Our sweet Jake....

This past Tuesday, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Jake dog. He suddenly became ill and when we took him to the vet we found out that he had cancer in his spleen. A tumor had burst and he was bleeding inside. From what I have read, even dogs who could sucessfully recover from a splenectomy still only survive less than 6 months. In the end we decided that it wouldn't be fair to put thim through all of that stress if the end result would be the same.

I had no idea I was so attached to the big, hairy old guy. Saying goodbye to him was so hard and I felt like the grim reaper. It was awful to say the least. Andrew and I got to spend some alone time with him before he was put down. We talked to him, pet him and cried on him. We fed him treats and he snorted like he always did. He was truly the best dog in the world. There will never, ever be another like him.

To make it even harder, Logan dosen't really comprehend what has happened. We talked about how Jake was sick and he was hurting and that Mommy and Daddy took him to the vets, but he couldn't be fixed. We used the term "passed away" instead of "dead" as it sounded a little less scary. We read the book Dog Heaven and so far this has been an acceptable explanation for him. He does talk about Jake quite a bit still and says that he misses him. When we were picking up his dishes and things, Logan wanted to know if we could take them to "Kevin" (Heaven) so Jake could use them there.

So we've been taking it day by day. The house feels empty and I often am reminded of him. Places he used to lay, sounds he used to make. Jake, wherever you are, I hope there's lots of bacon treats and big soft beds to sleep on... We miss you, buddy!