Priceless
 

My golden will soon be 14 years old. He is one of the sweetest dogs you have ever seen. We also have a black cocker and two cats.

Anyway, when the cat pictured came to live with us he was only 5 weeks old. The first night in our house he snuggled up with the golden and they have been buddies ever since.

This was taken a few days ago. You can tell my golden is getting old, his face is almost all white.

Lucas

Dock,

Being the animal lover that I am, that is awesome!
I have a black lab that is 14 also. She is all gray
around her muzzle and on her paws. Has arthritis
in her back hips pretty bad but still gets around.
It will be devastating the day that she passes on.

Jeff

I know how you feel Jeff. They become members of the family.

We have had Lucas on arthritis medication for a few years now. He gets one pill each morning and it really helps him to get around.

May want to check with your vet.

I had a wonderful golden named Bear that I had for just over 8 wonderful years. He got bone cancer in one of his front legs and I eventually had to put him asleep. I couldn't stand seeing him in pain and taking off one of his front legs was really not an option because with large dogs the cancer usually spreads easy anyway. Next to loosing my father that had to be one of the hardest things I ever went through.

I don't know where I heard this but there is an old N.A. Indian proverb that goes something like this.

As god created the earth he put all man on one area and all the other animals in another. To show the seperation that should exist between man and animals the earth started to split between the two groups. Just at the last second before the gap became too wide, the dog jumped across the gap and stood next to man.

Dock: I had a good laugh when I seen the tennis ball lying behind your Golden. My Golden was soooo ball crazy it sometimes drove you nuts! Right up to the day we put him asleep he would still carry a tennis ball around if he could find one. Tennis balls were also his favorite.

Highmark,

Nice to hear from you. Thanks for sharing the Indian Proverb. I have never heard that before, but can believe it to be true.

Sorry to hear about your golden. It is tough to loose one.

You are so right about the tennis ball. He has never passed a ball, stick, towel, etc that he did not pick up and throw his head up in the air as to say you are mine. Also he has never passed a lake, pond or puddle that he has not got into. Man they love the water. If it is raining he will go outside and stand in it!

There is one thing about him that no one has noticed!

You are the closest so far with your story.

I'm waiting for someone to notice!

Mark

One front leg?

You got it!

He injured the left front leg at about eight months old. We did everything possible to try and save it. After about six months of him dragging it around, the vet convienced us to remove it. He told me the dog would never mis it. He was like a new dog when it came off. He could move around so much easier.

The vet calls him "Tripod".

He has done wonderful. He runs, climbs stairs, shakes hands, swims, you name it.

It is funny to see the expression on peoples faces when they notice he only has three legs!

There was a television program on a couple of years ago about unbelievable things and they had a golden that was missing one front leg and the opposite rear leg. It maintained it's balance by spinning it's tail.

Take care and give us an update on the 33 Outlaw.

Wish we were on the water, but the weather is terrible here this weekend. Really bad thunderstorms.

Our golden was born Feb 14, 84 and died Feb 13, 1997. He was a great dog.

I have a three legged dog too. His name is Bandit. I got him when he was four weeks old. He is a pitbull/cur mix. At three months old, we were out front loading the truck when he ran out in front of a car and got run over. I thought he was dead, but I pulled him from under the car and his leg was hanging by the skin only. Luckily one of the guys that works for me was with me and I held Bandit while we rushed him to the vet. I was such a mess I couldn't even tell them my name. I didn't know what to do, save him or put him to sleep. Luckily the vet told me that dogs don't mind being three legged. There is no stigma in the dog world for being handicapped. He came home the next day, and looked good. That evening I had to do a night job and was just leaving to go when he started gagging, then just fell out. He quit breathing and his bowels and bladder let go. I grabbed him held his mouth shut and started blowing in his nose. After a couple minutes, I saw his eyes open, but he still didn't move. He laid there for about a half an hour, then got up and went under the bed. I had to go to work, so I left him. I was so afraid that I'd come home to find him dead, but he was fine from then on. Still to this day, if he starts gagging or wheezing, I freak out and stay very near him. I am SO glad that the vet told me to save him. I love this dog more than damn near anything in the world.:D


In this picture, he brought in a piece of wood, and he wants me to try to take it from him. He never let's me have it, but if I ignore him, he'll lay it on me and let me try to grab it!:)

After Bandit lost his leg, he seemed a bit depressed. I knew where one of his brothers was, and they wanted to give him away, so I brought him home to keep him company. Then I bought Debbie a Lab (before she lived with me), then she moved in, so now I have three big dogs sleeping in the bed with us.:(

Cuda,

That is an awesome story.

Glad to see Bandit and the rest of the gang are doing well:D

I thought there was something up with that leg Doc!!!!

Man.......talk about tennis ball addictions. I had a yellow lab that was just addicited to the tennis ball. For 13 years he carried an old ragged tennis ball in his mouth. If he could not find a full ball, he would find a part of one that was hit my the lawn mower or something....!! What a riot, this 80 lbs lab walking around with a 1/4 skinned tennis ball stiking our one side of his mouth. Even when he got arthritis he still loved that ball. And water. We finallly bought a little plastic swiming pool for him to lay in when he was 2 or 3. This happened about 3-4 times a day. What a clown...just hilarious! He liked chipmonks and rabbits also....HeHehe...not sure how he caught those damn things.

We put him to sleep about a year ago. He was 13. He was the best animal on the planet. I miss him everyday, I really do. His best buddy, a Chocolate mix lab was put to sleep about 5 months before he was. Coty (the yellow that loved tennis balls) never was the same after his buddy "Boss" (the other labmix) was put to sleep. He was 13 also. Liver cancer. Coty just seemed really lonely and his arthritis was getting worse and so was his hearing and sight. I think that made it easier to say goodbye. I just hated to see him suffer. Those last few months he was just not the same. It was really sad.

He wagged his tail no matter what. Even when I yelled at him, I would start to laugh because he would wag his tail the whole time. What a character. When we put him too sleep, he was laying on the floor at the vet, basically lifeless. His kidneys were shutting down, he could barely breathe he could not raise his head, he was shaking really bad, he was discharging out his nose, his eyes were closed.....it was tough. But, everytime the door would open and someone would walk in the room, his tale would slap the floor!!!! Ahhhhh, much needed comic relief!

I pet him and putmy arm around him and comforted him as the vet injected him to put him down. Man..........one of the saddest things I have done. I'm just glad he did not go alone, glad I was there. I was not there when we put Boss under.

Just wonderful dogs. I look forward to getting another one someday.

Thanks for the pics guys, wish I had some to share. I'll scan some and put them up when I can.

Later....Allan...(man, now I am all nostalgic about my boys!!):( :( :D :D ;)

"They don't call them Man's Best Friend for Nothing"

Nice to see there are so many dog lovers on here.

That's funny about the plastic swimming pool. We did the same thing when Lucas was young. Now I'm wondering if he would enjoy having one again?

Thanks guys

Great stories, everyone! Dogs sure know how to make you all choked up, if you know what I mean.

Both of my dogs are Tennis Ball Freaks. :)

This is Bailey...He's a ham for the camera :D

Hey, you gonna get this ball or what?? :)

This is "Saty"

Bailey loves to dig for stuff in the pool...Here he is hard at work!

Did I mention he can sing Karoke, too? :D

Here's Saty again, giving the ball a stare down! :)

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D :D :D

Great shots.

I don't think I could keep Lucas out of that pool.

You and Chris have a house full also!

This picture is our cocker named Angus. He will be two years old in July. However this picture was taken pretty young before his first haircut. The wife had him punked out!:D

Here is my baby girl....well she is not a baby any more. Cheyenne is an 11 year old Border Collie/Red Heeler mix. She is my world.

Great pics! Love 'em! :)