10 June, 2007

Ranger Zeus at the Fairy Grove

Yesterday was our dog Zeus' last day on Earth. This morning, after a three month battle with cancer, he was finally allowed to rest and put to sleep. It still hasn't really sunk in. I kept expecting him to be on the couch when we got home. I had a fleeting thought as we pulled up to the house that I needed to get out of the back seat quick and let the dog get out. I knew full well he wasn't there.

I'm not going to let this become a maudlin post. We're all sad, but it's really for the best. He was in too much pain. However, knowing that today was going to be the day, yesterday afternoon we took him to his favourite place in the whole wide world. I took my camera phone, and I'd like to share those pictures with you, as well as some video. I want this to be the way we all remember him. Happy, curious about the world.

He was a bit subdued yesterday. He no longer had any energy, and he was in pain and obviously had trouble breathing, but he managed to run around a couple of times, and Dad even managed to coax him into an old game of theirs, 'Chase Daddy Around the Tree'.



Rob and his girlfriend Megan also came along. I was quite far when I took this picture, so you can barely see Zeus' ass on the left.



He's sniffing... Hmm, maybe this is a good place to take a leak. Or maybe there's a critter by that tree. Anything can happen in the Fairy Grove.



Splash splash splash in the creek! Oh look, a fishy!



Even as sick as he is, still the prettiest.



The entire family came along. I regret not having gotten a picture of Mum, but I was focusing on Zeus, and really, just happened to catch the others when they were around him. I'm glad we went. It was Dad's idea, and a brilliant one at that. We knew today was going to be the day, and what better thing to do than to take him to his favourite place one more time?

Back in September, I uploaded this to my website:



Zeus on the Appalachian Trail (September 2006)


Still the Prettiest. Yup.

I was planning on adding the videos, but YouTube was not cooperating, so I will add those later. I just wanted to post this today so it has the right date on it.

No comments: