This is dedicated to Duffy.
1992?-November 20, 2007
For the most special dog. You changed our lives forever!
There are really no words I can use to describe the impact you had on our lives.
You were a kind and sensitive soul who had a rough start to life, but didn't let that change your spirit.
Thank you for always being there for us.
Thank you for being our strength and our friend when no one else was there.
You shared our joy and you made our pain easier to bear.
You are our angel now.
I pray that you are happy and comfortable.
I hope there are lots of squirrels for you to chase and no thunder to frighten you.
Always remember that we love you and you will be in our hearts forever.
You are missed sweet boy
The story starts in July of 1994. We had just moved into our home one month earlier and one sunny Saturday we took a ride to the Orphans of the Storm animal shelter.
After looking over all the dogs, we asked about a mixed breed that had caught our eye. We were told that he had just been adopted, so we looked again. We inquired about a black lab. This time we were told that the lab could only be adopted along with his kennel mate. Unfortunately, at that time we couldn't afford two dogs, so we kept looking. Finally, we asked about a very skinny german shephard/black lab mix that our seven year old son had taken a liking to. He was available so we started the adoption process. He had been a resident at the shelter for three months. Prior to that he had been a stray. Later that day, we found ourselves struggling to put a very frightened Duffy in the back seat of our car.
The first year after we brought Duffy into our family was difficult. He had some physical problems and a whole lot of mental issues we had to deal with. It was quite a challenge, but he slowly overcame his problems and became the closest thing to a perfect dog that we had ever seen. He was loyal, loving, and extremely intelligent. The one thing he had the most problem with was separation anxiety. In his fourteen years with us, he never spent the night away. Even when we went on vacation we did dog friendly things and stayed in a hotel that allowed him to sleep in our room . He didn't act his age even at the end when we knew he had to be at least fifteen years old.
We knew our time together was short when Sunday, November 18, 2007, he woke from a nap and he couldn't stand or walk. He slowly struggled until he was able to walk around shakily. We watched and cared for him for the next day, but it was obvious he was in great pain. On Tuesday November 20, 2007, we made the horribly difficult decision to have him put to sleep.
That night was the first night in over fourteen years that we didn't have him with us.
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