Our spectacular dog, Jake, died this morning. Or, more accurately, we had him put to sleep. He had his leg amputated almost a year ago because of osteosarcoma, a really vicious bone cancer for dogs. Even with the amputation his life span was supposed to be three to six months if we were lucky. September 25 would have been one year so we totally lucked out on that account. We noticed at the beginning of the summer that he was panting more so I suspected that his cancer had returned. The doctors had warned us it would probably come back in his lungs or kidneys rather than his bones. He went with us to Colorado for three weeks in July and he seemed to enjoy the mountains and chasing the deer. He LOVED the Arkansas River and would plop down and drink the cold water whenever we took him to it. Once he was home he seemed to age quickly.
Bella and Bunny and I returned for a week to Colorado, leaving Boy and Dad at home with Jake. Jake started throwing up and not eating so Boy took him to the vet. The docs x-rayed him and pronounced his lungs full of cancerous tumors-he had days to live. Every morning I would call home checking the puppy report. He had eaten, or not. He seemed okay. Or tired. I crossed my fingers he would survive until we returned home. I explained to the girls how gravely ill he was. I guess it didn't register because as we left the cabin I asked the girls if we should take his toy chipmunk to him since he would not live to come back to Colorado. Bunny screeched "What?". I explained again. His cancer has returned, he has days to live.
We got home last night about 8pm. Jake seemed happy to see us and in pretty good shape. I heard him try to get up in the middle of the night and then heard him slip, but otherwise he slept well. I, on the other hand, had a splitting headache and did not really sleep until about 5am. At 9am, the daddy came in. "Jake is in the drive. He fell and can't get up." I go outside and he is smiling, such a Golden Retriever! We try to lift him but it is obvious his one "good" back leg is not working. The daddy-o says that he went in for coffee and heard Jake rush the gate as he always does when someone walks by, and then there was a yelp. The walker reports that he was running and just fell over. His back leg has snapped.
I sit with him as dad gets dressed, then he sits with him while I get dressed. I wake the girls. They aren't five anymore, they need to know what is going on. We call Boy who has spent the night away. Jake is loaded into the van and off to the emergency clinic we go. Five crying people and one smiling dog. To the end he did not show any pain, except for brief shudders across his face and then he returned to that Golden smile. He never even winced when we lifted him into the car, even though it must have been painful. He was so happy to have his whole family together petting him! The doctor was kind, the end was peaceful.
Jake is at peace. I am in tears.
