Dozer

This is going to be a hard one - but I don't ever want to forget this guy.  The day after Christmas we had to say goodbye to our Dozer.  Dozer was my very first dog.  He is the only dog I was with from the start of his life to the finish.  We had a dog growing up, but she passes away while I was away to college. I got Dozer just before Adam and I started dating.  He kind of taught me that motherly love.  I remember once just after I got him, I saw fire trucks at my apartment.  I about had a heart attack thinking something might have happened to him.  Dozer went everywhere with me.  I even used to let him sleep in the bed.  Well time when by and we had kids.  The dogs kind of got moved down the totem pole.  It’s so funny because Dozer drove me crazy.  The stink, the drool, always under foot, but when it came time to say goodbye none of that mattered.

He got very sick just before Christmas.  He was almost 10 and bulldogs have a life span of 8-10 years.  We did as much as we could with our vet, but decided not to pursue treatment beyond that. The vet put him on antibiotics and an appetite stimulant.  The day I thought I would see that big fat man on an appetite stimulant - well it makes for a good laugh in light of the situation.  We brought him home for Christmas.  That stubborn dog held on for so long, but the day after Christmas he was suffering so much that we took him to the emergency vet to have him put to sleep.  All there is to say is that it was the hardest thing ever.

One thing I want to remember is Aaron's poise.  We all got to say our goodbyes, but the boys did not totally understand.  When it was Aaron turn he stood up with tears in his eyes and pulled a tissue out of his pocket, dabbed his eyes and then turned around so no one could see his tears.  That child has such a heart and so much empathy and the way he handled that was so grown up.  Over the next few days Carter told everyone 'My Bulldog dead" - at least he gave us a laugh.

Well I am finally able to write about this now because we are so excited to welcome our next furry friend this weekend "Digger".  We had to continue on with the big machine names.  As much as I wanted another bulldog (and we will have one again) we decided a lab would be able to keep up with our family better.  We have been waiting for him for three weeks now and we are just beyond excited.  About a month ago I heard Aidan in bed crying.  When I went in he was missing Dozer.  Dozer is irreplaceable, but we hope Digger will bring a little spirit into our already very energetic home.