a tragic 24 hours ... not all labs but all worthy of good thoughts

[brody]

in the past 24 hours 4 dogs I love (well 3 I knew well enough to love, 1 I love her human) have died

2 were lab mixes - the one I knew least was the much loved 14 year old dog that lived with one of the staff at work
My coworker's husband was back from his tour in Afghanistan and their daughter is being married tomorrow - the dear dog was sick early in the week and the Dr diagnosed bronchitis and put her on meds - but somehow the meds didn't really help ... she died at home at night

Snowflake was a little rescue I placed 12 years ago - a shaking golden lab mix (but too small) she was so badly abused she quaked if you put anything around her neck - she had been dragged, beaten and was a real head case.. I was able to stay in touch with Snowflake and her family over the 12 years and she never forgot me - a real honour to have been part of loving and helping someone so special

Kelvin was a sheltie agility buddy of mine - at the age of 5 he died of cancer .. suddenly and tragically

Killian was a very very special inspiration to me.. he was a large German Shepherd who was steady and reliable and gave Brody and I hope when we started - we ran with them in our first regionals and nationals competitions and his mom has always been very generous with her support and advice (including snookers courses!)

it's been a sad time for many people ..
my heart is wondering how much more it has to take

[Di]

:'( :'( What a sad time for you all! RIP all you sweet pup's!!

[Tundra Aries]

:'( :'( RIP all you sweet pup's!

[brody]

:surprise: hard to believe but another one is gone

8 years ago (and it feels like yesterday) I was involved in what was at the time our provinces biggest puppy mill bust

I groomed and loved hundreds of sad little dogs in a two week time period ( I took holidays to do it and worked 10 + hour days) and fell head over heels in love with many of them ...

Each shelter within the SPCA brought dogs to adopt and the shelter I worked most was nice enough to ask me for input on which four dogs to pick first. I picked 4 I particularly bonded to - including two american eskimos - My best friend in the world was looking for a dog and liked eskies so I had high hopes I could get her to adopt the younger dog I brought down.

She drove in from a burb of my city and met both eskies.. and fell for both them ... she adopted BOTH of them and loved them with all their quirks for 8 years... Joy died this weekend.

She really was a JOY ... she was able to get past most of her mill issues and loved her family deeply (including a pretty "special" son) and I know my friend and her family is devasted ..

my heart continues to ache...