Sadness

Sammy the GSP has been battling a mast-cell tumor surrounding the lower joint in his back leg for several months. Steroids helped, and benadryl helped, but tonight the tumor swelled up terribly and was causing Sam awful pain in the joint. He was whimpering and crying and couldn't find a comfortable way to lie down. I couldn't stand to see him like that and decided it was time to let him go. He would have been 16 this summer.

I found Sam when he was running loose at a dressage show I was managing. The judges told me to "go catch that dog." I don't think any of them had ever chased a German shorthair before. I finally caught him and turned him over to animal control. No one claimed him, and he was going to be euthanized, so I took him home. He has been with me from Lincoln to Lubbock to Eugene. I miss him so much.