this is goodbye

13 years ago this month, I got Andy a dog for his birthday. He wanted a big dog, and I had my little Yorkie, so I found this dog through a local shelter. She was about a year old with plenty of puppy left in her.

We were amazed at how slowly she aged especially for a big dog, but the last year has brought on a rapid decline in her health. She saw the vet on Friday for routine shots. In preparation for this, we have to give her drugs because the vet makes her nervous and she snaps at him. Andy had to carry her in to the vet and repeat that procedure to get her in the house. For close to 36 hours now, she has been unable to stand on her back legs. We know she is miserable, and we know it is time. She will see the vet either tomorrow morning or Monday morning, and we will say goodbye.
This is one of my favorite things done by Bambi - she crosses her paws.

None of our children can remember life in this family without Bambi, so I took a picture of each of them with her.

Zach is taking it the hardest.

Savannah noted that she is the only person in the family who has had Bambi in her life since she was born.

Bambi has been a good dog with a few bad habits such as:

• tearing up a room if she is confined in it
• she does not like tall men and once ran one out of our house

She is like other dogs in that a good scratch under her collar is like sending her to paradise. She has made me feel safe when Andy has travelled as I am convinced that she would fight to the death for us if she felt we were threatened.

She is not like other dogs in that she has never liked to play tug of war with a sock.

The timing here is difficult as we do have a special wedding tomorrow, but Bambi has had bad days off and on for months now. She has fallen down the stairs several times, and she had one other episode for several hours where she was unable to move. She has slept more than she has been awake for the last few months, so it has been a slow goodbye. It is hard to even imagine what life will be like without this dog, but she has lived a good, long life.


July 12th morning update - she is gone. Andy is gone with her now. I need to calm down and get myself ready for the wedding. It is nice to have something fun to look forward to. I am anxious to see the girls in their princess dresses and the boys in their tuxes. Pictures coming soon....hopefully tonight if I am not too tired.