I have sad news. Our old dog, Beau, is taking one last trip to the vet today. He is being put to sleep this afternoon - after a good, long life as our family dog.
I wish I could write a fitting tribute for him, but I'm afraid I will end up in a puddle and we won't be able to follow through with loading him up and turning on the car engine to go. I'll just write a couple of fond memories and leave it at that.
He's been a great dog. "Faithful companion" sums up his life pretty well. All he really ever wanted out of life was to be near people and get an ear scratch every now and then. Oversized and powerful, he loved to go duck hunting and would sit in icy water for hours, scanning the sky for incoming fowl. Fetching sticks in the pond was one of his favorite pasttimes, and we would usually tire of the game long before he did.
Lauren and Meghan in their high school days with Beau.
Beau has a sixth sense. One night, he ventured up the (forbidden) stairs to stand watch over Grayson, who was sick with pneumonia and having difficulty breathing. He refused to leave his side until morning. Later in life, when we gave up trying to keep him in restricted areas of the house, he slept by Gray's bed every night. In June, he finally stopped trying to make it up the stairs...it was just too hard on his old, stiff bones. One day we realized that he hadn't been upstairs in awhile - and shortly thereafter he had to be jailed in the kitchen due to a leaky bladder. He just hated that.
A boy and his dog: Grayson and Beau
Beau's nose and tail still work beautifully. He's always happy to see you and always looking for a little food scrap to come his way. But his ol' body's just given out on him, and it's tough to see him struggle to get up without help, and not be able to control his bodily functions. For his sake, we've decided to go ahead and not let him suffer anymore. Man, this is hard.
He's given us 15 years of companionship and loyal friendship.
We will miss him.
I hate to be so glum, but there is no Small Thing Today on account of I can't think of anything.
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And P.S. Thanks for your thoughts today....I know that many of you know exactly what this day feels like and I appreciate your friendship more than ever.
Love, Rachel