Time Marches On -- and Another Dog Passes On

I have not posted to this blog in eight years.

Since then, our darling Trooper, the apple of Dave's eye, left this world. After a brave, extended fight with multiple cancers that included surgeries and chemo, Trooper died in November 2014. This amazing dog actually beat the cancer, but in the end, the chemo beat him.

Just today, we said goodbye to the irrepressible Zoe, who was the life of the party and the head of the pack since 2003. Cancer also got the better of her. Hers was a sudden and precipitous decline, less than a week from diagnoses to last goodbye.

So Angel, first to our household in 2002, is last dog standing. At 16, struggling with crippling arthritis and numerous other scourges of old age, it's not likely she'll see another winter.

These three dogs--they've been our family in every sense of the word. Life with them was joyful; life without them is painful.

Left to right: Angel, Trooper, Zoe

Are Dogs Patriotic?

I don't know, for sure. But they certainly aren't fans of July Fourth celebrations. The problem is the fireworks -- even louder and more incessant than those dreaded summer thunderstorms.

Our three nervous nellies will be hunkered down in the basement during tomorrow night's official town spectacle, and will be whining, barking and jumping late into the night, as local hooligans set off bootleg bottle rockets and firecrackers.

For dogs, the Fourth of July is not a holiday at all.

Dog Mobility

Top of mind: Having three large dogs limits mobility. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it is making vacation (off to the Carribean shortly), Thanksgiving at Dave's parents, Christmas with Dave's daughter, Danielle, and the holiday visit to Dave's family hard to plan for and very expensive. The way I see it, we'll be spending an extra $1,200 on dog sitting between now and year's end.