Goodbye Dusty

I am so sad right now. My parents had to put down our puppy today. I cannot believe he is no longer here. I was perusing my photos to see what pictures I had of him to show off to everyone and I am heartbroken that I do not have more than two photos. If any of you have ever had a dog or a pet of your own that has passed away then you know exactly how I feel.

He really was another member of the family. As you can see he was not a puppy either, that was a nickname that never seemed to leave him even as he grew up. He was a wonderful dog.

He would growl and yip whenever my parents hugged or kissed. He was crazy jealous of my dad. :)
He would get really excited when he was younger and would run around the lawn as fast as he could, chunks of grass flipping up under his paws as he cruised.
He would fly around the house ecstatically barking whenever we pulled the leash out of the garage for a walk.
He would get snacks from my Mother, usually leftover food, and would bury it in the garden. We could all tell because the tip of his nose was brushed brown.
He was scared of raccoons and not very intimidating to cats. But he sure tried to be. :)
He loved my Mother, during the last years of his life, he would follow her around the house. He would lie at her feet under the computer desk. He would nuzzle his head onto her lap. He loved my Mom the most.
He protected me from the crazy neighbor that brought a gun to our house. The man was going to shoot him, but Dusty wouldn't let him get any closer to the house or to me.

He was my perfect puppy. 

Toward the end of his life he began to slowly dwindle. I was not even around him much, but when I came home to visit I was devastated at how much he had changed.

My bright, excited, cute, friendly dog was gone. And in his place was a blind, deaf, diabetic and arthritic dog.

When I say he is gone, when I actually hear myself say it, I cannot control myself. You'd think with everything else going on in my life that I would have run out of tears by now. Nope! They still stream from my eyes as if I have never cried before.

At least he went peacefully. He had my Mother right by his side, his little head resting on her lap. He didn't feel a thing. He just closed his eyes for the last time on this earth.

 I am so sad right now.

My Mother sent me some more pictures. I had to share them.

Proof Dusty loved my Mom most! Yes he was fat- but Oh so happy!

Must have been my Dad's birthday. We always joked about Dusty being born on April Fools Day and my Dad's birthday was in April- so we also joked that they were born on the same day.

And yes- this is a VERY old picture of all of us with Dusty. I'm going to guess that I am about 11, Melissa 9, Nathan 6 and Daniel 4. But that's just a guess. That would leave Dusty at about 3 or 4.