My dog Cookie turned 14yrs old on Feb 14.
He had a rough night and so did I from about 5 pm yesterday until about 7 am this morning.
100 million percent turnaround able to walk with very little help this morning.
Peeing like a horse
Eating and drinking like a horse.
Finally pooping like a horse about 15 mins ago.
He has been resting thruout the day.
So have I.


Everyday is a good day with your dog.
Everyone no matter how many dogs they have had in their life.
Has had that one dog of a life time.
Cookie is my dog of my lifetime.
Brindle american staffordshire terrier mother
Rhodesian Ridgeback dad.
I had pick of the litter!!!!
4 spaz pups up front
Cookie and his sister sitting in the back.
Ends of their tails flicking back and forth a million miles an hour!!!
My 5 yr old Lab Sonya became his mom and teacher in ways.
1st pup all 3 of my daughters remember is Cookie.
Youngest daughter named him.

Tommorow will be an even better day for both of us.
And the next and next and next ect ect ect.
Blackjack and Rico my other 2 dogs and Brady the grand dog have not gotten alot of attention today.
They know Cookie and myself have had a rough time since yesterday evening till this morning.



Here is what I just read surfing.
So fugging glad it didnt come to this early today!!!

Stuff brought some tears back to my eyes just a few moments ago
Ancient Greek dog stuff as follows:


After their loyal friend and companion departed from this world, ancient Greeks were not afraid to express their grief for their loss, openly crying and mourning.

Greeks would bury their pets along the roadside in marked graves, and the entire ceremony for this was undertaken in a very solemn manner.

“This is the tomb of the dog, Stephanos, who perished, Whom Rhodope shed tears for and buried like a human. I am the dog Stephanos, and Rhodope set up a tomb for me” read one gravestone.

“Helena, foster child, soul without comparison and deserving of praise.” The particular epitaph shows that some ancient Greeks, just like today, saw their dogs as their foster children.

In the next case, a hunter mourned the female hound who had helped him hunt in the three Greek mountains mentioned on the tombstone: “Surely, even as you lie dead in this tomb, I deem the wild beasts yet fear your white bones, huntress Lycas; and your valor great Pelion knows, and splendid Ossa and the lonely peaks of Cithaeron.”

Another tombstone of a beloved family dog from Ancient Greece reads “You who pass on this path, if you happen to see this monument, laugh not, I pray, though it is a dog’s grave. Tears fell for me, and the dust was heaped above me by a master’s hand.”





Dogs...........

Anyone who doesn't like dogs and see them as companions in life is fugged in the head big time if ya ask me.

For real.

Good dogs just never Seem to live long enough, except for the last one....

I didn't get a dog until I was old enough that it would outlive me.

I'm kind of in a funny place. I'm not anxious to leave the world. On the other hand, I don't want to have to be around to witness some others leaving before me.

My dog is one of those.

I'm a sucker for anything like this about dogs. The tears start flowing pretty easy for me, when the topic is dogs.

I guess it's a place that everybody occupies, eventually.

A favorite cartoon of mine shows an angel and God up in Heaven looking down on the blue sphere of the Earth.

God says, "Yeah, I'd have blowed it up a long time ago if it weren't for dogs."

Had dogs and cats.
Get attached to em for sure.

Hell my kids pet mouse died and we had a funeral a week ago.

I'm half Greek.
Love my pets, but don't elevate their status.

Glad to hear Cookie rallied today renegade. I wish you two nothing but the best.

Dog brought us out of the caves.

+ 1


Ive had my two best dogs cremated, and left instructions in my will that their ashes be scattered with mine.


That should tell you how I feel...

Poobs, dogs are family!

I'm dog-less by choice right now. Lost both my dogs last winter and still grieving.

Sonja...what a great name for a female. First time I reached second base was with a girl named Sonja.

The cremains of the best dog I ever had rest in an urn on the shelf in my living room waiting to be buried with me. She's been gone 8 years now and I still miss her. Now I have another dog that is her equal and is dying of cancer. His cremains will too soon be on the shelf waiting to be buried with me. I will miss him terribly.

Before I became a dog owner for the first time I went down to the local pound and walked past all the kennels and read every file attached to the kennel door. The bulk of what I read was fairly disturbing in that so many were turned in for petty excuses based off laziness and a total lack of responsibility for dog ownership. Looking at all those eyes wondering what the hell was going on "why am I here" sunk in deep.

I vowed from that day on I would never abandon my dog at the pound, ...ever.

They're family,.... always.

there's all kinds, some love em, some don't, weren't raised with them or never warmed up to them. i had a boss once who grew up on a farm in Florida. To him all animals around the farm, includng dogs, were just chattels meriting no particular attachment

Man's best friend and from time to time, the best mentor.

A co-worker isn’t a dog fan. His dying mother trusted him to take care of her dog. Before she passed he gave the dog up and lied to his mom.

Even worse, he likes comic books.




He’s a Bernie Sanders guy.........

No kidding, sometimes the best medicine to remind us what really is important in life.

1st time I went to saudi arabia and Iraq in desert storm and seen how they treated dogs.
I knew I hated muslims even more than I already had.
2nd time I went for OIF1, we finally stayed in Mosul city center for 7 months after taking the southern and central Iraq schithole grand tour for the 1st 4 months.
We tamed out 2 feral dogs from the main train station.
Dusty, a collie husky looking dog was the inside compound platoon family dog.
JYD a white german shepard looking dog, Alpha dog of all the train station dogs.
Would sleep days in the compound and walk with squads on patrol at night.
It was uncanny how he adapted to us and hated haji,s.
Take a security/ rest halt that dog would break away 50 75 yds .
Bark his azz off at anyone not american.
Watched him tear 2 haji,s new azzholes thinking they would bully him like a typical dog over their.
Not happening dudes
That dog has been americanized by a platoon of grunts.

We handed them off to the styker brigade unit that took over our AO in march 04.
Nothing was in place that early in the war to bring dogs back.
Bunch of us shed tears saying goodbye to those 2 dogs.

Unfugging real......

If someone fessed up some schitt like that to me.
I would liquid exlax that fugga,s drinks anytime I could.
For his mom and her dog...

I guess I'd be a sorry Muslim. My dog has a better life than anybody else that lives here.

I can relate, we lost our one dog of a life time a year ago and it still feels like yesterday and I still have no idea if or when we will get another. It's just too damn hard to deal with their loss.

He’d go out of his way to help most folks. Not an entirely schit human. He definitely has some sort of mental issue though.
I don’t pretend to understand it.

All I know is not liking dogs and an interest in comic books as an adult are the two biggest signs of [bleep] I have ever witnessed.

The Bernie fandom is just icing on the cake.

I lost my American Staffordshire Terrier on January 11th, She was my "dog of a lifetime", it busted me up pretty good, one of the worst days of my life. I cried when I dug the hole, I cried when I put her in the hole and I cried when I refilled the hole.

I feel bad for you Rene, enjoy everyday you have left with her, there won't be that many more.

I bet he smelled them from a 100 yards or better, he didn't have to see them, he knew what that stink was.

Enjoy every moment.

Two months and the hole in my soul is still there.

Miss you Bru

A good friend of mine back in the 1990s, who married in the late 1980s, told me that now that his (at that time) two kids (they later had two more) are old enough to appreciate a dog, he wanted to get one, and asked me for advice. I told him to get a cat, because neither he or his wife were dog people, and I knew it. Neither had ever had a dog, nor ever expressed any thoughts about dogs. They just decided that because they had little kids, a dog would be a good thing to have to make it all complete. I couldn't talk them out of it. They got a puppy Corgi.

Nope. Didn't work. The dog was generally ignored by all. When I visited, there was no water for the dog, and I had to get him some. Eventually, the dog was gone. My friend admitted that no one in the family warmed up to the dog (you couldn't ask for a cuter or more personable dog), so they got rid of him. I didn't inquire as to what was done with the dog, after they had him for a couple of years.

But some people are definitely not dog people. Something is just missing inside them.

I am taking it day by day for sure.
I know it is a matter of time.
This has happened to him twice over the last 14 months but not near as bad or as long as this one.
1st episode was maybe 10 mins and full recover in an hour.
Vet trip ...
Last episode was 4 or 5 months ago outta nowhere like this one
Lasted about 2 hours and he recovered within 4 or 5
Vet trip...
This one was from 5 last night till about midnight then " sleep fitfully to 7 am today.
Been recovering all day
He is still weak but getting better.
Waaaaay better than last night.

On meds for thryoid and hip arthritis.
Basically his back legs become useless.
Just amazed me he got up and was walking weakly this morning.
I had already called a mobile vet to come to the house.
Then the wife yelled at me he was outta bed and walking
I had been agonizing all night.
And Im sure cookie was also thinking he was letting me down by not being able to walk.

He is going to his vet monday morning to get a check up and blood work ,see what is going on.




It wasnt today thankfully that I had to do anything with the mobile vet I called.



Sorry about your dog man.


All dog owners know the anguish and loss.

Sorry to hear this. I definitely relate. I cried like a baby when my Am Staff (registered with both UKC and AKC) died in my home right about midnight in the summer of 2011. He died with me at his side, and I couldn't do anything to help him. Cancer. I put off having him put down too long. When you put them down, you always worry that you are doing it too early, and sometimes you are too late. It's about the most painful thing that can happen to a human, either way, if you're a dog person.

And if they step out of line they get shot
Farms are businesses not dog shelters,
some here who grew up watching lassie
would struggle on the land.

Re ancient greeks,.. dogs were not an uncommon blood sacrifice, or if a noble
died, His much loved dogs would be slain
and thrown on the funeral pyre to join their
master in the sunny pleasures of Elysium.

Oh Lord - that's signature line material .

Cowdoc - great cartoon you spoke of .

I love dogs .

I second that!!!!

Renegade, look into Prednisone.

Hadn't had a dog since I was a teen,.....too much time at work to take care of one.

I didn't know if I would qualify as a dog person or not. But it seemed like I might,...so I got a Labrador after I retired.

I can't understand what's wrong with a person who can't develop an attachment to a Labrador. They'll give you every opportunity.

We may be a bunch of collective A type personalities on here at each others throats at times, not all by far, and it is something I work at alot, trying to advoid conflict now.


But we all seem to offer the best we can when someone,s beloved pet dies no matter whatever history exist between members.
I suppose many of us know a few words of sympathy help alot no matter what.

Our three meatheads just got the remnants from my old man’s 70th birthday party tonight

Pork chops, mac n cheese, cake, mmmm cake.., sister shubert rolls, mashed potatoes

Earlier they got 3 gallons worth of cabbage n corned beef brisket juice poured over ol roy.

lol

He is on carpovet 100mg
A chewable he loves.
The other dogs are jealous of it.
LOL!!!
And a thyroid med.
He was on another med for the hip arthritis.
Made him loopy kinda.

Gonna talk to the vet about hip spinesynolis ( sp)
Been googling today.
Just seems wierd his entire back end goes limp outta the blue when it happens.
I dont doubt he has bad hip arthritis, never have for the last 2 years.

See what on monday.
He is due for thyroid blood work again also.
Im just gonna tell the vet all the details in depth leading and say i did alot of googling on stuff and see what he has to say.

I work to keep my boy slim and in shape. Labradors will fatten themselves up if you don't keep them from it.

Mine got into the cat food earlier today which means that he'll have the schitts tomorrow.

Besides that,...all he got for dinner was a can of low sodium green beans with some hamburger meat under them..

Put a tablespoon of hamburger meat on the bottom of the bowl, then pour a can of green beans on top of them, he'll eat the whole can of green beans to get to the hamburger meat.

Tomorrow he get's 3 rounds of the tennis ball workout.

Beautiful dog.

He's a good boy.

Last time I wandered through the pound i wanted to take half the dogs home.
We are at that old age spot too. When thie present one goes we will get a mature dog that will not outlive us.

Hoping for a not wake up deal. Son had one that went to sleep in his favorite spot in the yard. Boss gave me day off to break the news him at work. He was in an apartment so we had the dog
Both Wife and son are dog and cat whisperers

Softie !!!

I'd be disappointed in myself if I wasn't at this point.

LOL!!!!


Tonight my 3 got the other half of the wally word chicken i didnt eat 2 days ago. Mixed in with their normal 4 16 oz cups of dog chow and 2 cans of purina mix.

Always getting a variety.


Grand dog Brady has ta eat his eukanuba dry and eukanuba can mix.

He fugging hates it.....

Always trying to raid his dog families food at grampy,s place.

Same thing with my other daughter and her 2 collies and their lab rat food she feeds them.
They fugging hate it....


But my daughter insist and sends his food till april when she comes to get him again.

My dogs love variety in their food. And when i feed em the dry and wet base that is normal 3 or 4 days a week it aint dull and routine for em.

We have Ruby she's a 14 year old bulldog and on her way out. She's been living in the house for a year as part of our family. It's going to be a bad day when my wife decides it's time for me to bring her out back and put her down. She's never done anything wrong that we can think of. Ruby saved my wife's life once by catching my Catahoula that attacked her to the tune of 48 stitches before she could get loose. And bailed her out another time when a wild turkey attacked her in the garden over her poults. We've always had 3 or 4 dogs, cat's, birds, rabbits, squirrels and fish. My wife is thinking our pet days are behind us when all these die out. I'll believe it when I see it.

I like my obese dogs to get their healthy share of minerals. I pour their bacon grease out in the dirt by the bell pole. Starting to look like a Trophy Rock pit out around them maple roots.

Nope, Rene. It figures.

Glad to hear your dog is better.

I make sure my big yellow lab has his veggies

Homer wrote of Argos, Odysseus' dog.

In book 17 of the Odyssey, Odysseus returns to his Ithica, his kingdom, his home, to find that he is believed dead, and rivals have taken over his palace. He disguised himself as a beggar, and recconed the palace in the company of a swineherd.

No one had recognized Odysseus, not even the swineherd, as he walked carefully through the town.

No one.



"As they spoke, a dog who was lying there lifted his head
and pricked up his ears. It was Argos, Odysseus’ dog;
he had trained him and brought him up as a puppy, but never
hunted with him before he sailed off to Troy.
In earlier times the young men had taken him out
with them to hunt for wild goats and deer and hares,
but he had grown old in his master’s absence, and now
he lay abandoned on one of the heaps of mule
and cattle dung that piled up outside the front gates
until the farmhands could come by and cart it off
to manure the fields. And so the dog Argos lay there,
covered with ticks. As soon as he was aware
of Odysseus, he wagged his tail and flattened his ears,
but he lacked the strength to get up and go to his master.
Odysseus wiped a tear away, turning aside
to keep the swineherd from seeing it, and he said,
“Eumaeus, it is surprising that such a dog,
of such quality, should be lying here on a dunghill.
He is a beauty, but I can’t tell if his looks
were matched by his speed or if he was one of those pampered
table dogs, which are kept around just for show.”

Then, in response to his words, Eumaeus, you said,
“This is the dog of a man who died far away.
If he were now what he used to be when Odysseus
left and sailed off to Troy, you would be astonished

at his power and speed. No animal could escape him
in the deep forest once he began to track it.
What an amazing nose he had! But misfortune
has fallen upon him now that his master is dead
in some far-distant land, and the women are all too thoughtless
to take any care of him. Servants are always like that:
when their masters aren’t right there to give them their orders,
they slack off, get lazy, and no longer do an honest
day’s work, for Zeus almighty takes half the good
out of a man on the day he becomes a slave.”

With these words he entered the palace and went to the hall
where the suitors were assembled at one of their banquets.
And just then death came and darkened the eyes of Argos,
who had seen Odysseus again after twenty years."

(Translated, from the Greek, by Stephen Mitchell.)

You oughta see what a highly socialized Red Bone coon hound can be like.

Lol!!!!
All day long hanging out with me and my 3.
Constantly demanding human attention.
Soon as the wife gets home from work.
We dont exist down here in the man cave.
He is grammy,s boy big time.

Dogs add value to a humans life.
No other interaction between species on this planet like dog and man.

My boy's great great grand-daddy. He's not as muscular as old pap,...but he has his coloring and his friendly disposition.

https://www.holzingerkennels.com/stud_dogs-Raider.html

As a young pup just getting acquainted with how much he was going to be spoiled and liking it.

This is the exact problem.
I was asking god last night to just let Cookie die in his sleep beside me on the bed peacefully.
So I wouldnt have to call a vet today.
The anguish of the decision sucks.......
Then he got up this morning and was walking unsteadily and has improved 20 fold since this morning.

Im thankful for today with him.
Take each day that I can until its absouloutly needed.

Took my boy to lunch at Burger King today like I do every weekend. He had his usual two hamburgers on potato rolls and a 10 piece chicken nuggets.

I have never met a lab that was disagreeable.
They are an excellent dog all around.
Slumlords labs are all great dogs.
I miss my lab Sonya.
Little black sausage as a pup.
She was a sweet dog.
Lived to be 11.

I've been around some Redbones. My grandfather had some high bred Black and Tans.

I used to follow him and his old buddies around the woods at night when the way was lit by carbide lights attached to old, greasy, canvas caps.

I wish I had been mentally developed enough to appreciate those times as much as they deserved. But I was just a dumbazz kid out doing whatever the moment called for at the time.

I didn't know enough to appreciate anything,....didn't see any reason to. The world was always going to be like that as far as I knew.

Wish I could get mine to ride, I would do the same.

I bring my two males home a small order of fries or save 1/3 of my burger for them. I better have something when I roll in off the hard top or they get real disappointed. Worst case, I keep half pound of pecans in all the vehicles.

That's what got Charlotte too, Hemangiosarcoma. We thought we had it beat, did all kinds of tests after chemo and couldn't find any cancer anywhere, two weeks later it hit like Thor's hammer. she went a couple more weeks and I held her as the vet injected her.

Had a dobie that would cry going past McD's

They worm their way into your heart then rip it up when they are gone.

Have had to put down several because of problems but the worst was Teddie the mother in laws little dog.

He got took out by a ram 2500 in the driveway in front of our house by the assistant principal.

I felt bad for Ted but i think that the driver was going to need treatment.

The 2 we have now will be the last we have unless the wife brings more home like she did these two.

Mine died just a few days past his twelfth birthday.

Rene, I know the anguish you speak of. My once in a lifetime black lab passed last June, one of my worst days ever in recent history. He is buried up on my north 40, his favorite place up by the swimming pool.

Cookie at 14 is the oldest dog I have ever had.
Anceint Serpent Dog.
Wise.
Can see it in his eyes.

In his prime he was King of this neighborhood.
12 dogs on a common fenceline
All the dogs be outside in their yards.
Cookie come strolling out, walk the fenceline.
Total atmosphere change.
Not violent barking at the fence line but a shift in mannerisms
from care free to we better act right and not bark at him type of things
Kinda funny cause neighbors used ta notice it and have talked about
all the dogs behavior changing when he would walk the fencline.

Now when he goes out all the adjoining fence line dogs bark at him in like a greeting bark.
No defined alpha outta all the adjoining fenceline dogs that I can make out.
Probably be my dog Rico if he wasnt such a fence jumping muldoon and not on a 60 ft tie out.

My dog Rico took over Alpha role about 2 yrs ago over his dad
Blackjack, and Cookie. Not in a physical way, but just presence wise.
Blackjack has always been a Beta.
Everything Rico knows he learned from Cookie.
When Rico,s mom Sweetheart was alive she didnt take crap from any of em .
LOL!!!

I had to put my little Beagle princess down last year. Started down the renal failure path, and the last visit to the vet went from hopeful to “do the right thing as a friend” in the matter of a few minutes. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I hugged her and whispered in her ear while the vet did the deed. Her suffering was over quickly (surprisingly so), but MY pain has diminished at a very slow rate. She would be 12 this July.

My red Heeler was such an awesome friend that he passed away on his own. He was 16. Two of the best friends a person could hope for, and they’ll hold extremely special places in my heart and memory until I’m gone too.

Used to have labs when I was a kid. But then we started traveling to camp almost every weekend and it was hard to take the dogs every where. Not much has changed so we dont have any.

I could shoot the neighbors dog some days...misplaced anger though. The dog isnt used to being inside alone and bawls for almost 4 hours when the owner leaves for work.

Good to hear your parts are functioning. We lost our dog Shammy of 10 years last fall to cancer. She was a very empathetic and loving dog that we miss greatly. We are picking up our new wirehaired pointing griffon we're naming Macy on March 4th.

I love Rhodesian ridgebacks. My friend in South Africa had an awesome ridgeback named Zanu. I've never seen dogs that can jump as high as a ridgeback. They are smart, athletic, and have great personalities. My kids have bad allergies or we would own a ridgeback.

Bb

By the way, prednisone really helped Shammy some towards the end. I was on it for my spondylitis and just started giving her some too. It bought her some better days.

Bb

I have a feeling that a griff might be your new favorite breed....

.

And rooms, pickups, sometimes whole levels of the house. Raw meat will do that!

Best of luck with your dog, Ren.

Can abide an annoying hound, far more than I can an annoying human.

Had a beagle that topped 15 before her time ran out, On lab number three here, none have quite made it to 13. At my age, most likely one more period of grief to get through, before I keel over? She's a little devil, but makes us laugh every day.

Ain't much else in life, that can match the love and loyalty of a dog.

Jump to 1:30.

That's its best use in dogs, i.e., buying them better days near the end.

Oldest dog I've had was the Chihuahua we got when I was three. She made it past her eighteenth birthday. I was 21 when she needed to be put down due to complete loss of hind leg function.

I had a wonderful dog named Cookie. I miss her so much.

Thats the condition I found googling yesterday I need ta talk to the vet about tommorow . Spondylitis.
Really suspect it is that from the conditions it described.

An old one, but a good one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byA3JAdqPQk

Where did I put that box of tissues?

I don't know if there are dogs in Heaven, but it would be a very poor place without them.

Neither of them would approve of protracted grieving. They'd want you to move forward.

If it is spondylitis it is extremely painful. It makes a bad gout flare seem like a cakewalk. My dog could tell when I was about to have a bad flare. She would come up and start trying to lick one of my legs. When it was bad she'd whimper and try to be right by me.

I didn't realize how helpful she was until she was gone. She's the one that helped others see I wasn't kidding when I said I was in a lot of pain. Before I was diagnosed I felt like the dog was the only one who believed how bad it hurt.

She did pretty well on my prednisone until the last week. I think the tumors started blocking her stomach. I couldn't handle watching her be up all night throwing up white foam. I started giving her steroid injections when she couldn't hold the pills down. When the vet said her stomach was blocked I had to call it.

Bb

Best post of the day. Got me to thinking about dogs no longer with me, although I have plenty of pics here and at hunting camp, of all of them. Screen saver is of the big black lab that I miss the most, stretched out asleep on the cabin sofa. Paws under chin, up on the sofa arm. 28" at the shoulder in his prime, 135lbs of solid muscle. Most laid back lab we've ever had and a true companion.

Biggest lap dog we've ever had, although she denied him her lap when he hit 100lbs, so he'd paw at her leg and whimper to be let on her lap..Failing that, he'd just jump up on mine, or my son's lap.



Hardest dog I've ever had to say goodbye to. Took his last sleep at the vet's, me sitting on floor, dog in lap.

he was up in years, but commie dog food killed the last family dog we had, 2005 or 6

been dogless since petey, my dad still has one beagle and a wiener dog mix, the fox more than enough to deal with.

Amen to that👍.

People love their dogs!!

All I know, is if you lock your dog and your wife in the trunk of your car, and come back 3 hours later, only one of them is going to be happy to see you! I've always had dogs, they're great! It is super tough when they go, they certainly become one of the family. Our old girl, Molly, just turned 11 and she's slowing down but still a joy to have around.

I'm with my dad's dog all day at work or with our two little couch hounds here at home. Literally around dogs 24/7/365.


This morning Whitey ended up riding with me for a couple hours in the ol' 4450 while we fed the hay chopper.






I think this was last week. He hates looking directly into the camera...

Ours just turned 14 on Jan 15th. Had a pancreatitis scare a couple weeks ago that is now under control with a prescription diet. She is family and it’s going to be really hard to let her go when it’s her time. She’s our once in a lifetime dog and I think it will be a long time before we have another, if ever. It’s pretty clear to me that our creator had the connection/communication/companionship between humans and dogs in mind when he created them. I don’t think it exists on the same level with any other creature. There are only a few people in the world I’d rather hang with than my pup.

I have had dogs all my life.I loved all of them.I have two right now that get pissed if I don`t give them ice cream when I am eating some.I have a whole shelf of Doggies ashes in containers that will get scattered with me when I croak.I will get some more older dogs when these guys go cause I just could not live without a 4 legged buddy.Huntz

My Dad just had his old dog put down two weeks ago. Sadly, he says it will be his last one. He butchered his last two home-raised beef steers this past fall.

My Dad is 88. He's never been without a dog companion since his youngest days as a kid on a poor dirt farm. This is also the first time that he has been without raising a farm animal of some type since he started with ducks at age 5.

I can kinda tell--it won't be long that I'll be without a Dad for the first time in my life too.

Sad story.

Yep

My grandfather with one of his Black and Tans.

Cool pic

Spell God backwards and there you have it!

Hahaha. Great.

There are good dogs and really great dogs, good dogs ain't hard to find, great dogs are a gift from God, but they all leave a mark.

Tarna, the little heeler mutt in my avatar was such a gift, you watch 'em get older and dread each passing year.

The thing is, in that photo, she quickly figured out on her own that when you pointed a phone at her you wanted her to pose, so there she is.

I'm going the ashes route with her too.

Hound breeds been around a loooooooooooooong time.
They seem to really enjoy people. Almost to an extreme, which aint a bad thing.

Guys like him are why there is a hell... As for you, glad to hear that your Cookie is doing better, I've sure had sleepless nights with sick, old dogs before, some that didn't bring good news with the dawn either, but that's how it goes and if we're honest with ourselves, we know that going into the deal, so to speak. I won't be soon in forgetting the Saturday night, Sunday morning spent on the den floor with my dying Collie boy, Milo. He had been deaf for a year or two, but suffered some kind of stroke that day that had struck him blind as well. He seemed so scared, I just stayed there with him through the hours, petting him, or at least touching his head or his paws, so he would know he was not alone.
Thanks for sharing the Greek history, I don't recall being aware of their care for their pets, that's really cool.
Going to hit Post Reply and go pay attention to my much younger Collie boy, Brody, who seems to think all of my day should be spent playing tug rope with him, while he "accidentally" misses the rope and clamps down on my hand. I presume he just doesn't know how long his snout is, and so he just "mis-judges" the distance... yeah... that's it...

Go get him a new dog, when he objects tell him you'll be honored take care of it when he's gone. It'll make him live longer.

My middle daughter has a full size rough furred collie named Tucker and a border collie named Hope.
Both good dogs.

They came for christmas.

Gawd what a houseful.......

Oldest daughters Red Bone coon hound Brady
My 3
Cookie
Rico
Black Jack

Middle daughter
Tucker
Hope.

6 dogs

And they all know each other and Hope was the new dog on the block.
Her Border collie nature kinda worked for her and against her at times till she settled in after a few a days.
She was kinda overwhelmed at 1st.

They sure do, marks that cut deep.

I've had to put a few down. Hurts bad. Dogs give us all they have all the time. What a gift they are. I feel for those of you who are dealing with an old friends last days. Dreadful.

A good friend had to put his dog down. Buried the dog on his property. I asked him how deep (coyotes abound in his area), he said " dug till my boots dried out". I said "real deep?" He replied "yes".