Dog: Jared Robert (Lab) – Dover, DE (1997 – May 3, 2012)
Jared was diagnosed with a large cancerous tumor on his pancreas at the age of 15. We know we are really lucky to have had him with us for 15 years, but his loss has been so painfully difficult that it’s taken a month for me to even be able to send this information.
I found him on the side of the road when he was about 3 months old. I had no intention of keeping him but when he looked at me, he just glowed from within and I fell in love. I couldn’t give him up.
He brought light, joy and love to our house. I have two other labs, who are 16 and 14 but the light in the room is dimmer without him. He was sweet, gentle, loving and funny. He loved to dance but he hated music.
The first few years of his life, he preferred being alone in a room and rarely sought out human companionship. The last six or so years, he followed me everywhere I went and couldn’t let me out of his sight.
If I had to leave for business travel, he slept in front of the door, waiting. He would probably still be here, but he had started starving himself and we just couldn’t watch him starve.
I spent his last few days taking him to the park, feeding him anything he wanted, hugging him and taking a million pictures.
When I look at the last pictures, he doesn’t even look like my dog. He had lost about 15 pounds by then. If you didn’t know him, he looked perfectly healthy, but we could see it.
He was still perfectly sharp, perfectly funny, perfectly awesome at the end. That’s maybe the most heartbreaking part. His body was failing him and his brain understood it.
I am not sure I will ever get over his loss. I have been preparing myself for a long time to lose his mate, Abbie, the 16 year old. I was not prepared for his loss at all.
I think he was an angel and I he has to have a special place in heaven.
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