer she slept in my room every nite, I know it was to comfort me. I also walked her every morning we live in the mountains of san diego so we have a beautiful wooded fenced acre so she had her room she loved her propery and home we had her put to sleep in a grassy area she took her naps by a hospice vet at our home we called her Amy’s angel she also had a wonderful last day, but she was in so much pain. malmutes arn’t typically licky types of dogs, altho whren our family would be gone all day she would wait by the front gate of our drive and when we came home i would open the door and she would kiss me like crazy. but when I would come home from work she woule greet me but only one like. when the lady vet showed up on that fateful morning she pulled into our drive way amy limped to gteet her, the vet had her med’s in a small tackle box, which she opened amy smelled the med’s adn the vet leaned down and amy licked her face like no other, the vet said she is ready to go she then laid down next to the med’s on the driveway, we got her up only to go 10ft to the grass area, and she layed down and my wife and I said our tearful goodbyes, she passed in my arms, I can’t stop thinking about her ewveryday almost every minute of the day, for days I would think I heard her move on her bed outside, it was by my bedroom window, I evan filled her water dshes outside for two days after. finally after one week we moved her bed I made for her and my wife cut her mattress, but I can’t move her igloo yet we have planted flowers and put them on our deck where her bed was and I hve her ashes, but yet to scatter them. I love her and miss her every day and at times I feel there isn’t much reason to come home for I know she si not there. we are starting our pet grievence couciling from the humane society in group foram so I hope that helps. thanks for sharing your words with me in your book I cried thru much of it but it did help.
sincerely
Curtis from CA