The End of an Era

Saturday brought an end to an era - the era of ol' dogs. That's right, Dakota, the last of the ol' dogs was put to sleep. She would have been 13 years old this year. That would have made her 91 to you and me. She lived a great life and was a wonderful companion. She loved playing "find the ball." More than that she loved long walks on the leash and enjoyed rides in the car/truck even more.

We knew it was coming. She had a disease that kept her from gaining weight and for the second time in the last month she had quit eating and lost even more weight and had, in fact, lost so much weight that she had very little strength left in her hind legs.

We didn't want to see her suffer any longer and after talking with the vet we knew this was the right choice.

Saturday night was kinda weird. I had a routine at night that included going out and checking on the dogs, petting them, and then feeding them. Sometimes I had to correct them and re-direct them to the "right" bowls. Saturday night I didn't have to do that.

It's only the second time in almost 30 years that I haven't had a dog. The first time was very short lived. I'm sure we will have another dog sometime. For now we will just enjoy the goofy cats we have.

Mike