Man's Best Friend

There's a reason they call them "Man's Best Friend". Our dog, Gabe, a beautiful Golden Retriever died last Friday, June 6th. He was born 8/1/97 and we had him since he was six weeks old. He was always a great dog. I got him as a gift for my wife's 40th birthday but he soon became my dog. He was overjoyed every time I came home from work. He was beside himself when we would get ready to go to the cottage. Somehow He knew it was time to go up north and would start to get excited Friday afternoon even though we hadn't even started getting ready. As most dogs do, he loved to walk so we would take him out as often as we could. He was a big dog, over 100 lbs, but was great in the house except for the tail knocking things off of end tables occasionally. He slept by our bed every night until he got older and couldn't get up and down the stairs. He loved pizza crust and popcorn. He must have hated us going on a diet because the goodies dried up. He slowed down quite bit as he got older. Lately he just layed around a lot but still enjoyed going into the front yard with us. He would lay in the yard and watch people go by as we sat on the porch. Our 1 year old grandson could crawl all over him without us worrying. Gabe just moved out of his way if it got to be too much.

Even though Gabe had slowed down the past year his death took me by surprise. I got up early to go to work Friday and he was laying in the dining room. I would normally let him outside but it was early so I just let him lay there. My wife told me she couldn't get him to go out and his breathing seemed to be labored. He had seemed to be OK Thursday night. When I got home for lunch he still hadn't been outside so I helped him up but he was unsteady. He went out but he was so weak he just layed down in the grass. His breathing was even more labored. It was hot and humid so I got him back in the air conditioning and called the vet. The soonest they could get us in was 2:15 so I went back to work. I came home again just before 2:00. I tried to help him up but he was completely listless. Just a few minutes later he took his last breath while my wife and I stood by. We loved Gabe and I believe he loved us. He was raised with our family and never knew anything else. I'll miss my old buddy.