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Sarge

Good bye to an old friend

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Sarge

Yesterday we had to say good bye to our 13yr old Lab mix - Chopper . My daughter had dragged him home as a puppy and of course talked us into keeping him . He basically kept her busy through grade and high school and stayed here with us after she moved out on her own . In the last couple years he's been slipping mentally - the last few months got to the worst part and the vet just put it down to dementia . He just wasn't the same dog , although some days he'd come out of it and act dead on normal . This past couple of weeks we got almost no sleep and he lost almost 40lbs from being up all night , darting around the house and jumping on the furniture - he was just flat out nuts in the head . Twice in the last few days he got on top of my wife and nearly suffocated her - that was the final straw and he had to go . I'm sure most will recognize him from times I work outside and he's always in the backround along with our German Shepherd Toby - they were best buddies and played together a lot . The Lab was the typical couch potato and loved nothing more than to curl up with me on the couch and watch an afternoon or evening movie or the usual wildlife programs . He was a perfect dog with our grandkids and generally loved people - even the UPS guys . It was one of the toughest days I've ever had but he hasn't been himself in quite a long time - we miss him greatly but last night was the first peaceful night in far too long . I almost regret not taking care of it sooner - never should have let him go that long but it's tough to put down a favorite dog - we'll miss you old friend .

 

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A typical summer play day - the shepherd of course had just dunked his head in the water bucket to cool off from so much running around with his buddy . I hope he adapts ok to his companion being gone - he spent over an hour last night looking for him .

 

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It's almost too quiet in here this morning - normally by now it would be time to take him out and start the daily routine...RIP buddy .

 

Sarge

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WHX??

:( Condolence's  

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mrc

hi sarge, i feel for ya. hang tough  mike in mass.

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ACman

RIP Chopper :pray: .... Take care in knowing that there’s a big family here thinking of you and your family.

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Sparky

 Sorry for your loss.

Always tough to lose a pet whether by illness or old age. Wife and I went thru it 11 months ago and I still think about Dusty every day.

 

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Cvans

Just went through the same thing with our dog. She was my good buddy for many years. Hope you can get over it soon.

Gone but never forgotten. :(

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pfrederi

rainbow bridge.JPG

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hondagod64

SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS...TOTALLY UNDERSTAND AND FEEL FOR YOU...I HAD A HALF LAB AND SHEPHERD FOR 14 YEARS AND HAD TO DO THE SAME

i MISS HER DEARLY,,BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN LEXUS 

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dclarke

Sorry for your loss, that's always tough. We went through that with our dog several years ago.

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953 nut

Sarge, truly sorry to hear this. Guess Toby will get twice the love now.

My nine year old cat died of cancer about eight months ago, miss her very much.

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SPINJIM

Sympathy.    Been there twenty years ago with our 13 year old Golden Retriever, and we still think of her frequently.  Dogs are a gift from God.

    Jim

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ebinmaine

Condolences from my honey and I.

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rmaynard

So sorry for your loss. Been there too many times myself.

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shallowwatersailor

My sincerest sympathies. I'm sure that you have many pleasant memories of Chopper. It is a very difficult time for your family including Toby.  We went through that a bit over two years ago with "My Good Buddy", Oke'. We still miss him. Soon after that I had someone tell me the best way to honor him would be to get another rescue. Three months later I adopted Juno, "My Sweetie Girl.".

 

 

Edited by shallowwatersailor
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JERSEYHAWG /  Glenn

Sarge, I have walked in your shoes a few times over the years with our dogs. Its never easy, condolensces to you.

We keep getting dogs, I will be there again.

 

Glenn

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WNYPCRepair

Sorry for your loss. It is definitely not easy. 

 

46 minutes ago, JERSEYHAWG / Glenn said:

Sarge, I have walked in your shoes a few times over the years with our dogs. Its never easy, condolensces to you.

We keep getting dogs, I will be there again.

 

Glenn



After my last one died, I don't think I will ever be able to have another, it was just too hard. I took my daughter's cat because her boyfriend is allergic and she was going to move in with him. I figured it is just a cat, I won't be as attached as I was to the dog. But the cat had other plans. She follows me like a puppy. I think she decided she was my cat because I am home a lot during the day, being self employed. I am going to be heartbroken all over again when she goes. 

 

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SylvanLakeWH

Sorry for your loss...

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r356c

RIP Chopper.

 

Good dogs make our lives better.

 

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ClassicTractorProfessor

So sorry to hear of your loss...it is always hard to lose a pet...I lost my girl Ditto a couple years back...and haven't been able to make myself get another one yet...she went everywhere with me...was even with me the night of my accident and stayed right there by my side for the almost 13 hours I was pinned under that truck before someone came along and found us

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Digger 66

I hate reading these threads , but I always do .

Makes me feel sad , very sad .

Take some comfort in knowing you did what was best .

- Gene

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Sarge

I'm still kicking myself for not doing it sooner , really - he wasn't just to the point of not being himself but he was clearly pretty unhappy . That scared and totally lost look in a dog's eyes will rip your heart out and that started well over 6 months ago . Toby will adjust , I hope and he's already 7yrs old now - he grew up with Chopper being his elder and play buddy . He spent some time again looking for him , that was tough to watch but it needs to run it's course . I haven't seen my daughter yet and I know she had to work yesterday , hope she's not mad about it as I didn't let her know ahead of time but circumstances as such it was time . Far too quiet in here last night , normally between the two of them being clowns and just generally being in the way all the time made it feel so odd in our home .

 

Chopper grew up with our last shepherd Sam - a very large black and silver half German / American bred monster - they will have some fun again chasing each other and playing tug of war , that was their favorite thing . Sam's last year was a really bad one - his head had kept swelling up to 1.5 times it's normal size and it took 4 vets to finally figure out he had a very large mass in his chest that was blocking his arteries . He left us in 2010 and his passing was so hard on Chopper we had to get him another buddy - that's how Toby came into our home . I think from here on out we're sticking to one dog which is plenty with the size of our space . I plan to focus on some advanced training with Toby over the winter and that should keep him challenged and plenty busy - being a working dog he gets bored easily and there's nothing worse than a bored shepherd since they can become quite destructive . Not planning on anything fancy or the Schutzhund classes , just some better commands and new challenges for him to learn and more "jobs" to do - shepherds need that due to their breeding .

 

I don't think a person's life is complete until they own a pet and dogs really do have something special - they can worm their way into your heart better than anyone else , even other people . I do appreciate the chance to vent a bit and all the warm wishes from the folks here - it helps and shows what a great group we have here , thanks for that ....

 

Sarge

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slim67

Remember all dogs go to Heaven. My wife and I are dog people to and know the pain. I like dogs better than people these days.

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c-series don

Sarge, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. I truly know the pain that you are going through. The loss of my last springer spaniel really took it's toll on me. We had to put him down at 13 1/2 years old.Wallace was literally my best friend, we went everywhere together. Work, hunting, the firehouse everywhere. I feel like he took part of my soul with him when he passed. I could go on and on about this. Dogs will bring you some of the happiest days of your life, and one of the saddest. 

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

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Sarge

Yeah - there's an eventual price to be paid for the love and service they give us , some day we will outlive them but it's really all worth that time of pain . Memories replace them in a positive way - that's what you hold onto .

 

Love the pics , btw...springers are a special breed for sure .

 

Sarge

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WNYPCRepair

These helped me a bit, maybe they will help you too.





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