Goodbye Jake

At 7:30 this morning I will be calling the vet and taking Jake in for the last time. For a while now he has been declining. He has had a hard time holding his own weight and does not walk around much. Two nights ago, we kept being awakened to what we thought was Bella barking. We told her to go to bed which she usually will do. From 11:30pm to 4:30am this went on. Finally, at 4:30 I went and got Bella and brought her in the house. Shortly after I got back in bed we heard a bark outside our window followed by Bella barking.

Turns out Jake had laid down in a hole in the flowerbed that Trip had dug. He had his chin on the side of the hole and ended up with his nose in the air all night. He could not get out of the hole. Paul picked him up and moved him onto a dog bed and we did not hear from him again.

I went out several times and checked on him yesterday. He moved locations of where he was laying twice on his own, but the second time he could not make it where he was trying to go so he ended up lying in the sun. I tried to help him get up and move him to the garage, but he could not get up. And however he went down is how he stayed. It started raining (huge downpour) and I did not want him just laying in the storm, so I picked him up and carried him to the garage. He has not gotten up since and that was at 4 yesterday evening.

We have decided there is no reason to prolong the inevitable. He is not eating or drinking which is REALLY bad in this heat and humidity. He is not even getting up to potty.

We are VERY sad about losing him. He has been with us since we became an us. Paul got him right after we started dating. He has tolerated all of the kids abuse. He has been an awesome dog! But, he has lived 16 years which is a long life for a Lab.

Obviously, this has been a hard year on the kids and pets! We lost Trip (our cocker spaniel) the week after Mady was born, then Grace (our cat) ran away. We have been amazed how long this dog has kept going. We have been expecting it, but it is still sad.

Bella, our Australian Shepard that has lived with Jake since she was a puppy is taking it hard. She is staying at his side. I went to feed her last night and there was still half a bowl of food. She ran in the house, sniffed the food and ran to Jake. She has always followed him around and stuck by him. Hopefully she will do okay.