teeth and pumpkins

goodbye buster

our sweet buster boy left us yesterday. the last 10 days he was not himself, obviously not feeling well. he stopped eating on tuesday, and wasn't able to get up the stairs into the house. he no longer hopped up on the couch for a nap, and did not seem aware when we were in the room. when i found some black tarry poop in the yard, my heart sank, knowing that his end was coming.

our vet was wonderful and she helped me make the hardest decision a pet owner has to make, to let him go gently and without pain. at sixteen and a half , he lived a good long life for a golden retriever.

he came into our lives a year and a half ago. advertsised as a 14 year old who looked and acted like an eight year old, he turned 15 within a month of coming to us! he really seemed more like a 10 year old than a 15 year old. his grey face was very dignified and his eyes all knowing.

this senior sweetie was a great addition to our family. he was gentle with the kids, knew his manners and had only a few bad habits. he had a lot of funny quirks - like eating our garden goodies- cucumbers, tomato's and apples off our trees. when he was excited he chased his tail which always made me laugh. he patiently allowed the girls to brush him, although i did draw the line at barrettes for his hair. he was an easy traveler and accompanied us to the mtn house, the beach and other adventures. even my mom, who is not a dog person, enjoyed buster.

we will miss his presence. good bye sweet boy.

mikes lifestory

our local newspaper, the oregonian , does a weekly lifestory on someone who has recently died. this week the story is on mike.
check it out:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/lifestories/2009/10/life_story_mike_sievers.html