(this is a picture of Bo and Hunter when Bo was probably 6 months old and Hunter was 4 or 5 years old)
13 years ago this last June, Kraig and I got a puppy together. Our first real gift for each other as it was our 6 month anniversary gift. He was the cutest little 8 week old black lab you had ever seen! I used to massage his legs and he would just lay there like "man this feels great thanks mom!" Well, yesterday our 13 year old furry boy Hunter went to doggie Heaven. He would have been 14 years old in April, but had gotten to the point where he was not himself. Even though he would still play with his son Bo to show him "hey, even though I'm your dad I can still have fun for an old man" he was blind and had started not being as active, not eating, etc. He had lost 9 pounds over the last year and was down to 63 pounds yesterday. I took him to our long time vet Dr Mayfield's office (where I worked in high school and is now St Francis Animal Hospital because Dr Mayfield retired last year) and got to hold and pet him while he went to sleep. The vet Kate Williams DVM was so wonderful and made me feel better about the situation. It was his time. They came out to the car and carried him inside for me and even kept saying how handsome he was which made me feel good (even though he looked pretty bad from being outside without a bath, etc). We talked about how Hunter used to run free in my parents field and how he would then jump in the cows water tank to swim and cool off. :-) My 13 year old furry baby Hunter had a great life and is now running free again in Heaven.
I think being raised in house full of girls I always took over the tomboy role so that my dad would have someone who could be tough and could handle anything like he could...but I have to say, driving home yesterday knowing what was coming next I bawled like a baby and cried in the vets office. There was however a sense of relief after the fact just because I knew he would not be suffering this winter with arthritis, the cold weather, etc. My dad had a nice burial site at his house ready for me so I took Hunter out to the place where his life with us started so his life had come full circle. He is now laying peacefully close to his old playmates Suzie and Toby and is probably running around like crazy and swimming in the prettiest water you and I will ever see!
I realize to some people this might be a bit much because your are thinking "it's a dog" but he was our first baby until we had Lauren so it was a big deal. I didn't realize how big of a deal it was until yesterday when it was time to put him down. Now we have to somehow tell Lauren that he is in Heaven in a way that she understands it and is ok with it.
We love you Hunter!
