Goodbye Rudy

Today was a very, very hard day for Carman and I. This morning we put our dog Rudy to sleep. Several years ago now she was diagnosed with Wobblers disease. - she was dragging her front paws to the point of bleeding and falling down the stairs. With chiropractor care we were able to manage her symptoms very well, but even that was no longer working. Over the past couple days she was loosing bowel control and no longer wanted to go down the stairs or get-up for her daily walks - she was loosing her zest for life.

Rudy came to us when she was only 8 weeks old with a Shriner's hat on (her ears were taped-up to a foam cup). She won over our hearts right away. As she grew, so did her personality. She loved to jump over fallen trees, roller-blade and run with our bike, peanut butter, sleeping on the bed when we went camping, sun tanning, sneaking food off the counter, giving kisses, barking at the mailman, but most of all she loved to be petted constantly.

We have met many people becuse of Rudy, and some have become lifelong friends. Rudy was also there to be sense of comfort over the past year for both Carman and I as we battled cancer. There were many days when she would just lay beside me a cuddle while I cried. And there were also days she was the best physical trainer and got me out walking even when it was the last thing I wanted to do - and I always felt better for it.

Some people are blessed with children of the human kind. Our baby had four legs, and we called her Rudy.