Sad Day...

So how do I fit into that scenario, Jess? I own a Supra ;-)

i think you have the rainbow bridge wrong, it connects Buffalo to Niagra falls ....and they pat you down, and do trunk searches

Great stuff Jess. Thanks!

By the way, I didn't know there were girls on this forum. I thought this was the mean-guy-girl-haters-club....he he!

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE,

There is a bridge connecting heaven and earth. It is called the rainbow bridge because of its many colors. Just this side of the bridge there is land of meadows, hills and valleys with lush green grass.

When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this place. There is always food and water and warm spring weather. The old and frail animals are young again. Those who are maimed are made whole again. They play all day with each other.


There is only one thing missing. They are not with their special person who loved them on earth. So, each day they run and play until the day comes when suddenly one stops playing looks up! the nose twitches! The ears are up! The eyes are staring! And this one suddenly runs from the group!

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet, you take him or her in your arms and embrace. Your face is kissed again and again, and again, and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be seperated.

                                          -author unknown

This always brings tears to our eyes it sounds to me like we will all have many puppies to walkk back over that bridge with us... I can not wait to see every single one of mine...

Jim, that is pretty funny.

Funny story related to having to put a pet to sleep.
The twelve year old son of one of my co-workers had a friend whose family had recently put their dog "to sleep". Well, a couple of weeks later this son broke his arm playing ball. It was a pretty bad break.
The doctor told the kid that they would have to put him "to sleep" to reset his arm. Poor kid thought he was being put down like his friend's dog.

Well, we've been adjusting to Schatzi being gone and loving Alvin (we're pretty much calling him Alvi). Our older dog, Missy, got another growth on her neck that is swelling, then oozing, then subsiding. We talked to the vet and we would have to cut that one out too. He fears Missy has cancer and that is what these growths are. He feels we would just keep cutting them off her and putting her through surgeries with a couple weeks of recoveries each time and he fears it's just going to get worse. As long as they don't break open we don't "have" to put her through that. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, so we're just "treating" this growth for now trying to decide what we're going to do.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We have some tough decisions ahead of us.

emccallum wrote: We got a Labradoodle. It is a F1B, which is a Labreadoodle (1/2 and 1/2) bred to a a standard poodle. Has more poodle. Zero shedding, great disposition, travels well.

Anakin is the same a labradoodle mother with a full standard poodle father. The zero shedding was what got us also. It sure is great to have a dog back in our lives.

Here's some new pictures and a video. This dog seems like a great fit for us and we're really enjoying him. We've noticed that he tends to cower a fair amount when I discipline him, telling him no or whatever. Much more than if my wife does. My oldest picked something up last night and lifted it up (like you would do with a rolled newspaper) and the dog also cowered. We're wondering if he was treated harshly and that's why he was found in that barn in the first place. We'll work through that with a lot of love. You can tell he is really sensitive. I don't even have to raise my voice to him...a calm "NO" when he does something wrong is all that is needed.

My wife took him on a walk to get the boys from school the other day and he barked at one of the neighbor girls quite aggressively when she came up to pet him. We're not sure what that was all about. I talked to the parents last night and they are all going to come by for a visit to see him and we'll see if he reacts differently. He may have just felt uncomfortable or something. He didn't do the same thing to any of the other kids.

Any suggestions on helping him get over the cowering?

Sorry about your dog....that sucks. We put down pour Lab a few years ago.Never easy.

We got a Labradoodle. It is a F1B, which is a Labreadoodle (1/2 and 1/2) bred to a a standard poodle. Has more poodle. Zero shedding, great disposition, travels well. A lot less work than a Lab! I miss my Lab, but with three kids, wide open, we just didnt think we could handle another Lab. No more daily vacuuming and no more getting ready to leave with the car packed, and the Lab comes walking up soaking wet, full of mud, carrying a carcass of some animal!

Pete...no worries. Very true. It felt weird coming home Friday night after my trip and no Shatzi.

John,

Yeah, it was really tough. I've talked to a lot of "dog experts" in the last week and they've unanimously said "You did the right thing". It helps knowing it was likely for the best but it still hurt.

Andy,
Somehow I missed this thread so excuse me for bing late.

I've had to do it twice so I know very well what you and you family went through. It's not easy because it's really loosing part of the family.

We got the book Dog Heaven from the library and read it with the boys. It seemed to help some for them. Also, "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn has a section that talks about animals and the Biblical view, which is good for the situation.

This is my dog Obie he found me all beat up in the ditch about 6 years ago he was about 30lbs then / 60lbs now so he was maybe 6-10 mos old at the time.
The puppy is 5-6 weeks old. Obie was sleeping and the puppy just crawl up on the bed with him.
My wife custom sews these dog beds anyway people want them.

Sorry about your dog Okie. We had to put down our mixed breed terrier "Jasper" last March. He had an enlarged heart and had been on meds for about a year and also had developed an oral tumor which was cancerous and had spread to his lymph nodes. I tried everything I could to keep Jasper around just a little longer. I even took that dog to a dog-oncologist to see if he would be a candidate for a new cancer vaccine that had proven successful in dogs with his type of cancer, but it had already spread to his lymph nodes and with his heart condition it was just not looking good for him... I was a mess when we had to put him down. I still get teary eyed thinking about him. It was like losing our first child, he had been around before we had our oldest and our three kids had grown up with him.
My wife swore that we were not going to get another dog... but after about 9 months without a dog, she started sending me pictures at work of dogs she was looking at at Petfinder.com. I went to "just look" at this one dog that was on petfinder and the rescue group was going to be at the Petsmart so I went up there to take a "look" at him and ended up bringing him home. While I was in the store, this lady came up to me and asked the dog I was adopting and asked me if I wanted another... So I took her business card and told her I would talk to my wife about it... I ended up getting that dog off of her the following week! She was a single mother with a busy schedule and the dog(Kobe) was in a cage most of the time... I couldn't leave him there after I had seen him. He was skinny from being caged up all the time and when I went to her house they had him in the cage and they were home!

Take your time in finding a new dog, make sure he is going to fit in with your family and living arrangements before you bring a new dog home. Be sure he has the temperament you are looking for. Petfinder.com is a great resource for rescue dogs. It's a great thing to be able to give one of these dogs in need a much needed good home, so be sure to check into a rescue dog before you go to a breeder. The nice thing about looking at them online is that you can learn about them and see pictures before you go and look at them which is good in my case since I want to bring home every dog I see that needs a home. I love dogs, I would probably have 20 of them if I could!



It took two dogs to fill the shoes (paws) of Jasper! They get along great and they are best friends. Our family is not complete without a dog.

I hope you can remember all the great times with your dog, and maybe find another dog someday to add to the family. Very sad indeed...


Jasper (RIP)



Jasper at his last Birthday Party (Not sure who was drinking that Coors light, wasn't me or Jasper!)



Bentley, He's a Brussels Griffon 2-3 years old,



Kobe, the PO said he was a Brussels mix also, but we think he is probably a Wheaten Terrier Mix. He is about 1 year old.