Sorry to hear. Dogs are the best!
I wanted to thank you all very much for the wishes and prayers you have extended to Ranger and me this afternoon. As I’ve sat on the floor with his head in my lap, all of your comments have brought me great comfort.
I had been volunteering at a no-kill shelter in 2005, and when Katrina hit Louisiana pretty much every municipal and private animal shelter in the state was overwhelmed by the volume of abandoned and displaced animals that came pouring in. Although the shelter I was at was (an remains) an operationally no kill shelter, Ranger tested positive for heartworms and with kennel space at a premium, he was tagged to be euthanized. I went and sat in the kennel with him and he was cowered in the corner, obviously neglected and abused weighing about 30 pounds with his ribs showing through his thick matted fur, and covered in feces. I sat across from him just cooing to him and he came over to me slowly and put his paws up on my shoulder and started licking my face. Although I already a Shepherd at home, Timber, I decided then and there that I had to do everything to save this dog. Eventually, I hammered out an arrangement with the vets and the shelter manager that I would foster him if the kennel paid for the heartworm treatment (which they didn’t expect to work given his state of malnutrition.)
Needless to say, Ranger was a survivor, and while over the past few days, I’ve been praying for a miracle, it dawned on me today that the last 12 years I’ve had with him have been a miracle. He has been a tremendous road trip partner, and every year over the holidays we would make the drive to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas and New Year’s with my folks. He’s traveled with me through Texas for work and throughout other parts of the deep south. He has been a complete blessing in my life and I know, that I have one more chance to show him tomorrow how much I love him by taking his pain away and carrying all of it inside of me.
I know tomorrow I will most likely not feel much like posting, so I wanted to briefly eulogize my little boy, and thank you all sincerely for the prayers, kind words and comfort your replies have given us.
J6P