Dogs – So Hard to Say Goodbye

Today is a rough day. My old Springer, Shasta, has come to the end of a long journey. She has been dealing with a failing liver, and an inoperable nerve sheath tumor on her left front leg.

From the time she was a puppy, she has been my companion on fishing trips, camping trips, several photography excursions, and several bird hunting trips. She was a great bird dog in her prime. She has loved unconditionally for the past 13 1/2 years.

I took her to the vet yesterday (Mon) afternoon. They told me her liver was getting worse, and, judging from the size of the tumor on her leg, it would most likely burst open soon. I took her home, and enjoyed the evening with her. My wife and I spoiling her and loving on her all evening.

This morning she got up and came with me to the radio station. As she was walking down the hallway to the Wow 104.3 Studio - it happened. The tumor just broke open and she started to bleed. I scrambled to get it cleaned up and bandaged up the best I could. As I'm writing this, she is resting on the floor of the Wow Studios.

If I sounded distracted and out of sorts on the air this morning, now you know why. It's been a rough 4 hours knowing that I must say goodbye very soon to those loving eyes. I knew this day was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier.

All dogs go to heaven, right? I hope I do too, because I will look forward to seeing her again and crossing over with her by my side again....

Dogs...why do we love them so? They're just dogs...right? Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go cry like a baby....

Rich