When You've Done All You Can Do...

Nearing the end is proving to be very hard. I gave Rock what just might be his last bath last night, he's lost quiet a bit of weight and has aged so much in the last few months. He is eating less and less every week and I've watched him go from a thriving young puppy to a frail old man. It feels like just yesterday that we brought him home and made him a part of our family, and that is exactly what he is, a big part of our family. I've loved him as much as a person could love another living being and I hate the fact that that love wasn't enough to stop this from happening to him, as with people it is often the good that suffer the most. I watched my mother fight for her life a few years ago and it was the most helpless feeling I've ever had and I have that same feeling watching him now. I truely felt I was watching her die and by the grace of god she survived, it is unfortunate that no amount of prayer will save my Rock.

There are times when he comes over to me and sits real close and just looks up at me staring me in the face, as if he's saying I love you. You can feel his little body just relax when I pet him and give him a hug, I kiss him on the top of his head and then he goes about his business.

Our love for him will go on long after he no longer can...

Evacuations were stressful...

Let's just say that evacuating is stressful on everyone but Rock may have taken it the hardest. We went some where the dogs were welcome however Rock being sick made it really hard for him. Being in a strange home was stressful for him and then even when we returned to our home the electricity was off for sometime and he didn't handle the heat very well, he didn't eat for 2 days, he didn't even want to smell it. He would push his food bowl clear across the room and he slept in the spot his kennel is usually in. A few hours after the electricity came back on and he had time to cool off I sat with him in his room for a while and hand fed him and the next day he was fine, he ate everything in his bowl and even had a second helping.

He's been coughing during the night with a raspy, dry cough so the cancer may be affecting his throat somewhat but other than that he is doing ok, no better but no worse for now.

We're thankful for everyday we have him.