Remington is now free to swim all day long (his most favorite pastime of all). Two weeks ago, on the day we were to leave for vacation to the lake, we had to make an emergency trip to the vet’s office. Several advised us that the time had come to let him go. He had been dealing with the rapid development of brain cancer and tumor growth. I felt the urgency and importance that he needed one last "Lake Trip", even if it meant he would only get to swim once.... I was certain that it would be well worth the effort. He was given a unit of fluid to his dehydrated body and off we went.
As we turned the last sharp corner to our familiar vacation spot, he got up and started getting excited about where he was at...he knew he was going swimming!!! What a treat to see him excited to be there! As weak as he was, if the other dogs were in the water, he let us all know that he wanted to be in there enjoying the fun with his weak little bark. The first few days of swimming, one of his back legs was used mainly as a ruder. The last day, I noticed that he was using both legs to swim! One day, he even took off swimming after a flock of Canadian Geese. He was about determined that he was going to catch them all too before coming back!! All these pictures were taken at the lake...you can tell how happy he was to be there.
Yesterday we made another visit to the vet. This time I thought his time was over. Yet his vet said she thought he was doing quite well. His appetite was well, was wagging his tail although we had a couple other troublesome issues that couldn't be explained.
Today he woke up paralyzed and couldn't seem to get up. I tried all day to help him get up to go outside. No amount of massage or coaxing seemed to help. Finally I was able to get him out by dragging him, but then couldn't get him back in without help. At 81 pounds, it is no small task. It seems as though something had happened to his back.
This was a terrible and painful decision for me that I'm sure many of you have had to make. But with this new development, I felt it was time. We brought him home and buried him underneath a lilac tree in the back yard.
As we turned the last sharp corner to our familiar vacation spot, he got up and started getting excited about where he was at...he knew he was going swimming!!! What a treat to see him excited to be there! As weak as he was, if the other dogs were in the water, he let us all know that he wanted to be in there enjoying the fun with his weak little bark. The first few days of swimming, one of his back legs was used mainly as a ruder. The last day, I noticed that he was using both legs to swim! One day, he even took off swimming after a flock of Canadian Geese. He was about determined that he was going to catch them all too before coming back!! All these pictures were taken at the lake...you can tell how happy he was to be there.
Yesterday we made another visit to the vet. This time I thought his time was over. Yet his vet said she thought he was doing quite well. His appetite was well, was wagging his tail although we had a couple other troublesome issues that couldn't be explained.
Today he woke up paralyzed and couldn't seem to get up. I tried all day to help him get up to go outside. No amount of massage or coaxing seemed to help. Finally I was able to get him out by dragging him, but then couldn't get him back in without help. At 81 pounds, it is no small task. It seems as though something had happened to his back.
This was a terrible and painful decision for me that I'm sure many of you have had to make. But with this new development, I felt it was time. We brought him home and buried him underneath a lilac tree in the back yard.
