RIP

Today we had to make the decision that all pet owners have to face and let our beloved dog, Junior, go.  He was 13 and until the last few months....full of spunk and spit fire. 

I remember telling my mom all about him after my first trip here.  Shawn warned me that if he had thumbs, he would be dangerous.  His favorite way to greeting you was to stand up and box with you.....he would get his front paws going so fast that I knew instantly what Shawn meant, if he had thumbs, he would grab on and game over. 

He only had one eye because he had an unfortunate confrontation with a porcupine when he was a year old.  It gave him character and never slowed him down.  He knew exactly what was going on, when and didn't miss anything.  From what I hear, Junior was the winner in that battle, I would hate to see what the porcupine looked like!

He loved to run with me.  That's when I knew he wasn't doing so hot.  Instead of being way ahead of me, tracking birds from one side of the road to the other (I swear, for every 1 mile I ran he would track out 3), he would stay right with me.  Then he was falling behind.  Then he couldn't keep up for 3 miles and he would lay down in the middle of the road to take a break.  Eventually, I had to start leaving him home.  At first, he howled but then he just got used to it.  I would open the door and while Husker the crazy 3 year old cow dog would be bouncing around like an idiot, Junior would simply walk into the house and curl up on the porch.  He knew.

My favorite memory of him though was the night before we got married.  We stayed at our house and while Shawn was partying like a red-neck rock star at the bar in town for his bachelor party, I was home having panic attacks about the wedding.  I don't know why...I was really calm and chill through the whole planning process but that night, it hit me.  Junior was right there and while I flipped out and cried like a baby, he jumped into bed, curled up next to me stayed there till Shawn got home.  He was my rock that night and I will never forget that. 

He was a ranch running, bird hunting, bachelor raised, kick ass dog.  He loved to rough house, he didn't know how to play gently and he could, would and HAS whipped the SHIT out of any critter who came onto his land he didn't want there.  He was scruffy but brushing him out and making him look civilized (as I called it) was worthless.  The only thing he loved more then running and chasing stuff was getting wet and dirty.  Forget drinking from the edge of the tank....he would just dive in. 

He was Shawn's buddy from the start.....I can pretend that he was my dog but he wasn't....I came along into that duo way to late.  I joke that he loved me more because I didn't make him sleep in the dog house when it was cold outside....to bad for me, he preferred to be outside instead.  Its hard to chase stuff when you locked in.  He raised him, trained him, had his mom and dad both for awhile.  This is hard on him.  Hard on all of us. 

I called the vet and scheduled his appointment for this afternoon.  I love where we live, the vet is stopping by here so we don't have to take him into town and bring him home.  Just take him to his spot and it will be taken care of there.  Very peaceful...which is all I ever want for my dogs.  They are my 4 legged kiddos and its hard to say goodbye, but its necessary.  I would rather have them and love them so much it hurts to let them go, then never have them at all.

Rest in Peace to our One-Eyes Bird Dog 
You will be missed.