Good Bye Boone

Well, friends, this certainly is not a post that I thought that I would be writing--not this soon. Not now. We lost Boone last week, suddenly without warning.

Top right: Baby Boone is home; Top left: the last photo I took of Boone as he ran to me across the horse pasture where he had been chasing a cotton tale; Bottom left: Love at first sight when we went to pick him up the vet clinic in Grant, NB. Boone and his litter mates had been surrendered for adoption and Gerald find him on Pet Finder, called the clinic and said, "I want that pup--the big on in the back." Bottom left: Ellie took his photo last summer. It was a good photo.

The day began normally enough. The Head Gardner came in mid-morning to announce that Boone had finally caught the rabbit that he had cornered underneath the stack of old wooden fence posts out by the barn. He finally caught the rabbit and the HG managed to get it away from him, so he put the poor little rabbit in a trash can to keep it safe until he could turn it loose. Then Boone caught a nuisance dove and gave it up easily when the HG told him to drop it.

They both came in for lunch and took their naps and then went back out, but the next time Boone came in he wasn't behaving normally. We thought at first that he was just tired after his busy morning. Boone never stayed still for long. We are on five acres, and he spent his time running the pastures, patrolling the back fence for feral cats that live in the alley on the east end of our property. If he wasn't looking for cats--which he could never catch because of an electric fence to keep the horses contained--he was chasing rabbits that ran at top rabbit speed to make it across the pasture to the neighbor's windbreak where they would be safe. Boone was always on the run.

So when he began to look like he didn't feel well, we first thought that perhaps he was just worn out, but then he got worse, his discomfort apparent. He groaned as he lie on the living room floor. We let him out and it was clear that he was in discomfort.

Finally the HG called the vet and took him in. I waited. You know how it is when you wait? Awful. The weather was awful, too. I had been watching the weather all afternoon. It was the day of big hail all around us. Sometimes the storms go around us, but not this day. The HG loaded Boone in the back of my Edge and drove out just as the hail began.

The first call came and  it was not good. Boone had a twisted stomach. The HG was waiting for one more x-ray, but I think he already knew the outcome.

The second phone call, he told me that he would put Boone to sleep. He was too sick to save and in too much pain.

That was a week ago. We are doing better now, but gosh we miss him. He was only four and half and we had much too short a time with him. He was just beginning to grow up and not be such a handful.

Large dogs are prone to a twisted gut or stomach and while surgery can be performed, the HG was told that it was very risky and expensive, and he would have had to drive him fifteen miles to the clinic for surgery and it was just too far way. It was raining and rush hour--even in our rural area. He knew that Boone would not survive the trip.

This afternoon I finally got nerve to look up twisted gut or stomach. It occurs most often large deep chested dogs, such as German shepherd, St. Bernard, Akita, and Weimaraner. Boone was half German short hair pointer and weimaraner. However any dog can suffer the malady. A website, CAGPS Rescue explains the condition.

There wasn't anything that we could have done differently and there wasn't anything that we did wrong--so we were told.

We will miss our boy. The house is certainly very quiet now and a bit lonely. Socks, caps, washcloths, and the grandkids' stuffed animals are not safe. His favorite game was to steal a sock or a shoe--well--anything to use as a bargaining chip to get a doggie treat. He was a smart dog. He was a good dog.

We are taking a few days off-- a nice long road trip to Texas. I'll try to post next week-- a cheerful, happy post.

I'll be linking with Maggie at Life in Normandy for Mosaic Monday. Join us there.