Well I thought yesterday was a sad day as our good friend Vaughn enjoyed his last walk with us as he is moving out of the area.  We enjoyed a great last walk and I tried to make sure all his best friends were there to enjoy it and see him off with the best walk ever.

Buddy was also on that walk as he is every day.  He did his usual thing of jumping out of the car at Coco and Tugs and jumping in their ornamental pond.  We had a great walk where he spent a lot of time running through the streams and gettting ever so wet and dirty as Golden Retrieves love to do.  As we drove back home I did notice he was resting his head on my seat and looked a little tired which is not like him.  When I arrived at his home Buddy’s owner asked if he as alright on the walk as he hadn’t eaten his breakfast which was really not like him.  He had a quick spray down to get the mud off and then Buddy started shaking.  So his owner decided it was best to take him to the vet.

It sadly turns out that Buddy had cancer and had to be put down last night.  What a complete shock to Buddy’s human and dog family and myself.  Today when I did the walk that Buddy is always on I kept looking for him.  It was so strange to not have him and so unbelievable that he did a great long group walk yesterday and is gone today.  When I went to walk his dog mate Taz today he was so sad and low energy.  He really didn’t want to walk but kept trying to re-direct me back to his house.  I think he thought Buddy might come back and he would miss it if he was gone.

Buddy’s owner was leaving today for a 10 day trip so I almost feel that Buddy picked his day to go so that his human’s could be there to hold him and say goodbye.  I also think it is awesome that he enjoyed his life right up to the last minute and didn’t suffer a long illness.

This is the part of my job I really hate.  I end up loving all the pets I care for like they were my own.  But there are a lot more  pets deaths in my life now and that is more than difficult.

Bye Bye Buddy.  You will be missed.