Good-bye Squirt

We had Squirt put to sleep :-( The tumour in her neck didn’t get any smaller on the increased dose of Prednisone, and she was having trouble breathing and couldn’t stand up. We couldn’t let her go on like that, so we made an appointment with the vet at 2:00 on March 1st. Before we brought her to the clinic, we gave her a bunch of meatballs and her favourite doggie treats. And lots of pats & hugs & kisses too. It was extremely sad and heartbreaking, but it was also a relief when she was no longer struggling to breathe and she was at peace. Love you and miss you always, Squirtsy…

Squirt at sunset in Maine, September 2011

Squirt in the surf

It’s been a rough few days here – our Black Lab Squirt was diagnosed with cancer at the end of January, and took a turn for the worse on Wednesday. Up till then, she was happy and comfortable and showed no signs of being in any pain or discomfort. Now, she can’t even stand up :-( I hate seeing her in distress, and I know we’re going to have to make the decision that all pet owners dread in the next day or two.

Back in August 2010, hubby and I took Squirt and Jackson on a trip to Nova Scotia. We went with some flyball friends and all their dogs – there were 20 dogs between us all! We took the dogs to the beach every day and played with them in the ocean. It was an awesome week, and this is how I’m always going to remember Squirt – having the time of her life in the ocean surf. Here are some of my favourite pictures from that week…

Squirt and Jackson… splish-splash!

Squirt getting nailed by a big wave – hehehehehe!

Sticks are fun!

Don’t make me share…

Well then, I’ll just get two of my own…

A couple of big shakes…

…and a roll in the sand…

That was fun!

Cancer might take Squirt away from us, but nothing will take away our love for her and our happy memories of our almost-11 years together.

Give your pet an extra-big hug & kiss today.