From a young age we only wanted one thing for Christmas. A dog. Not just a dog.
A loyal, loving friend to call our pet.
"Santa" came through and we were blessed to pick up an ADORABLE golden retriever puppy, Riley.
Riley has been with us for the soccer games, sleepovers, first dates, weddings and children. He has comforted us through job losses, death, breakups and bad days. He is NOT just a dog.
He's our Dog!
Our sweet Riley has been fighting with cancer for a while now. We have seen tumors cover his body. We have seen his energy diminish. But through it all we still had our tender Riley.
Today was our last day with Riley.
How thankful I was for a peaceful end.
How thankful I am for Riley!
We love you Riley Dog!
My family also very recently lost our dog of 12 years to cancer. It was tough to see him in pain, and even tougher to let him go to sleep, but it was certainly the very best decision. Honestly I am still not over it but I'm thankful that we could let him go peacefully. I'm so sorry you also had this experience! Family dogs are just like members of the family.
ReplyDeleteCutest picture of your mom.
ReplyDeleteMy poor dog got hit one year, and so he was a 3 legged dog....something happened again (we think the neighbor's maid hit him again) and of course the best thing for him was to put him down. it was SO HARD. i wasn't there, so my dad dealt with it all...he called me crying saying he was so sorry he had to put him down. its still hard to go home to no wagging tail...but mygosh so many amazing memories with that dog. Such a hard experience!
ReplyDeleteReading this post for the first time, three days after saying good-bye and tears are freely flowing down my face! Thank you for capturing all these sweet moments into one place - Riley was the perfect and loyal pet/friend.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry ash and family. I know how that feels.Our family had a dog like that..he was even in our family portrait. Just another kid in the family. It is so hard seeing them like that, so not themselves and it is hard to see how much pain they are going through. I am so happy you got to say goodbye and you had the opportunity to have a dog like that! I am sure he is running around happy as can be up in heaven with my dog Buster :) They were probably destined to be bff's too! :). Love you!!!
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