Saying Goodbye to Dutch

We are mourning the loss of our dog, Dutch.  He lived 13 years, a good, long life for a big dog, and I was around for all but the first 8 weeks of it.  He was an adorable puppy and grew into a very handsome dog.  He was already a mature dog when the girls came along, and he watched over them as they grew. In the last weeks of his life, they watched over and him as he struggled with liver failure and cancer.

About 10 weeks old, and growing fast.

He is laying in a similar spot in this picture,
at 3 months old, and the following picture,
 at 5 years old.  He grew to be a big dog.
Until he got sick a year ago, my goal was to keep
him under 100 pounds.

Elise and Dutch.
He let the girls sit on him until they got too big and heavy.

Elise and Dutch, just using him as a chair.

Dutch keeping an eye on baby Anja.

Like all labs, Dutch loved the water and it was hard to keep him out.

A fairly recent picture, before he started to get very weak.

After Dutch was gone, Elise said, "it feels like something is missing."  Yes, it really, really does.

My Beloved Geriatric Dog

In the past few weeks we have been to the vet several times with Dutch.  He is 12 years old, and is in his "golden years" as the vet put it some time ago.  The last time we made a vet visit was a few days ago, and as they took him back for his second blood draw of the day, I passed the time by examining the pictures and posters on the wall.  One I noticed across the room was a chart showing the physiological age of cats and dogs.  I leaned in to read it and had to hang there a while as I traced the numbers down to "12 Years" then across to poundage.  My heart sank when I realized my beloved dog is in the "Geriatric" range.  Geriatric??  That makes me think decrepit and frail.  But my dear dog is robust and filled with vitality, how can he be geriatric? 

But how I perceive him is not how he really is.  The truth is that my poor dog has slowed down dramatically in the past couple of years.  He walks slowly, has trouble navigating stairs, and stumbles often.  From the results of blood tests we know things we can't see on the outside:  that his liver is starting to give out on him.  The vet has said that at the most we have a few more months to enjoy Dutch.  He's been with me for 12 years.  It is hard to think about life without this big guy.


What a Weekend!

Done with my Masters = more free time =  BRING ON THE FUN!!

Last weekend, after finishing my masters, I was determined to take the girls out and enjoy life a little! 

Saturday

Saturday morning we headed to the farmer's market, where there were a few special things going on, like face painting...


The girls showing their scary poses after getting dragons painted on their faces.

and a visiting tractor...

After that we headed to Alum Springs Park, one of our favorite parks in Fredericksburg.  The girls wanted to hike in the creek and we decided it would be a great opportunity to take Dutch out for some fun.

Dutch loved being in the water.

The young naturalists, trying to capture critters in the water
 (and anywhere else they find them).

Of course, Dutch found the muckiest places in the creek to walk and swim through.  He had a blast and so did we, but afterward he NEEDED a bath.  Fortunately the PetSmart by us could get him and he came out looking and smelling much better.


Looking and smelling much better after a bath!

 

Sunday

Sunday we headed to the Fredericksburg Fair and had a TON of fun!



Elise and I on the Ferris Wheel.  From the Ferris Wheel
we could see the whole fair, including the mud run, which drew
the largest crowd of anything at the fair.  It was kind of fun
to watch from up in the air.

Bumper cars!  I haven't done these for YEARS!
It was Anja's first time...

and Elise's first time, too.

Elise is pretty brave about rides.  Too bad her mom is a wimp!
Elise went on these high-flying swings by herself, and had a smile
a mile wide the whole time

She looks so small!  Way to small to be on that ride,
as far as I'm concerned.

Jason and Anja waiting for Elise while she went on the
high-flying swings.

Brave Elise humored us woosies by going on
the merry-go-round with us.

The merry-go-round, one of the few rides I will go on.

We had a great time!

The animals are still the favorite of all of us.

The petting zoo had some unique animals who
were very friendly.  The owners were selling cups of grain
to feed the animals but smarty Elise ripped up handfuls
of grass from next to the pens to feed them, for FREE!