HRH Di
New member
The day we closed on our very first house, we went to the animal shelter to pick out a dog. We found a lovely black "lab" with the softest brown eyes we'd ever seen. It was love. She was skinny and a little shy, but knew that we welcomed her into our family with open hearts. We took her to the vet for her first check up and he confirmed our suspicion that she was a Labrador/Chow Chow mix and estimated that she was about 4 years old - although the shelter said 2.
That was 10 1/2 years ago.
In that time, she has guarded our home, loved our children, stolen leftovers, unzipped suitcases, eaten 2 lbs of Cadbury chocolate (the good stuff from the UK) and made a permanent place in our hearts. She has accepted - more or less - all of the other pets we'be brought into our home and ruled over them like the benevolent matriarch that she is. I have no doubt that she'd give her life for any one of ours without hesitation.
Over the past year she's really begun to slow down, and last fall, we found out that she probably has breast cancer. Given her age of 12-14 years old, the vet didn't recommend treatment since she may not survive it. But that she'd let us know when it was "time".
I'm afraid that she's beginning to feel that the end is close. She's having difficulty breathing - which could mean respitory problems or that she's in pain. This morning, she sneaked out the door as we were leaving for work and trotted across the street into our neighbor's yard - she's never done that. We had to "chase" her down.
My husband and I are a little afraid to take her to the vet again, because we really don't want to hear the kind of news we're pretty sure to get. My heart is breaking just a bit this morning.
Anyway, here's a picture of our Shelby. It's about 3 years old.
That was 10 1/2 years ago.
In that time, she has guarded our home, loved our children, stolen leftovers, unzipped suitcases, eaten 2 lbs of Cadbury chocolate (the good stuff from the UK) and made a permanent place in our hearts. She has accepted - more or less - all of the other pets we'be brought into our home and ruled over them like the benevolent matriarch that she is. I have no doubt that she'd give her life for any one of ours without hesitation.
Over the past year she's really begun to slow down, and last fall, we found out that she probably has breast cancer. Given her age of 12-14 years old, the vet didn't recommend treatment since she may not survive it. But that she'd let us know when it was "time".
I'm afraid that she's beginning to feel that the end is close. She's having difficulty breathing - which could mean respitory problems or that she's in pain. This morning, she sneaked out the door as we were leaving for work and trotted across the street into our neighbor's yard - she's never done that. We had to "chase" her down.
My husband and I are a little afraid to take her to the vet again, because we really don't want to hear the kind of news we're pretty sure to get. My heart is breaking just a bit this morning.
Anyway, here's a picture of our Shelby. It's about 3 years old.