Explorer Forum Dog Memorial Thread

[BKennedy]

We had to let our beloved Sasha the Wonder Dog go Wednesday. She was my shadow for the past ten years and was like no other dog I have ever had or been around my entire life. She was a rescue and between 6 months and 2 years old when we found each other. Sasha was the best camping dog bar none. When we set up camp, she would patrol out in about a 100' circle, marking her territory. She would patrol it from time to time throughout the night. Never needed a leash except for when it was required by law. If some critter came into her area, she would immediately chase it out, then come right back. She scolded other dogs when they were not obeying their masters. If I wanted to go driving, hiking, camping, work on projects or just hang out all day she was all in. Many people throughout the years have remarked about what an exceptional dog she was.

She had some type of metastatic cancer that was causing bleeding tumors in her organs. About a month and a half ago, she was feeling down and that is nothing like her. I took her to the vet and they said they found bleeding tumors on her spleen. It was either put her down or have them remove the spleen. I couldn't do it, so they removed her spleen. She bounced back like nothing happened, back to her old self. Two weeks ago she crashed again, but recovered quickly. Last week she did it again, and did not recover. I took her to a vet hospital so they could do a ultrasound. Found more "nodules" around the site of the splenectomy. They wanted to do a exploratory surgery to biopsy the site but I refused. She has been through enough and has no idea why she is being hurt. It would not be fair to her. We put Sasha on a bunch of different homeopathic treatments to keep her around a little while longer. I had to undergo major surgery that could not wait and was in the hospital from Monday to Wednesday. Sasha waited for me to get home. As soon as I got home, I could see that she was very uncomfortable, anemic and belly breathing. We sent her on her way about three hours later.

Loosing Sasha has been a huge blow. Having a dog that awesome, who was loved by so many people was a honor and we gave her a great life. She never was very far from me over the past ten years and I will miss her the rest of my days, but am already thinking of fostering dogs from that rescue that Sarah loves, Frosted Faces. The house is just too empty without her, and I imagine the desert, RV and Explorer will feel empty too. I think this is all part of having and loving dogs. Their lives are way too short and we must suffer the loss of them to have them in our lives.

I am sure others have lost their beloved dogs and decided to start this thread in her honor.
Some Pictures
I have hundreds and she was the ultimate photobomber so I will put more in here later

Photobombing

Always nearby while I was working on the Explorer, this is from underneath

Camping in Borrego

On patrol

Please feel free to post up your lost dogs.

 

[RangerX]

Oh man, sorry for your loss, Brian!

 

[1sicbronconut]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Stic-o]

So sorry to hear this Brian. She was a good trail dog, and will be missed by the fire in camp. Lot of good memories of all the dogs running around camp at Truckhaven.

 

[tdavis]

So sorry for you loss, we are dreading the day we loose Isabella..

 

[BKennedy]

More

 

[BKennedy]

 

[BKennedy]

Hanging out with Clyde

Waiting for Sasha to come out to play

 

[BKennedy]

Sasha is not the only dog we have had. I will find pics of the others and post them soon.

We had Buddy, a 120 pound male Rotti, Died of bone cancer at only six. Daughter used to ride him around the backyard using his ears for reigns.
Sally and Sammy, the Mexican mutt sisters (really, they were adopted from Mexico and looked like those dogs all over the streets down there). Sally died after breaking her spine for the second time at about seven. Sammy died of the same thing as Sasha at about ten.

 

[Stic-o]

I can relate Brian, I grew up with dogs from day 1, and part of my life with horses. I can't tell you how many dogs I have been through, and each one holds a place in my memory.

I think they are important to our lives, from a young age. They help you understand how precious life is, and how short it can be. When we lose dogs best friend, we have something to relate to and makes it just a little bit easier.

 

[MrQ]

I'm so sorry.

My family lost our loyal beagle Sara about 7 years ago. She was there for us during some of the hardest times may family ever had. It was heartbreaking. I got a text a work while I was in the middle of dealing with a customer. I had to choke everything back until I finished and then I headed to the back room and, not ashamed to say, I bawled my eyes out. I loved that dog so much.

My family has a little chipin now named Angel (oxymoronic if there ever was a name) and I took in a wonderful GSD named Cody. They are both 7 years old and I can't even think about losing either. Dogs are a part of our family in a way no one else can be. Unconditional love without reserve and they willing to do whatever it takes to make us feel better. They our are protectors, our guardians, our confidants, and our truest friends.

Rest in peace Sasha...

------------

Sara:

Cody:

 

[BKennedy]

A good dog is always there for you, no matter what. Sasha was lying at the foot of both of my parent's beds when they died. When my father took his last exhale, she let out a loud whine but I am sure that was due to the emotion in the room.

 

[Rick]

I always liked this photo of Sasha, she will definitely be missed.

 

[Rick]

It really sucks when our four legged companions pass on, but I couldn't imagine life without them. We had to put down two dogs within a few months of each other shortly after one of our dogs got out of the yard and was never found. At that point I didn't think I had room in my heart for another dog, but along came Clyde who melted my heart and the cycle started over.

Here are tribute photos to the dog's who brought so much happiness to my life.

Torky was my families first dog. My mom wouldn't get anything, but a standard poodle because they are among the most allergy friendly dogs. He wasn't the breed I would have chosen as an 8 year old, but he was a great friend. Being an only child, he was like a four legged brother to me.

Sam and Rusty... Sam, the larger dog, was the most incredible dog we've had. Believe it or not, he was even cooler than Clyde. Rusty was his sidekick who was as lovable as can be. Sam used to love to play fetch. One day while playing fetch Sam just dropped the stick, and never ever played fetch again with a stick or a ball. It was like I could see him thinking, "Hey I'm the one doing all the work here, enough of this!". LOL

After Sam passed away, very young and unexpectedly we adopted DX. He was a nut! Sadly he got out of our yard and was never found.

Indy came into our life very unexpectedly. I opened our garage door so I could watch the fireworks from our house on Independence Day. Just after I stepped outside I heard my neighbor yell, "Rick, Rick, HELP!!". I looked over at her front door and she was behind the screen with this German Shepard standing there staring at her. I made a clicking noise to call the dog and she limped over to me very slowly, and very unsteadily. When she got to me she just leaned on me. She was in bad shape. It was well over 100 degrees that day and she was dehydrated. Paws were burned, nose was sunburned, and one of her legs was not functioning as it should. It would not bend at the middle joint at all

We put out flyers in the neighborhood and had her scanned for a chip, but we were never able to find her owner.

I wanted to keep her, but the decision was really up to our cats The photo above was their first encounter with each other. As you can see the cat wasn't the least bit scared, so we kept the dog and named her Indy for Independence Day.

 

[BKennedy]

Still looking for pictures of Buddy and Sally

Sammy

Sammy and Lady (still have the horse)

 

[QuietStorm17]

BKennedy sorry for your loss, they easily become members of our families with their love and devotion to their pet humans on top of their personalities. It is so hard when they pass. Here’s some pictures of our last two dogs, they were actually brother and sister from the same litter. There father was a German Shepard who jumped the fence and spent some quality time with their mother who was a yellow lab. The large orange and creme one was Bear and the black brindled one was Mocha. They loved car rides and my 93 Aerostar’s sliding side window. Mocha loved the bean bag chair which was the survivor of two I had in the back of my 1953 Chevy Sedan Delivery. She and my son constantly fought over that bean bag chair.

 

[FROADER]

A little late to this thread, but I found this photo of Sasha randomly looking through explorer trip photos...

I've had a couple pups that had to leave me sooner than expected... Never an easy thing to deal with.

Gus

Phoebe

 

[kmack]

Sorry to hear about your loss of Sasha, BKennedy. Seems we've all been there and know how hard it hurts.

We've seen a few pass thru our lives also, but I don't have many pictures to add here because most were taken before digital phone cameras (and I don't know where the originals are...).

Growing up as a kid we had George. He was a hand-me-down German Shepherd from when my Great-grandfather passed. We lived in the country so he was an outside dog that would leave us for a week every once in while to go chase tail. He always came back about 10 lbs lighter and with a big smile (first dog I ever saw that actually smiled)! He also remembered people. If you hadn't been to our house before he was all snarls and teeth. If you had, he was a quick bark "hello" and lots of tail wagging. His downfall was he liked to chase cars. He eventually lost that chase one day.

When my wife and I got married, we acquired another German Shepherd from my FIL named Sara. She was mostly black with some tan markings and had originally come from a breeder for a gov't dog training school (I can't say more than that) but she hadn't made the cut. She was about 3 yrs old at the time we got her and we wanted to give her a big back yard to live out her years. She was 88 lbs of loveable excitement and would damn-near knock you down to the ground so she could snuggle and lick you to death on her level, if you were in "her" backyard! Outside of her realm, it was a totally different story. She loved to come up front with me when I was working in the garage but would just lay down and watch me all day. We walked her on a leash, but you could put the leash in your pocket and she would never let it tighten enough to pull it out. Even in crowds. She was very well-mannered in a public setting. At 14 yrs, her hips got so bad she almost couldn't walk and we hated to see the pain in her eyes. She never whimpered as I carried her that last time...

We then got two rescue greyhounds. First was Ruby, she was all black, and because of her "short stature" she had never raced. The second greyhound was Dani. She was a "blue" and had been in about 75 races. Ruby was a little shy and pretty much stuck to herself. Dani on the other hand would get in your lap if you let her. Both were very lazy dogs except for the first 5 minutes when you let them outside. They'd sprint like crazy across the yard, but ran out of steam rather quickly! Ruby got cancer in her throat which made it hard for her to eat but she lived to a ripe old age of 10. Dani eventually got hip issues also but she was 13 and had lived a full life. I only have a couple pics I found of Dani. She was kind of a goof-ball!

We currently have three "little" rescue dogs now, but I feel we'll be back down this road of lost love again within the next 2-3 years.
Left to right: Amy is about 3, Sheldon is about 7, and Penny is almost 11. (Had to get an Explorer pic in here somehow...)

My condolences to all who have lost a fur-friend.

 

[BKennedy]

That's a good picture of Sasha Froader. I think she was close behind one of us as usual, as you can see the back of a heel directly in front of her. Man, I miss that dog. When I push my chair back, when I get out of bed, when I walk through the house in the dark, I am still looking out for her so I don't trip. She would turn invisible in the dark.

I am now "working" on the wife to foster a Shepard or Shepard mix. I am sold on that breed because their personality suits my lifestyle. I have been in contact with a Shepard rescue in San Diego who has two beautiful Shepard's they are looking to foster. I need to get her over there so she can see them, which should work enough to get one fostered, and eventually adopted. I know its soon after a loss, but not having a dog around this empty nest house is just too quiet.

 

[sandsprayer]

This is WAY late coming.
Sorry for your loss BKennedy, and all others who have posted about their own losses.
It seems not fair that we will have to part w/ so many animals during our lifetime.
Demos was my right hand and 14 when he passed suddenly-- a hell raiser to the end.
We won many competitions, most of the dogs were K9's.

.

The only way I kept it together was convincing myself that their shorter lifespans allow us to know, love and care for the next generation.